Italy produced no physical scientist of the slightest importance for two centuries after Galileo. … Read the rest
All entries by this author
Taslima Nasreen Could Face Prison 
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For being attacked. (Note Center for Inquiry banner behind her.)… Read the rest
Amartya Sen on Independent India at 60
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Now we make deals not with the Burmese people struggling for democracy, but with the military dictators of Myanmar.… Read the rest
David Baltimore Offers a Defense of Atheism
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religion supplants evidence and logic with faith, so politicians can appeal to faith and let it go at that.… Read the rest
The Right to Write Insultingly
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hurriyet expresses regret at Colason’s departure but says he had a tendency to write insultingly.… Read the rest
Hurriyet Fires Secularist Columnist
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Colasan is one of the leading columnists of the secularist front. News that he was fired sparked angry reaction.… Read the rest
Taner Edis
Aug 17th, 2007 10:06 am | By Ophelia BensonSo Steve Paulson asks Taner Edis how he would assess the state of scientific knowledge in the Islamic world.
Dismal. Right now, if all Muslim scientists working in basic science vanished from the face of the earth, the rest of the scientific community would barely notice. There’s very little contribution coming from Muslim lands…Especially in military and commercial areas, they have put their emphasis on applied science rather than basic science. So there are lots of medical doctors and engineers in the Muslim world. But the contribution to scientific research is much lower.
Does it matter? Can’t they just import basic science from the rest of the world?
… Read the restIt permanently locks the Muslim world into a subordinate position in those
Why Another Look at the Zimbardo Experiment?
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because the Stanford Prison Experiment may explain a vast range of disasters.… Read the rest
Bos Supports Making Leaving Islam ‘Discussable’
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But criticism of Islam is another matter.… Read the rest
Hirsi Ali Criticises Labour Over Jami
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Labour leader Wouter Bos has made it clear that his party will not support the ex-Muslim committee.… Read the rest
Ramachandra Guha on India’s Internal Partition
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Partition was meant to solve the Hindu-Muslim question, but it’s only made things worse.… Read the rest
The Worst Op-ed Ever Written?
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Stanley Fish shrewdly notices there are fancy new coffee shops out there. No, really.… Read the rest
Twelve Iranian ‘Thugs’ Executed
Aug 16th, 2007 | By Jahanshah RashidianA new series of executions has started in Iran. On 22 July 2007, in the notorious Evin Prison, the Islamic authorities hanged in one day twelve “thugs” accused of homosexuality, drug smuggling, theft, and violation of Islamic morality.
Even if these executed twelve Iranians were thugs, they are the products of the 29- year policies of the Islamic regime.
The word “thug” in Iranian socio-economic terms would refer to a group of people who are socially and economically marginalised. Such “thugs” are mostly derived from poor classes, and they confront all unfair aspects of the society.
Because of the high rate of unemployment, poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a lack of welfare and a social protection system, they are direct victims … Read the rest
Why infidelity is essential
Aug 15th, 2007 2:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonI’m reading Infidel. I’m going to have to treat you to some samples.
This one is on p. 94. She’s been taking classes at school with a very strict Muslim teacher (though one who urges the children to think, rather than merely shouting dogma at them). She has noted that ‘Something inside me always resisted the moral values behind Sister Aziza’s lectures: a small spark of independence.’ She was troubled by the gap between the demands of the Holy Writings and the reality of daily life; she had asked how a just God could want women to be treated so unfairly; she had noted that she continued to read novels.
… Read the restA Muslim woman must not feel wild, or free,
HornAfrik a Beacon of Integrity in Somalia
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mahad Ahmed Elmi’s talk show challenged human-rights abusers and warlords and extremists.… Read the rest
Two Somali Canadian Journalists Killed
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Somali associates outraged, saying both deaths were part of a deliberate campaign against the media.… Read the rest
Two Journalists Murdered in Somalia
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Press freedom groups worldwide expressed horror at the ‘savage’ killings on 11 August 2007.… Read the rest
The Barmaid Doesn’t Get the Identity Problem
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Perhaps the pigeon does.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Ask the Barmaid
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If you don’t believe in God, why don’t you go around behaving selfishly and badly? So ha.… Read the rest
Joan Smith Defends Channel 4
Aug 15th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Channel 4 was right to investigate Wahhabi influence in British mosques.… Read the rest
