Is now star witness in sweeping federal investigation into public corruption in Washington.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Sacranie Says Homosexuality is not Acceptable
Jan 4th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘He said he was guided by the teachings of the Muslim faith.’ Oh, well fine then.… Read the rest
Lipstadt Says Let the Guy Go Home
Jan 4th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBut also understands why Germany and Austria have laws against Holocaust denial.… Read the rest
The MLA Convention
Jan 4th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPassed a resolution opposing David Horowitz’s ‘Academic Bill of Rights’ and potential legislation.… Read the rest
Could be a Space Alien
Jan 3rd, 2006 7:20 pm | By Ophelia BensonI’ve been reading Judge Jones’s decision. It really is a great read, you know. So I think I will occasionally share selected favourites with you.
Page 25.
… Read the restThe only apparent difference between the argument made by
Paley and the argument for ID, as expressed by defense expert witnesses Behe and
Minnich, is that ID’s “official position” does not acknowledge that the designer is
God. However, as Dr. Haught testified, anyone familiar with Western religious
thought would immediately make the association that the tactically unnamed
designer is God, as the description of the designer in Of Pandas and People
(hereinafter “Pandas”) is a “master intellect,” strongly suggesting a supernatural
deity as opposed to any intelligent actor known to exist in
A Couple of Items
Jan 3rd, 2006 6:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo there’s this creationist ‘Zoo Farm’ place in Somerset.
A donkey was led in and the presenter traced a marking on its back. Did we know that the domesticated donkey has a dark cross marked on its back, he asked us casually, whereas the wild donkey doesn’t? Did the cross not remind us that the donkey carried Jesus? In retrospect, I was intrigued by my shock at this mild evangelical interjection, a reaction that reflects a more general antipathy towards creationism. Anthony Bush hopes “to give people permission to believe in God”, by disputing the truth of Darwin’s theories. However, the prospect of a religious world-view having any authority fills non-believers with dread.
Well exactly. And that’s not just some … Read the rest
Simon Singh Reviews Steve Jones’s Single Helix
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘In addition to the amusing and sinister essays, there are the angry ones, which are my real favourites.’… Read the rest
Wot’s the Big Idea
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGoodhart, Brockman, Greenfield, Bentley on Sen. Also Bunting, Klein. Oh well.… Read the rest
Philip Pullman
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSome themes are too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children’s book.… Read the rest
Evidence for Jesus Hauled into Court
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTacitus, Suetonius, Josephus are all hearsay. Next?… Read the rest
Noah’s Ark [Creationist] Zoo Farm
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNote the cross on the donkey’s back. Think that’s an accident? Think again.… Read the rest
Colin McGinn Goes to the Movies
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘The highbrow and lowbrow do daily battle in this man.’… Read the rest
‘Gay Magazine in Race Row’
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMagazine of Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association criticized for comments.… Read the rest
Dawkins Does God for Channel 4
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe God Delusion and the Virus of Faith.… Read the rest
Incompetent Design Maybe? Infernal?
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIncomplete? … Read the rest
Insipid Design
Jan 3rd, 2006 2:31 am | By Ophelia BensonWell, yes. It’s an obvious thought, isn’t it. One of the first that occurs to us, in fact. If the Designer is so damn intelligent, why aren’t we better? Why isn’t everything? I mean, is this supposed to be optimal? You’re kidding, right?
Far be it from me to kick an idea when it’s down, but I do wonder whether proponents of ID have really thought this through…Because if we were designed by God, it wasn’t on one of His better days.
Yeah you could say that.
… Read the restWhy would an intelligent designer equip each of us with an appendix — an organ whose sole purpose is to become infected and periodically explode? If this was Intelligent Design, then it
Einstein as a Philosopher of Science
Jan 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPhilosophical habit of mind had a profound effect on the way he did physics.… Read the rest
Top Science Stories of 2005
Jan 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonClimate science and tipping point, bird flu, ID, chimpanzee genome, more.… Read the rest
Turkey Admits Pamuk Trial Not an Image-booster
Jan 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLaws that limit freedom of expression may be changed.… Read the rest
The Edge Question for 2006
Jan 2nd, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat is your dangerous idea? Dawkins, Dennett, Pinker and many more.… Read the rest