Author: Ophelia Benson

  • Iran Accuses ‘Persepolis’ of ‘Islamophobia’

    Well it would, wouldn’t it.

  • Can Philosophy Save the Middle East?

    Does philosophy provide a language through which people can communicate even if they do not accept each other’s religious commitments?

  • Jon Wiener Interviews Sari Nusseibeh

    ‘Very often in life the implementation of one right conflicts with the ability to implement another.’

  • Martha Nussbaum: Against Academic Boycotts

    Indifference to the lives and health of women has never been seriously considered as a reason for any boycott.

  • Lecturers’ Union Backs Boycott of Israel

    Delegates at conference of new University and College Union voted three to two to recommend boycotts.

  • On the Boycott

    The resolution cited ‘the complicity of Israeli academia’ in the occupation of Palestinian lands.

  • Joan Smith on the Boycott

    These are dark times for those of us who believe that the free exchange of ideas is a prerequisite of democracy.

  • Gay Bar Can Ban Straights and Lesbians

    Australia’s Equal Opportunities Act bars discrimination for race, religion or sexuality, but exemptions are allowed.

  • Malaysia Squares the Circle

    ‘Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim.’

  • Muslims ‘Warn’: ‘Anti-Islamic’ Writer ‘Stirs Hatred’

    ‘There have to be boundaries in how far you go in respecting other’s beliefs.’ Or else.

  • A Girl, a Knife, and Hawa Gréou

    Neighbours had called the police because the babies’ screams constantly emanated from the apartment.

  • UK Academics to Vote on Boycott of Israel

    Debate by delegates to the University and College Union is likely to spark international condemnation.

  • Steven Weinberg Cancels UK Visit Over Boycott

    Was scheduled to speak at Imperial College, canceled because of NUJ boycott of Israeli products.

  • Boycott of Israel Divides Academics

    Tom Hickey, philosophy lecturer at Brighton University, is proposing the motion.

  • Stop that wicked woman

    And then – why is whoever wrote the headline for this article buying into these assumptions?

    Anti-Islamic writer stirs hatred, Muslims warn

    That’s a really terrible headline. What next? ‘Apostate Islamophobic hoor stirs hatred, Muslims warn’? ‘Evil bitch must be stopped, Muslims warn’?

    Well let’s have a look at some of the ‘warnings.’

    A visit to Sydney by a controversial Somali writer who calls the prophet Mohammed a pedophile and says Islam is inferior to Western culture has outraged Muslims, who accuse her of inciting hatred.

    The usual misleading slippage, that tricks readers into thinking Hirsi Ali’s visit has outraged all Muslims, which is grossly unfair to all the Muslims who are reasonable enough to be not outraged. The usual coercion and confusion and manufacture of outrage via sloppy imprecise careless writing. Now that’s an outrage!

    Nada Roude, of the NSW Islamic Council, said Hirsi Ali’s comments on the prophet Mohammed were a “no-go zone”. “They (prophets) are not just like you and me, they have special status – you’re supposed to show respect,” Ms Roude said. “There have to be boundaries in how far you go in respecting other’s beliefs. The reaction from the community is likely to be quite worrying…Anyone who causes harm to our society because they have the right to express their opinion is not welcome.”

    Gotcha. Thanks for the warning.

  • Spot the contradiction

    How’s that again?

    Malaysia’s highest court has rejected a Muslim convert’s six-year battle to be legally recognised as a Christian. A three-judge panel ruled that only the country’s Sharia Court could let Azlina Jailani, now known as Lina Joy, remove the word Islam from her identity card. Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim. Under Sharia law, Muslims are not allowed to convert.

    I’m sorry, I must be dense – I don’t understand. Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim – but if Malaysia’s constitution says all ethnic Malays are Muslim, then it doesn’t, in fact, guarantee freedom of religion, does it. Perhaps you meant Malaysia’s constitution says it guarantees freedom of worship? Or that it pretends to, or claims to, or pays lip service to the idea that it ought to? You can’t say it does guarantee it when it in fact allots it by ethnic group, though. That doesn’t compute. More to the point, of course, Malaysia can’t say it does guarantee it when it doesn’t. Also of course, that goes double when the religion one is allotted by ethnic group forbids departure and punishes it by death. Religion mandated according to birth and remaining mandatory throughout life is not a good definition of ‘freedom of worship.’

  • Scientists Disagree Over Alliance with Believers

    Dawkins cites risk of buying into the fiction that there’s something virtuous about faith.

  • Philosophy Not Useless After All

    Philosophy’s great recent achievement is the theory of structured procrastination.

  • Interview with Daniel Dennett

    Just as cows inherit many features of the aurochs, today’s organized religions inherit features from folk religions.

  • The Uses of Orwell

    From the viewpoint of the non-religious, what Orwell had was not a blind spot, but clarity of vision.