Universities ‘liberal’? Not if you look at their labour policies.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Law on How to Teach Colonialism
Apr 26th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFrench historians think it not up to state to say how history should be taught.… Read the rest
Horowitz’s War on Rational Discourse
Apr 26th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGraham Larkin takes on an instrumentalist version of ‘truth.’… Read the rest
Cultural Highlights
Apr 26th, 2005 2:03 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd a little more again, about that conference at the UN, because Azam sent me the link to this Commission on Human Rights report, and it has more detail than the news articles. You should read it.
… Read the restMs. Azam Kamguian from Iran was the first speaker in the session on ‘Infidels and Apostates’. She started by describing her own experience; growing up with an all powerful and pious father. The temptation to subordinate her being to God was very strong but when she was an adolescent she decided that she did not need religion to tell her who she was. “Even though I left Islam, I had to live with it”, she stated.
According to an extremist interpretation of
Girls Abducted Into Armed Groups
Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo do domestic and military work, and nearly always as sexual slaves too.… Read the rest
Another Pogrom in the Making
Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMuslim majority threatens minority sect in Bogra, Bangladesh.… Read the rest
Tom Frank on Bizarro US Populism
Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhere tax cuts on stock dividends are a blow against elites.… Read the rest
Victims of Jihad
Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReport from the Commission on Human Rights.
External Resources
- Conference Report
NGO report on the conference - Victims of Jihad
Report from the Commission on Human Rights.
Campaigning against the Sharia Court in Canada
Apr 25th, 2005 | By Homa ArjomandThe reasons given for a Sharia Court in Canada by Islamists and their multi-culturalist supporters are not what they seem. They say Muslims do not want their family problems to be made public; these tribunals will deal with civil disputes not criminal matters; one can choose not to go before the Sharia tribunal; and that it will take less time than a Canadian court and cost less.
Let me address each one separately. Why do the initiators of the proposal not want family disputes to be publicised outside of their ‘communities’. In communities where Sharia law interferes with people’s lives, family problems are not simply disagreements between a man and a woman and who gets what. In fact, private matters … Read the rest
For Example
Apr 24th, 2005 8:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonA little more about that meeting and press conference at the UN last week. It’s interesting that one of the available articles is from the CBC – the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – since Canada has some ‘issues’ itself on this stuff, as regular readers of B&W know. Homa Arjomand has been working tirelessly to oppose the introduction of Sharia law in Ontario, but Ontario in its wisdom has not changed its decision. Ontario should have been at the UN last Monday. Ontario needs to pay attention.
… Read the restHirsi Ali, a Somali immigrant who has become a prominent women’s advocate in the Dutch parliament, said European countries have to accept that women are more threatened within Muslim communities than in their wider
Labour Vows to Force Religious Hatred Bill Through
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPledge in letters mailed to mosques across Britain by Home Secretary’s office.… Read the rest
Repeal of Blasphemy Laws Urged
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAshiq Nabi the latest killed because of the blasphemy laws.… Read the rest
Man Murdered for ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMob of angry villagers kill man for ‘desecrating’ the Koran.… Read the rest
What Did the Pope Mean, ‘Relativism’?
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnything short of papal absolutism. Blackburn, Baggini give different account.… Read the rest
Membership in Catholic Church is For Life
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNo matter what the disagreements. Best not to join then.… Read the rest
Paganism for the Differently Abled
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonService animals can double as familiars. Channel power through your prosthesis.… Read the rest
Vatican Has Odd Priorities
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGay marriage iniquitous, condom ban virtuous. Whatever.… Read the rest
Vatican Atttacks Spain’s Gay Marriage Bill
Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘A law as profoundly iniquitous as this one is not an obligation.’… Read the rest
Monday in New York
Apr 23rd, 2005 10:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonI wish I’d been in New York last Monday. I wish I could have dropped in on the UN. I’d have liked to attend (if they were open to the public) the press conference or the seminar or both. All the more since two of the participants have contributed articles to B&W.
… Read the restThe main global humanist organisation and a group of former Muslims on Monday accused European countries of ignoring violations of human rights in their Islamic communities to preserve “multi-culturalism”…”Yet in Europe many women find themselves subject to domestic violence, undergo forced marriages or are even killed by family members because of some belief that they have tarnished the family honour,” Brown declared. That view was echoed