All entries by this author

Columbia University as Labour-gouger *

Apr 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Universities ‘liberal’? Not if you look at their labour policies.… Read the rest



Law on How to Teach Colonialism *

Apr 26th, 2005 | Filed by

French 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

Graham Larkin takes on an instrumentalist version of ‘truth.’… Read the rest



Cultural Highlights

Apr 26th, 2005 2:03 am | By

And 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.

Ms. 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

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Sharia TV *

Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by

Whatever you’re doing, stop.… Read the rest



Girls Abducted Into Armed Groups *

Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by

To 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

Muslim majority threatens minority sect in Bogra, Bangladesh.… Read the rest



Tom Frank on Bizarro US Populism *

Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by

Where tax cuts on stock dividends are a blow against elites.… Read the rest



Victims of Jihad *

Apr 25th, 2005 | Filed by

Report from the Commission on Human Rights.

External Resources

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Campaigning against the Sharia Court in Canada

Apr 25th, 2005 | By Homa Arjomand

The 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

A 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.

Hirsi 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

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Labour Vows to Force Religious Hatred Bill Through *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Pledge 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

Ashiq Nabi the latest killed because of the blasphemy laws.… Read the rest



Man Murdered for ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Mob of angry villagers kill man for ‘desecrating’ the Koran.… Read the rest



What Did the Pope Mean, ‘Relativism’? *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Anything short of papal absolutism. Blackburn, Baggini give different account.… Read the rest



Membership in Catholic Church is For Life *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

No matter what the disagreements. Best not to join then.… Read the rest



Paganism for the Differently Abled *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Service animals can double as familiars. Channel power through your prosthesis.… Read the rest



Vatican Has Odd Priorities *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Gay marriage iniquitous, condom ban virtuous. Whatever.… Read the rest



Vatican Atttacks Spain’s Gay Marriage Bill *

Apr 24th, 2005 | Filed by

‘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

I 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.

The 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

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