The New York Times Called Those Who Brought What Were Essentially Blasphemy Charges Against Pussy Riot “Victims”

August 17, 2012 By 47 Comments

A few months ago, I signed up to give automated monthly donations to Amnesty International when I was told about how appallingly small their donations from America were. It is because of their advocacy on issues like this one that they need the support of all people committed to the principle of secularism worldwide:

Filed Under: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Law, Law & Politics, Religion, Religious Rights 47 Comments

Is Religious Circumcision of Male Infants Morally Defensible?

July 27, 2012 By 102 Comments

Last month a court in Cologne, Germany ruled against allowing the circumcision of children too young to give consent. CBS News summarized the facts: a German court ruled that circumcision infringes on a child’s right to be protected from bodily harm. The regional court in Cologne said that circumcision went against the “fundamental right of [...]

Filed Under: Andrew Sullivan, Applied Ethics, Autonomy, Bio-Medical Ethics, Civil Rights, Contemporary Ethics, Ethics, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Morality, News, News Discussion, Politics, Religion, Religious Rights, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, World Affairs 102 Comments

Johann Hari on the Religious Assault on Free Speech

April 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Johann Hari refers to this classic article he wrote in 2009 on religious attacks on free speech. He also refers to the unfortunate scandal involving his own writings from last year. Your Thoughts?

Filed Under: Religious Rights Leave a Comment

Virginia's Aggressively Theocratic Governor

February 23, 2012 By 4 Comments

Have you gotten up to speed yet on Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s theocratic governor who is being touted as a serious contender to be the GOP Vice Presidential nominee? If not, Rachel Maddow’s report is eye opening, troubling, and must-see: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Your Thoughts?

Filed Under: Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Politics, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics Tagged With: , , 4 Comments

Religious Privilege and Grievance-Based Catholic Identity Politics on Full Display

February 7, 2012 By 12 Comments

In a column last week, Melinda Henneberger criticized the Obama administration’s refusal to exempt the Catholic Church from requirements it provide for its employees health insurance which would cover birth control at organizations it runs which have secular functions. The column is an extraordinary exemplification of religious entitlement, identity politics, and anti-secular, anti-democratic demands for [...]

Filed Under: Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Christianity, Christianity, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Faith, Feminism, Feminism, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, Law, Law, Law & Politics, News Discussion, News Discussion, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Rape, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

"What Are The Limits of Church Authority In the Public Sphere?"

February 5, 2012 By 55 Comments

This is part 2 of a debate with Roman Catholic theology graduate student named Mary. In part 1, we introduced and began to debate the topic of whether or not universities, hospitals, and social agencies run by the Catholic Church should be exempted from laws requiring employers to provide their employees health insurance that covers [...]

Filed Under: Abortion, Abortion, Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Authority, Authority, Autonomy, Autonomy, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Bio-Medical Ethics, Bio-Medical Ethics, Christianity, Christianity, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Feminism, Feminism, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Homophobia, Law, Law, LGBTQAA, News Discussion, News Discussion, Personal, Philosophy, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Moderates, Religious Moderates, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Religious Secularism, Religious Secularism, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 55 Comments

10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Against Bans on Shari'a Law

January 11, 2012 By 1 Comment

Andrew Cohen highlights and explains key sections of a ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which you can read in full here) that considers attempts to outlaw all  use of international law in legal judgments in the United States and which places special emphasis on outlawing considerations of Shari’a law as any [...]

Filed Under: Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Gay Rights, Law, Law & Politics, Politics, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics 1 Comment

Maryam Namazie Attacks Shari'a And Defends Muslim Immigrants Against The Far Right

November 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A great lecture and Q&A my estimable Freethought Blogs colleague Maryam Namazie: . An important excerpt from the Q&A: Look, George Bush says he attacked Iraq for women’s rights and I’m a women’s rights campaigner, but I don’t believe him. It’s possible that a politician will say something, that they’ve done something for a reason and, [...]

Filed Under: Authoritarianism, Authoritarianism, Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties, Cultural Secularism, Cultural Secularism, Feminism, Feminism, Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism, George W. Bush, George W. Bush, Islam, Islam, Koran, Koran, Law, Law, Law & Politics, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocrats, Theocrats, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Rights, Women's Issues Leave a Comment

Religious and Moral Conviction Provision Dropped From Anti-Bullying Law

November 19, 2011 By 9 Comments

On Sunday, I wrote a dialogue debating the pros and cons of specifically exempting statements of “sincere religious or moral convictions” from being taken as bullying in an anti-bullying law for schools. I’m only seeing now that on Monday there was big news about the proposed exception that sparked this debate: Gay and Muslim groups [...]

Filed Under: Free Speech, Free Speech, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, LGBTQAA, Religious Rights, Religious Rights 9 Comments

Bullying or Debating? Religious Privilege or Freedom of Speech?

November 13, 2011 By 33 Comments

Jaime: Did you see the Republicans just endorsed the right to bully in schools as long as it’s done in the name of religion. Kelly: They did not. Jaime: Yes. They did. They perversely added to anti-bullying bill the right to bully as long as such bullying was based on “sincerely held religious or moral convictions.” [...]

Filed Under: Applied Ethics, Applied Ethics, Atheism, Atheism, Atheism, Atheistic Ethics, Atheistic Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Contemporary Ethics, Ethical Pluralism, Ethical Pluralism, Ethics, Ethics, Free Speech, Free Speech, Homophobia, Homophobia, Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Law, Law, Law & Politics, LGBTQAA, Morality, Morality, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, New Atheism, News, News Discussion, News Discussion, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, Philosophy Of Religion, Political Secularism, Political Secularism, Politics, Politics, Racism, Religion, Religion, Religious Extremism, Religious Extremism, Religious Rights, Religious Rights, Right Wing Politics, Right Wing Politics, Same Sex Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Secularism, Separation of Church and State, Separation of Church and State, Theocrats, Theocrats Tagged With: , , 33 Comments