Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
A very brave Saudi Arabian blogger, Raif Badawi (pictured above), was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes for the (from the viewpoint of the Saudi authorities) hideous crime of starting a progressive website. It contained ideas that truly frightened and terrified them, for example religious tolerance and women’s rights, and so they came down hard on … Read more
Kashif N. Chaudhry, a member of the fringe Ahmadiyya sect, writes in the Huffington Post to defend the idea that the Quran does not specifically endorse the idea of putting people to death for Apostasy. He makes a reasonable argument for this stance, and the fact that this is a non-violent stance is of course … Read more
The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council has been giving the idea of “freedom to believe” some thought, so what have the come up with? They have issued 18 pages of EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief. It basically endorses the concept of freedom of thought and points out that this includes all … Read more
In Today’s UK telegraph, Brendan O’Neill rants about a bunch of Christians being told to not make outrageous fraudulent claims, because doing so infringes upon their religious freedom. We have a special scientific word that accurately describes that stance, and that word is “Bullshit” …let me explain and fill you in on all the details. An organization in Bath … Read more
There is a thought provoking article by Christopher Hitchens that was published in Slate on 6th Sept (Yes, OK, I’m a slow reader, even if it is 2 days later, I get there eventually). Do you truly believe in “Freedom of Religion? Without giving it too much thought, the immediate off the cuff remark might … Read more