Margaret Downey (former president of Atheist Alliance International, now a “freethought free agent”) announces the formation of the Unity 2013 Event Committee. What is Unity 2013? Nobody knows just yet, but what we do know is that it’ll be big, it has the blessing of such notables as Daniel Dennett, and it’ll involve many (if not most) of the major freethought-friendly organizations. To keep abreast of the details as they unfold, check out the Unity 2013 Facebook page.
Archive for the ‘women's rights’ Category
Podcast #81 – Announcing Unity 2013
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Chris Matthews cuts loose on Bishop Thomas Tobin
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Ooh snap! MSNBC’s Chris Matthews really lays into Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin over his banning of Rep. Patrick Kennedy from Communion due to Kennedy’s support for abortion rights. Matthews trowels it on pretty thick but I think he’s on the right side of this one. I enjoyed this one. It’s not every day one of the clergy has his feet held to the fire like this.
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What does Bill Donohue wear under his burka?
Saturday, October 31st, 2009The only thing that makes me laugh more at Bill “Eye of Sauron” Donohue getting his rosary in a bunch is hearing him complain that “They only pick on the Catholics–they wouldn’t dare pick on the Muslims.” Which begs the question: why does the Eye only complain when “they” pick on Catholics, but never says a word when “they” pick on the Muslims? I wonder if ol’ Bill has seen this German lingerie commercial? (And when will the Muslims start their riots?)
France vs. Islam: Round 1,872
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009An Islamic woman in France has been turned away from a public swimming pool for trying to take a dip while wearing a “burquini.” What’s a burquini, you ask? It’s a non-form-fitting full-body swimsuit which allows Muslim women to go to the beach (or in this case, to the pool) without violating Sharia. France has an estimated 5-6 million Muslim citizens (that’s 8-9% of the population!) and there is occasional friction between the assiduously secular government and the Islamic community, most notably over women wearing religious headscarves in public schools.
Snowflakes in July
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Well, it’s July 1st, and that means that a whole passel of new laws go into effect here in Georgia, including one that will allow frozen embryos stored in fertility clinics to be adopted. Since embryos are nothing less than children it makes sense they can be adopted, yes? Except, of course, that current adoption law in Georgia only applies to actual children; so this new law, the “Option of Adoption Act” (HB388 if you’re interested) stops short of declaring embryos to be actual children, and instead of “adoption” per se we have “embryo transfer” and instead of “adoptive parent” we have “recipient intended parent.”
Way to go Malawi!
Saturday, April 25th, 2009First I hear that Nigerians are planning a conference to combat witch-hunting, child abuse and Christian fundamentalism. Now Malawi is stepping up. I have no idea how many people this message will reach via my blog, but since I think it’s a worthy effort, I’m passing this along:
Witch-hunting is no laughing matter
Saturday, April 25th, 2009If, like mine, your first reaction in hearing about modern-day witch-hunting is to snicker–don’t. It’s just a bunch of superstitious silliness, right? Think again. Witch-hunting kills. It destroys lives. Read this chilling article from Johann Hari. Maybe we won’t snicker so much the next time we see that clip of Sarah Palin being blessed by self-proclaimed Nigerian witch-hunter Thomas Muthee. Muthee isn’t just some African blowhard conning a bunch of Alaskan yahoos. His actions have ruined peoples lives and reputations.
For some reason, witch-hunting seems all the rage in Africa lately. Thankfully, skeptical/secular Africans are working to change that.
New NY archbishop to “challenge” criticism
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
I guess the Eye of Sauron is tap-dancing with glee in his dank sub-basement, since he’ll soon have a new ally. The AP reports: “The incoming archbishop of New York [Timothy Dolan] says he will challenge any suggestion that Roman Catholics are unenlightened because they oppose gay marriage and abortion.”
Well, la-dee-da. May I be the first to assert, not just suggest, that the Roman Catholic Church is unenlightened, for a variety of reasons beyond their positions on gay marriage and abortion. Bring it on, m***********s!
Women’s Rights (or lack thereof) in Algeria
Saturday, March 28th, 2009Here’s an enlightening (and simultaneously frustrating) documentary (about an hour long) about one young woman (Chahinaz) and her quest to overcome religious and traditional constraints on women’s rights in Algeria. Progress in the Muslim world is frustratingly slow. Then again, look at the situation in the US 150 years ago and how far we’ve come since then. But can we wait 150 years for places like Algeria to catch up?
Penn & Teller do the Vatican
Monday, August 31st, 2009I don’t know how long this video will be up, so watch it sooner rather than later. It’s the latest episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, in which they take on the Vatican, holding nothing back:
Penn & Teller: Bullshit – The Vatican from Stian Solberg on Vimeo.
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Tags: bill donohue, bullshit, catholic church, catholic league, eye of sauron, penn and teller, pope, vatican
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