Simply revolting. The Roman Catholic church has written to every state-funded Catholic secondary school in England and Wales asking them to encourage pupils to sign a petition against gay marriage…The Catholic Education Service, which acts for Catholic bishops in England and Wales, contacted 385 secondary schools to highlight a letter read in parish churches last …
Monthly Archive: April 2012
Apr 26 2012
Just what the schools need
The Washington Post is slobbering all over an evangelist called Joel Osteen. He’s visiting Washington and thrilling the fans, we’re told. Well, maybe, but I am told he is also visiting a public elementary school today. Why? As my informant put it: Fewer than 20% of these students read at grade level. Fewer than 13% …
Apr 25 2012
Failure to comprehend
I don’t understand. Eleven years ago, Farida Bano was circumcised had her genitals mutilated by an aunt on a bunk bed in her family home at the end of her 10th birthday party. The mutilation occurred not in Africa, where the practice is most prevalent, but in India where a small Muslim sub-sect known as …
Apr 25 2012
The spirit of Tahrir
Update: April 27: It may be that this is a fake. There are murmurs to that effect but I haven’t found anything authoritative yet. I’ll update if I do. Be careful before you read this. Don’t be drinking wine or coffee or lemonade while you read. Put down anything fragile. Close the windows. If you’re at work, brace …
Apr 25 2012
Nicer, sweeter, less outspoken
Anna Quindlen was on Fresh Air yesterday, and she said something I’ve been pondering a good deal lately. As a little girl, Anna Quindlen wasn’t afraid of a whole lot. She frequently got into trouble and occasionally shot off her mouth. But as she grew older, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer became what she calls a …
Apr 24 2012
“A selective fear of Islamists”
Oh the stupid…It just gets worse. Samia Errazzouki also hated Eltahawy’s article. And she gave us this gem of wisdom as part of her argument: Eltahawy points to “hate” as the source and cause of the injustices committed against Arab women. She scapegoats the rise of the Islamists, but Maya Mikdashi debunked that argument a …
Apr 24 2012
So comrades come rally
I’m going to look some more at Nahed Eltantawy’s anger at Mona Eltahawy’s article about misogyny in the Middle East, because there’s something really sinister about it. I refuse to be lumped into this monolithic group of oppressed, abused and hated victims. Arab women’s problems are not the same across the board. Even within one …
Apr 24 2012
You gonna believe Mona Eltahawy or the grand mufti?
Nahed Eltantawy responds to Mona Eltahawy’s article on woman-hating in the Middle East. She hates it. I felt deeply offended and insulted by Mona Eltahawy’s latest article in Foreign Policy, titled Why Do They Hate Us? I follow Eltahawy’s columns quite regularly and I accept many of her arguments, even if I do not …
Apr 24 2012
How did that get there?!
There’s a new group in Tunisia, Equality and Parity, that is protesting the wearing of the niqab. Equality and Parity promised that they will plan manifestations and sit-ins if women’s rights are violated in Tunisia. The group lobbies against denigrating women’s representation in decision-making – whether it be in the political, social, cultural, or economic …
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