An atheist group at Reading University in England was thrown out of a freshman gathering for displaying a pineapple they had named Mohammed to make a point about both blasphemy laws and the absurd notion that religious beliefs should have special protection from criticism and insult.
Category Archive: Religious Authoritarianism
Oct 08 2012
Why Women Can’t Be Allowed to Drive
If you think the ridiculous arguments used by the Christian right in America to justify their authoritarian policies are bad, the Muslim right in Saudi Arabia is even worse. Now they’ve decided that letting women drive will lead to premarital sex and turn men gay.
Sep 30 2012
Arab League Leader Demands Criminalization of Blasphemy
I’ve heard people in the past wonder about the wisdom of celebration International Blasphemy Rights Day, which is today. The last couple weeks have, with spectacular timing, underscored the importance of standing against religious authoritarianism and in favor of free speech. Now the head of the Arab League has called for global criminalization of any …
Sep 14 2012
Indiana Mayor Throws Out Sikh Pamphlets
This story is so staggeringly idiotic that it makes you wonder how anyone in their right mind, much less an elected official, could possibly have not realized at the time just how asinine it is. Just wait till you read what one Indiana mayor did recently:
Aug 26 2012
Iran Bans Women From Many College Courses
It isn’t quite as bad as Afghanistan, where the Taliban continues to kill little girls that go to school and those who dare to teach them how to read, but Iran is now banning women from many university classes and from some universities altogether.
Aug 08 2012
Wingnut on Wingnut Crime: Keyes v Scalia
Justice Scalia has been on a publicity tour for his latest book and giving interviews to major media outlets. One of the things he has said over and over again throughout his time on the bench is that majoritarianism should rule in the absence of a specific right named in the constitution (like most conservatives, …
Jul 25 2012
Orthodox Jews Want Dress Code
The same ultra-orthodox Jews in New York who have tried to require women to ride in the back of city buses are now trying to control how people dress when they walk into their stores, putting up signs that refuse service to anyone who wears shorts or sleeveless dresses.
Jul 25 2012
Sanal Edamaruku Update
The disgusting situation in India, where skeptic Sanal Edamaruku is facing criminal charges for daring to offend a group of Catholics by showing that their “miracle” is nonsense, continues to simmer. The court where the charges were filed, in Mumbai, denied him “anticipatory bail,” which would have allowed him to be released upon posting bail, …
Jul 12 2012
Christian and Muslim Join Forces to Ban Hotel Porn
If you needed another reminder of how the Christian right in America is actually very much like the Muslim right that they tend to be so freaked out over, take a look at this letter sent by Robert George and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf to hotel executives asking them to get rid of adult movies in …
Jun 26 2012
Yet Another Blasphemy Case
I’ve lost count of how many blasphemy prosecutions I’ve written about in the Muslim world. The latest is from Malaysia, where a bookstore manager has been arrested and faces two years in prison for selling an unapproved book to a customer. The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, reports:
Jun 06 2012
Kuwaiti Man Gets 10 Years for Blasphemy
Here’s another reason to love the First Amendment and the bedrock principle that it is never okay for the government — any government — to punish people for the invented crime of blasphemy. A Kuwaiti man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for that “crime.”
May 31 2012
What Leviticus Bans
Christian bigots love to quote Leviticus 20:13, which says that gay men should be put to death (but not gay women, of course), but rarely do they cite the enormous list of other things that Leviticus makes illegal and sometimes punishable by death. Here’s a list of 76 things banned in that book of the …
Apr 12 2012
Douthat’s Oppressive Religious Center
Russ Douthat has an opinion column in the New York Times bemoaning the fact that this year’s presidential candidates show so much religious diversity. Religious diversity? They’re all one form of Christian or another. This is religious diversity? Douthat thinks it should be even less diverse.
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