Calls to ban the burqa come from both the conservative and liberal sides of the fence. But a possible ban has nothing to do with women’s liberation and everything to do with defending the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, writes Jacinda Woodhead.
Atheism
Australia’s religious lobby has pushed too far
This one’s buzzing about the Aussie blogosphere today: Sunshine Coast Athiests declares war on the “political posturing” of Australia’s religious institutions: the sleeping “atheist dragon” has been woken, it warns. Let the fire breathing begin!
The great atheist debate
Is there an atheist schism? Ophelia Benson explores the different disagreements amongst atheists, from those who just want to not believe and shut up and those who wish to preach the atheist movement. Is there an ironic war brewing?
VIDEO: Bill O’Reilly vs. Richard Dawkins
Hoo boy, you just know you’re in for an epic shit-fight: a smack-down between conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly and militant Atheist Richard Dawkins. Naturally, the f-word gets an airing: fascism, that is.
Guy Rundle: Hitchens not such a lovely little thinker
Guy Rundle recounts Christopher Hitchens’ talk at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, where the crowd had their highly specific appetites and prejudices flattered, and loved every second of it.
Nearly all Americans believe in God? Not any more
With 40 million nonbelievers, secularists have very quietly become one of America’s largest minorities.
