Teenage Girl Crucified In France 'To Expel Demons'
Shocker. Absolute shocker. Such ignorance. As the Huffington Post reports: A teenage girl in France narrowly survived a violent week-long crucifixion-style exorcism.
Jonathan MS Pearce
Why I Support the Teachers' Strike - I will be on the March!
On the 17th October, teachers in my area will be striking. Here are the reasons why I support this strike with every fibre of my being and why I will be with my
Moustache elicits Taliban death threats
OK, so this is the world's greatest moustache. But this guy put his life on the line for it in the face of religious extremism. Shit, he even put his family second to the mighty facial hair. Here is Salon.com's take on it (H/T Reasonable Doubts):
My Nativity Talk Now a Podcast
I can't remember if I let anyone know, but my talk on the Nativity given to the Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub group in 2012 is a podcast which can be
Sex, Doubt and the Pope
Many liberal Catholics have been encouraged by Pope Francis’s comments about sexual ethics in a recent interview. His general point was that these are lesser matters, not to be emphasized at the expense of the church’s essential message of healing and salvation.
Book on Infinity and God
I know that I have said this before, but I am very sorry for being scarce on the blog just now. Work is full on just now, as well as having heaps to do on the writing and editing front (and a talk to do at Bournemouth University tonight). One book I am editing is in the final stages. The book is by
My very short review for John Loftus' Outsider Test for Faith
I gave a very short amazon review which will hopefully be a precursor to a longer more in depth view of John Loftus' excellent book, The Outsider Test for Faith:
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Mwah! This made me laugh: To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also
An Indictment of British (Faith) Free Schools
I am a big advocate of the state education sector in Britain. I hate Michael Gove, the Conservative Education Minister, with a passion. He is trying to deregulate and effectively privatise the education
I am rationally Islamaphobic
This may be an oxymoron because a phobia is often, though not always, seen as an irrational or disproportionate fear of something, I contest that my fear of Islam is either disproportionate or irrational. I have a fear which is, I argue, perfectly rational; empirical, even.
Concerns raised about gender and religious discrimination at Derby Muslim Free School
The Derby Telegraph has reported that Al-Madinah School, a Muslim Free School that opened in Derby in September 2012, is forcing all female members of staff to wear a hijab (whether Muslim or not), and is requiring girls to sit at the back of classrooms. The Sunday Times is further reporting that re
British Social Attitudes Survey shows 48% of Britons non religious
The results of the 30th British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) released last week show almost half of the population say that they do not belong to a religion. The increase in the non religious is almost entirely mirrored by a decline in the proportion of people who describe themselves as belonging t