by Heather Hastie | Jan 4, 2016 | Asia, Atheism, Auē a Tau Kē, Freedom of Speech, NZ Politics
The Murder of Atheist Bloggers in Bangladesh On 14 May 2015 I posted Bangladesh: Another Atheist Blogger Hacked to Death. This post was mainly about the murder two days earlier of Ananta Bijoy Das, the fourth atheist blogger hacked to death in the streets of...
by Heather Hastie | Jul 26, 2015 | Human Rights, New Zealand, NZ Politics, US Politics, Winners and Worries
This is a new weekly feature I’m introducing – I’m hoping that I’ll keep it up and it’ll mean I’m posting something at least once a week. I’ve been pretty slack lately – just this week I’ve written half of three...
by Heather Hastie | Jun 7, 2015 | New Zealand, NZ Politics
I discovered just a few weeks ago that in 2011, after a presentation from some anti-fluoride activists, my local council stopped putting fluoride in our water. Their presentation went unchallenged, but was supported by one councillor, and by the end of the meeting...
by Heather Hastie | Jan 18, 2015 | Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, New Zealand, NZ Politics, Religion
According to Wikipedia: Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious or holy persons or things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Blasphemy laws, therefore, are designed to protect religion...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 21, 2014 | International Politics, Middle East, NZ Politics, Religion, Terrorism
Islamophobia-phobia is the fear of appearing to be Islamophobic. I have to give credit to author and television personality Greg Gutfeld (Fox News’s The Five, Red Eye) for the term. The Five is a guilty pleasure of mine, and it was while watching this show that I...
by Heather Hastie | Sep 23, 2014 | Democracy, NZ Politics
On 20 September, New Zealand re-elected prime minister John Key to a third term in office, and gave his centre-right party enough votes to govern alone, which is virtually unheard of in a proportional representation system like ours. The main reason for his success is...
