by Heather Hastie | Aug 20, 2015 | Middle East, Religion, Terrorism
Renowned antiquities scholar, Khaled al-Asaad (82), is dead. On Tuesday (18 August 2015) a member of DAESH chopped his head off then hung his body from a column in the town square in Palmyra, Syria. Why? Because he wouldn’t tell them where some Syrian...
by Heather Hastie | Aug 9, 2015 | Democracy, Freedom of Speech, New Zealand, Religion, Winners and Worries
It’s a good thing I thought of a saint this week before I watched the rugby last night. Australia beat the All Blacks, and I have to be honest – Australia deserved the win. It’s all a bit depressing. Later this afternoon New Zealand time it’s...
by Heather Hastie | Jul 6, 2015 | Great Britain & Europe, History, Religion
The Crusades carried out by Western Christendom in the Middle East (there were also Christian crusades within Europe) during the Middle Ages continue to cast a blight over the relationship between the West and the Muslim world to this day. Armies from the West...
by Heather Hastie | Jul 2, 2015 | Religion, US Politics, USA
Note: For those who may find them them offensive, at the end of this post is a Jesus and Mo cartoon. I happened to hear the beginning of Fox News’s Hannity today before my dive for the remote shut him up. The opening words were, “Tonight, Christianity...
by Heather Hastie | Jun 21, 2015 | Religion
I’ve been unable to post to my website for almost two weeks, but thanks to the heroic efforts of BuildBusiness (who host my website) over several days, I’m back up and running. A couple of days ago, Jerry Coyne kindly posted something I’d written but...
by Heather Hastie | May 14, 2015 | Atheism, Democracy, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Religion
On 21 April, Bangladesh’s The Daily Star published an opinion article entitled The extent of freedom of expression. It was written by senior law lecturer Mirza Farzana Iqbal Chowdhury of Daffodil International University, a private university in the Bangladeshi...
