by Heather Hastie | Nov 18, 2016 | New Zealand, Religion
In the early hours of Monday morning, New Zealand experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Two people were killed and there has been extensive damage. The lives of thousands were thrown into turmoil. Any earthquake that big is naturally reported all over the world....
by Heather Hastie | Nov 5, 2016 | Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Religion
On 25 October the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a ‘Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists’. The guide includes a list of fifteen people, two of whom have caused a great deal of controversy – Maajid Nawaz and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A Change.org...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 3, 2016 | Atheism, Religion
Entries for the competition closed on 30 September, and I said I’d announce winners shortly after, so here goes. You will remember there were two categories: 1. Sokal-type Essay Write an essay of an experience that led to a “personal” epiphany of the...
by Heather Hastie | Sep 14, 2016 | International Politics, Religion
The fifteenth anniversary of Al Qaeda’s attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the attempted attack that resulted in a plane crash in Pennsylvania has just passed. Almost 3,000 people were murdered that day by Islamist...
by Heather Hastie | Aug 31, 2016 | Atheism, Religion
Many of you, like me, are readers of Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution is True website. Yesterday he posted a story called ‘Templeton-sponsored essay contest: Big bucks for telling stories about accommodationism’. It detailed an essay competition offering...
by Heather Hastie | Aug 22, 2016 | Religion
Fareed Zakaria’s Why They Hate Us, updated to include the Orlando massacre, has been playing on CNN again this weekend. It’s an excellent documentary by one of my favourite commentators. (The full 40 minute documentary is at the bottom of this post.) Reza Aslan,...
