equality

A collection of 116 posts

Donald Trump

Michelle Obama's Superb Speech. I'll Miss Her (and I'm a Brit...).

Wow. THIS is how to be dignified and a meaningful politician. THIS is how to react to the sheer idiocy of Trump. Professional yet heartfelt. Exceptionally powerful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7e3QKKOp50

bible

Ten Reasons for Women to Reject Christianity

This is a guest post from Karne L. Garst who is just releasing a fascinating book called Women Beyond Belief: check it out, as it is shipping now! She recently contributed a guest post, "Christianity, Virginity and Sex". 1. Eve Most Christians believe that God is omnipotent which

equality

Christianity, Virginity and Sex - Guest Post by Karen L. Garst

There are unlikely any two memes in Christianity that have done more to subordinate women than the issues of virginity and sexual desire. From the story of Eve’s bite of fruit in the Garden of Eden to the gospel stories of Jesus’ virgin birth, these two issues have been

Church

Mormons Are Mass Resigning over LGBT Beliefs

Homosexuality is frowned upon in Mormonism. Increasingly so. In 2015, the LDS church produced some pretty staggering anti-gay policy: It added same-sex marriage to acts considered to be a renunciation of the Mormon faith and thus subject to church discipline, including excommunication.... The new church policy follows a landmark US

equality

Religious Nebraska Woman Sues All Homosexuals. Yes, All.

You couldn't make this up. Only in America! [Edit - this happened some time ago] As Time reports: Nebraska's Sylvia Driskell will represent herself in Driskell v. Homosexuals A Nebraska woman is suing every gay person on Earth and asking a federal judge to rule on

equality

Internalised Patriarchy and Posting Tweets

Internalising patriarchy is a term that can be used to refer to incidents when women perpetuate sexist ideology through their own behaviour. The idea is that as women are themselves victim to skewed ideas of gender roles, and gender, within society, that hey can end up saying and doing things

equality

House Erupts as GOP Blocks Measure To Protect LGBT Americans

This is an embedded facebook video so you may need to turn your adblockers off as they often block these. This is a shocker and American GOP politicians should be ashamed of themselves and a system that allows this to happen.

Barack Obama

White Supremacy and the US Presidency

This is a meme going about the internet at the moment, but I think it is pretty much on the money. What do you think? When a faithfully married black president who was the son of a single-mother, the first black editor of Harvard Law review and a professor of

equality

"The migrants" vs "migrants"

It's interesting, watching the BBC Newsnight debate on immigration in the EU and many other TV/radio programmes, and hearing anti-immigration spokespeople / UKIP councillors etc. refer to migrants as "THE migrants". This may seem petty, but I think it is a really nuanced and subtle (and

Bangladesh

Bangladesh LGBT editor hacked to death

The BBC is reporting this breaking news, so check back there for updates: Police in Bangladesh say two people including a leading gay rights activist and editor at Bangladesh's only LGBT magazine have been hacked to death. The US ambassador to Bangladesh condemned the killing of Xulhaz Mannan,

equality

Bryan Adams Follows Springsteen in Cancelling Show over Anti-Gay Laws

Bryan Adams has followed suit from the example Bruce Springsteen and some large corporations in pulling out of a show in Mississippi. As the BBC states: Bryan Adams has cancelled a concert in Mississippi over the US state's new controversial religious liberty law. The law, which allows some

equality

Puberty as Defining Marriage and Sex in Islamic Yemen. As Young as 9...

This video is pretty shocking. The girl is awesome - so erudite (it appears) and her uncles seems to have been an excellent influence. But the cleric! The cleric! This is where morality sans religion needs to be better sought. That said, I was surprised to find that the age

equality

Springsteen cancels North Carolina concert over 'anti-gay' law

The BBC reports: Bruce Springsteen has cancelled a concert in North Carolina, joining business groups in condemning a state law that rolls back protection for gay and transgender people. The law invalidated several local anti-discrimination measures that protected gay and transgender people. It also requires people to use public toilets

Church

19th Century Feminists: Religion & Church As A Barrier To Gender Equality

As it's International Woman's Day... Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote a super chapter ("Woman, What Have I To Do With Thee?) in John Loftus' book Christianity Is Not Great (in which I myself have a chapter on morality). The chapter details "Christianity's

equality

Denmark Opens Its First Women-led Mosque

In an interesting development in Denmark, the first women-led mosque has opened. This can only be a good sign for those who want Islam to adopt modern, progressive attitudes. As the Guardian reports: Scandinavia’s first female-led mosque has opened in Copenhagen in a bid to challenge “patriarchal structures” and

Australia

Former Oz PM Tony Abbott's Dubious Speaking Engagements

The very bad Australian Prime Minister (yes, in my humble opinion), who was known for his horrendous gaffes and awkward moments, is now doing the rounds in the US. He is a Christian (Catholic) fundamentalist who opposed, in his tenure, all sorts of progressive measures and ideas (you know, like

Church

Anti-LGBT pastor resigns after Grindr photos, hook-up conversations exposed

This always seems to happen. It is far too frequent to be a coincidence, and cognitive dissonance must play a part. Or just a very bad attempt to bluff. Anywho, here is an example from a few months back. This is LGBTQ Nation: MIDLAND, Mich. — An anti-gay pastor in Michigan

equality

My letter to Goldsmiths in support of Maryam Namazie

For what it's worth, I wrote a letter to the Goldsmiths Student Union and University Communications team in support of Maryam Namazie. If you are unaware of what has recently been going on, Namazie, an atheist ex-Muslim secularist was asked to speak to the Goldsmiths Uni Atheists and Humanists. Howe

COVID crisis

Abortion, gay marriage and gun control

This is my favourite meme at present. Says it all.

equality

Dawkins, Islam and feminism

Dawkins has just been trashed by a feminist guest contributor to The Friendly Atheist. TFA is usually well on the money, but this recent article had me annoyed. A lot. It all started with this seemingly innocuous tweet:

Daily Mail

Why the Daily Mail is a pathetically crap newspaper

Liz Kendall, running for Labour leadership in the UK, was rightfully indignant about the shiteness of the Daily Mail, Britain's worst paper. Seriously, what century are we in? As the BBC reports: Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has said it is "unbelievable" she was asked about

equality

Are you a gay ex-Muslim?

I am interested in the conflict within Islam between being gay and believing in the Qu'ran and the Hadith. I would like to know if you have a story to tell about this that you could write for me and post here. I have had many arguments with

Australia

Tony Abbott and sexism

The present conservative leader of Australia is an utter fruit-loop. Julia Gillard, the Labour ex-PM of the country, a few years back, let rip. This is great rhetorical stuff:

equality

Petition for Jenner to give back medals...

Is it a poe? That's the question. It is written in such a way that it reads to me as a poe. Here is the chang.org petition description which comes in light of Olympic athlete and medal-winner Bruce Jenner's recent announcement of being trans and having a transition to Caitlyn Jenner. There has be

equality

Rooney Rule and Positive Descrimination

This is something I wrote four years ago on my previous blog, but thought it was interesting to bring up again. I thought about it in response to a comment over on fellow writer Rebecca Bradley's Lateral Truth piece, "Social Justice: A Millenarian Movement": Recently, the PFA (Professional Footba