Harry's Place

I’ve just read about what seems to be a very worthwhile initiative, The Apostasy Project. Alom Shaha has set this up to support apostates from all faiths.  A while back I posted about some of the responses to his Young Atheist’s Handbook. Ex-Muslim Shaha reported that, happily, he had had no negative responses to his [...]

Modesty patrols, and zealous individuals, sometimes use intimidation and even violence in Israel to enforce their own standards in dress and behaviour on others.
In recent weeks, self-styled “modesty patrols” have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that [...]

This is a cross-post from Paul Canning
Remember when Michael Bloomberg tried to ban large cups of soft drinks (a judge blocked it) and it became a thing, a meme? Not just a local ordinance but a symbol of something else? ‘Big Brother’ vs ’save-the-obsese-children’?
What to say of the new University of California ‘educational’ ordinance banning [...]

I read today about a local pub’s slightly alarmed reaction to being the EDL’s choice for a ‘meet and greet’:
Greene King has distanced itself from the meetings of the group and gave a stark message to potential troublemakers.
A spokeswoman said: “We would like to reassure our customers that we do not align ourselves with any [...]

This is a guest post by Fiyaz Mughal
For some, March 14th is a clarion call against religious fundamentalism as the International Day of Action to Defend Apostates & Blasphemers. For others, it may be a day in which to attack faiths themselves as being doctrines that demand loyalty for a deity or deities which science can [...]

Today has been designated International Day to Defend Apostates and Blasphemers. There are blasphemy laws in place in over 30 countries, apostasy laws in over 20.  Maryam Namazie, Gita Sahgal, Peter Tatchell, together with many other activists, have signed a letter calling on readers to take action and drawing attention to the plight of some [...]

I know Chipping Norton and its environs pretty well, as my husband’s family live in the area.  Someone recently pointed out that David Cameron used to drink at x pub near Chippie. I said (with memories of certain conversations and jokes in my mind) that he was probably viewed by the locals as a dangerous [...]

I was shocked to read (via Alan) about the recent attack on Lars Hedegaard, who seems to have narrowly escaped being assassinated on account of his views on Islam/Muslims.  You can hear a recent interview with Hedegaard here. As Ben Six notes:
Opinions can be ignored and gunmen can’t, and when you are in the vicinity of [...]

I”ve been trying to track the views of Liberty in the wake of the Leveson report. Unlike the clarity from Index on Censorship, Liberty seems to be having a bit of struggle centred on Shami Chakrabarti. First there was a Mail story, where it was said Chakrabarti was dropping a bombshell. Later, over a croissant [...]

It’s difficult to know how individuals or organisations with ‘extreme’ views should be treated in different contexts.   Those who value free speech highly may prefer to counter, rather than ban, even the most hateful preachers or politicians.  Yesterday I invoked the example of a UKIP speaker being prevented from speaking at a university to demonstrate [...]