by Heather Hastie | Apr 15, 2015 | Africa, Religion, Terrorism
It’s been just over a year since 219 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria by Boko Haram. That atrocity prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Those girls still aren’t home, although there has been a report that some were...
by Heather Hastie | Feb 13, 2015 | Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Religion, Terrorism, USA
On Tuesday 10 February 2015, Sydney Police arrested two Muslim men. They had received information that they planned to carry out a random murder that day. On raiding the men’s home the police found a hunting knife, a DAESH flag and a self-made video describing...
by Heather Hastie | Feb 7, 2015 | Democracy, Freedom of Speech, International Politics, Religion, Terrorism, US Politics, USA
In the United States there is a growing rift between Democrats and Republicans on how to describe the terrorism in the Middle East and northern Nigeria. (As if politics in America needed any more rifts!) The Obama administration will not use the word...
by Heather Hastie | Dec 7, 2014 | Atheism, Religion, Terrorism
Most mornings, the first thing I do is read my favourite website: Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution is True, named for his book of the same name. It’s still the day before in Chicago, where Professor Jerry Coyne usually writes from. So, when I wake up a there are already a...
by Heather Hastie | Nov 8, 2014 | Religion, Terrorism
DAESH, ISIL, ISIS, IS: What’s in a Name? Surely a terrorist group, by any name, would smell as rotten? (Sorry Shakespeare, but we even have roses that don’t smell at all these days!) I came to the decision a few weeks ago to use the acronym DAESH when referring to the...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 30, 2014 | Atheism, Religion, Terrorism
One of the journalists I most admire is Christiane Amanpour. I never miss her show Amanpour on CNN International if I can help it. On 21 October though she disappointed me – she fell into the trap many liberal Americans do (and New Zealanders too, as I’ve...
