Democracy Archives - Heather's Homilies

Bangladesh: Another Atheist Blogger Hacked to Death

Heather Hastie — Thu, 14 May 2015 02:45:02 +0000

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 capital, Dhaka. It took the same line I have seen over and over again from Bangladeshi […]

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Evolution, Religion, and Freedom of Speech

Heather Hastie — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 05:56:27 +0000

Yesterday (26 March) was Richard Dawkins’s 74th birthday. I’m a big fan of Dawkins – it was while watching one of his documentaries a few years ago that I realized that I was an atheist, and had been at least agnostic since I was a child. The God Delusion was my first foray into atheist […]

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New Zealand Man Jailed for Blasphemy in Burma

Heather Hastie — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 02:59:25 +0000

I wrote about New Zealander Philip Blackwood here in January when he was still awaiting trial after his arrest on 10 December last year. 10 December is International Human Rights Day, and so I thought it particularly ironic that he was arrested for his particular “offence” on that day. So what did he do? He, […]

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International Women’s Day: 8 March 2015

Heather Hastie — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 07:21:51 +0000

The celebration of an International Women’s Day was first proposed at an international socialist women’s conference in August 1910. It was partly inspired by a women’s day celebrated by the Socialist Party of America in New York the previous year. Initially it was about promoting suffrage for all women, and was not celebrated in New […]

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New Zealand’s Blasphemy Law Must be Abolished

Heather Hastie — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 22:38:45 +0000

According to Wikipedia: Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious or holy persons or things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Blasphemy laws, therefore, are designed to protect religion (usually the dominant religion of a country) from criticism. They make the ideas of religion […]

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Scotland’s Positive Example to the World

Heather Hastie — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 04:30:15 +0000

It’s only a few hours now until voting starts in Scotland’s referendum to choose whether or not they stay part of the United Kingdom. The latest poll of decided voters is 49% pro-independence (Yes) and 51% pro-Union (No). Five percent of voters are still undecided and the vote is too close to call. My own […]

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