March 2007
The Archives
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03.31.07U.N. council votes to condemn religious defamationToday I ran across a news article about a recent resolution passed by the U.N. Human Rights Council “urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of religion”. I was curious, so I tried searching for the exact text of the resolution to see how it was worded, but the best I could find was this summary (scroll down a bit) of the resolution and the ensuing vote. Basically, the resolution condemns discrimination against individuals for their religious beliefs, particularly Muslims who have faced considerable discrimination after 9/11. But it also contains what I consider to be a fairly controversial proposal: ...
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03.25.07A form of religion in the classroom that I can get behindThis week’s Time Magazine cover story is titled “The Case for Teaching The Bible”. It details the recent success and support of a new high school curriculum that gives The Bible a completely neutral treatment, teaching the story of The Bible in much the same way one might teach The Great Gatsby. This is a fantastic idea. Regardless of what one thinks about the truth or value of The Bible, there is no denying its pervasive influence, both in pop culture and in political discourse. Without any knowledge of The Bible, how can someone understand the emotionally charged debates over issues ...
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03.22.07End of Quarter Wrap-UpThe end of the quarter is upon us already! It passed by too quickly. BASS would like to thank all the people that have made this quarter of BASS meetings and events fun and stimulating. A brief recap of this quarter: We had 9 meetings this quarter. Some were bland, others loud with discussions, but overall fun and sociable. We had our first event this quarter! Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation gave a lecture on the historicity of Jesus. We finally got our signboard out on Bruinwalk this quarter. It is a beauty according to BASS members (we’ll put a ...
