Censureship 13 Jan 2008 Lawyers shouldn’t determine who gets to read what. Religions shouldn’t determine who gets to think what. But the worst combination is when religions use lawyers to stop criticism of their actions and beliefs. Scientology, the money making scam purveyed by the mentally deficient (I can’t think of a nicer way to say it), has prevented Andrew Morton’s biography of Tom Cruise, the couch and shark jumping actor, from being sold in Australia. This follows similar moves made, by threats of litigation as usual, in the UK. Now, I don’t know whether Morton’s biography is a piece of crap or a meticulously researched and authoritative study, but I am minded to buy a copy by the internet just to spite the Scientologists. Freedom Politics Religion FreedomReligion
History Rovian dialogue 3 Nov 200818 Sep 2017 I’ve had this on my office door for four years now. Read More
General Science The Golden Compass – a lead ballon? 29 Dec 2007 Henry Gee reviews the Golden Compass, and comes up with largely the same conclusions I would have had I been as insightful as he. A quote: It’s a long time since I read the book, The Northern Lights, on which the film is based, so perhaps it’s a problem with… Read More
Religion What is atheism? 1 Aug 200818 Sep 2017 Every so often we start a discussion somewhere about who is and who isn’t an atheist. PZ Mackers has the poster shown below up on his blog: I want to look at the term and associated meanings of “atheist” and cognate terms, because the way I taxonomise the world, only… Read More
This has been a pretty standard Scientology tact for some time. They’re a religion until someone publishes a critical book, and then it becomes a copyright issue. They did an attempted purge on the Internet about six or seven years ago. What seems very sad is that the courts let this crooked organization get away with it. I can’t support Germany’s attempts to outright ban them, but I certainly understand the underlying sentiment.
This has been a pretty standard Scientology tact for some time. They’re a religion until someone publishes a critical book, and then it becomes a copyright issue. They did an attempted purge on the Internet about six or seven years ago. What seems very sad is that the courts let this crooked organization get away with it. I can’t support Germany’s attempts to outright ban them, but I certainly understand the underlying sentiment.