Category: Living on the Hill

Who’s Afraid Of Cultural Appropriation?

May 7, 2018 | by | 1 Comments
The online harassment of Keziah Daum for ‘cultural appropriation’ of a Chinese dress underscores the escalating cultural segregation of society. Dr Christine Louis-Dit-Sully & Courtney Hamilton ‘I hope the concept of cultural appropriation is a passing fad’ – some wishful thinking from the author Lionel Shriver, at the Brisbane Writers Festival two years ago. For […] Read more

Populism and Brexit with Brendan O’Neill

May 6, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
In Part Three of his interview with Conatus News, Spiked Magazine editor Brendan O’Neill discusses populism in Britain and Brexit. Brian Graham.: Let’s turn to the opposition that you’ve been talking about, this business of elitist and populist. In actual fact, what I’d like to do is vault over the positive sides of populism and […] Read more

We Must Support Britain’s Secular Muslims

May 2, 2018 | by | 1 Comments
Secular Muslims like Sajid Javid in prominent government posts are victories for the battle of hearts and minds. In tough times for Muslims in public life, a cohort of secular Britons hailing from Muslim communities are challenging assumptions and extremism on all sides. This week, as a result of the Home Office scandal on the treatment […] Read more

No Free Speech For Racists and Fascists?

May 2, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
As ever, the debate about ‘free speech’ continues to rage. But recently, I’ve seen it suggested that the only reason someone would defend freedom of speech for racists is if they were, themselves, racist. This just helps to demonstrate the point, however, that restricting freedom of speech for some people threatens everyone else. Many of […] Read more

The Missed Opportunity of Gonski 2.0

May 1, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
The Gonski 2.0 report is a missed opportunity which doubles down on what has caused declining achievement standards in Australian education. On Monday morning in Australia, the much-anticipated Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools was released to the public. More commonly referred to as Gonski 2.0, the second iteration of the report on education […] Read more

The Growing Tide of Violent Rhetoric Against Baha’is in Houthi Yemen

May 1, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
Yemen’s Houthis incite violence against Baha’is on social media.   On March 23, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdel-Malek Al-Houthi made a speech in which he called the Baha’i faith a “satanic” movement that wished to “wage war” against Islam. On the same day of Al-Houthi’s speech, Houthi activist Ahmed Ayed published a tweet stating “we will […] Read more

The Fallacy of “Woke Anti-Science”

April 28, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
The claim that science is inherently untrustworthy because of past errors is fallacious and shows a lack of understanding of the scientific method. “Remember, science can’t be trusted because of the history of phrenology and eugenics”. Strange how nobody thinks science can’t be trusted because scientists once posited the existence of “ether” – the imagined […] Read more

Sceptic Amardeo Sarma on Humanism and Rationalism in the West

April 25, 2018 | by | 0 Comments
German sceptic Amardeo Sarma discusses critically analysing entrenched belief systems, including religion and a shockingly fervent homeopathic movement. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Was there a family background in humanism or rationalism for you? Amardeo Sarma: No, because both my parents were moderately religious. In fact, to give you an example, when I grew up, my father […] Read more