Category: Uncommon Ground

Islam: No Justice for Victims of Blasphemy Killings in Nigeria?

November 5, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
A court in Kano state in Northern Nigeria has acquitted five persons who were arrested in connection with the killing of a Christian female trader, Bridget Agbahime, from Southern Nigeria. She was murdered on June 2 at Kofai Wambai market after some exchanges with some Muslims. Her killers attacked her with dangerous weapons and slit […] Read more

Islam – No Mockery Allowed: A New Case

November 4, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
In the UK, a well-known athlete, Louis Smith, has been disciplined and suspended by British Gymnastics – the UK body governing the sport – for having engaged in some private drunken mockery of Islam which he recorded on his phone and which was subsequently leaked to the Press. A British Gymnastics spokesperson commented ‘British Gymnastics […] Read more

Interview with Professor  ​Rebecca Goldstein — Novelist, Philosopher, and Public Intellectual

November 2, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
Professor Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a novelist, philosopher, public intellectual, and visiting Professor of Philosophy and English at New York University and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the New College of the Humanities. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is your family story? I was brought up in an Orthodox Jewish household. My father was a refugee […] Read more

Interview with Roslyn Mould -​ President of the Humanist Association of Ghana; Chair of the African working group (IHEYO)

November 2, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You grew up as a Catholic. You went to Holy Child School, Cape Coast as well. What is your story as a youth growing up in a religious household? What was the experience? I attended Catholic schools, St. Theresa’s School in Accra from primary, junior high school and in Holy Child School […] Read more

Exclusive Interview with ​Stephanie Guttormson ​- Operations Director for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

November 2, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
Stephanie Guttormson is the current Operations Director for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science – a foundation she joined in March of 2013. Stephanie was the leader of an award winning student group at the Metropolitan State University of Denver which impressively brought in notable names such as Michael Shermer and James Randi to speak on campus. Scott […] Read more

The Case of Monogamy

October 27, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
42% of marriages end in divorce in the United Kingdom. This is, admittedly, a concerning statistic. Grown adults who gave vows, and promises, to each other and committed to emotionally love only their significant other find that they cannot bear such a relationship. The childhood dream that they would ‘live happily ever after with one […] Read more

Interview with Tara Abhasakun on the Baha’i Faith

October 26, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist based in the USA and occasional Blogger.  Tara talks about her community, the Baha’i faith and feminism. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As noted in correspondence, you are not a Baha’i scholar. You are a recent undergraduate graduate and a woman Baha’i member. What is your background in Baha’i? Both of my parents […] Read more

Interview with ​Kate Smurthwaite

October 25, 2016 | by | 0 Comments
Kate Smurthwaite is a British stand-up comedian, a human-rights activist, political activist.and a feminist. She regularly appears on British television and radio as a pundit, offering opinion and comment on subjects ranging from politics to religion. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How did you become an activist, comedian, and feminist? Well I became a comedian by doing a number of courses on writing and […] Read more