This is quite random, but I thought I'd share two comments that I just posted on an Islamophobe blog that I accidentally landed on from a web search since I think it highlights some important nuances that are often absent from discussions of FGM ("Female Genital Mutilation") in the Muslim world. I recoil in horror and outrage at FGM–it is an abomination, and one that is is sometimes rationalized using pseudo-religious arguments in certain Muslim societies. The scourge of FGM... Read more

God rest this noble man's soul. Homeless man bleeds to death while people walk by – chicagotribune.com Homeless man Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, 31, a Guatemalan immigrant, collapsed on a New York street after being stabbed by a knife-wielding attacker. Tale-Yax had reportedly protected a woman from an attack, and was stabbed several time in the chest. Dozens walked by the dying man on the sidewalk. One even stopped to snap a picture of the man on his camera phone. A... Read more

I just posted some reflections on Tikkun Daily on the controversy over the threat made against "South Park" by the idiots at MuslimRevolution.com. Read more

Have a new post over at Tikkun Daily. Read more

A fascinating anecdote from the annals of NASA history for you fellow sci-fi-heads, courtesy of the Bible Belt Blogger. BibleBeltBlogger » Blog Archive » A celestial Communion — a lunar Eucharist A little-known fact about the first moon landing. Astronaut Buzz Aldwin celebrated the Lord’s Supper on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969, drinking wine from a small silver chalice. [MORE] More details are provided. I left this comment (not yet published):. Thanks for the fascinating anecdote.... Read more

I’ve started blogging for Tikkun Daily, the group blog of the excellent profession spirituality magazine Tikkun. Here’s my maiden post there. Tikkun Daily Blog » Blog Archive » Food for thought for Quran-bashers Sometimes as a Muslim I feel suspect that the simplest, most effective way to begin to answer the many burning questions Westerners have about Islam and Muslims isn’t to give them a Quran or even the most erudite and engaging book on Islam. For many living in... Read more

The religion and spirituality discussion site Patheos recently asked bloggers to contribute a description of God in 100 words or less. With some trepidation, I tried my hand at it (as did Hussein at Islamicate): My God is closer than our jugular veins yet beyond human ken. He is quick to forgive and showers His mercy on those who seek Him, yet He will judge all. His Message and Law are sacred and binding, but are free of our drab... Read more

The latest absurd case of takfir. Disagreeing on the universal applicability of medieval marital practices to modern life is grounds for excommunication? Top Yemeni clerics oppose ban on child brides – washingtonpost.com Some of Yemen's most influential Islamic leaders, including one the U.S. says mentored Osama bin Laden, have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates. Read more

A snippet from a recent speech by Jimmy Carter on the place of women in contemporary religious life to the Parliament of the World’s Religions: It is ironic that women are now welcomed into all major professions and other positions of authority, but are branded as inferior and deprived of the equal right to serve God in positions of religious leadership. The plight of abused women is made more acceptable by the mandated subservience of women by religious leaders. The... Read more