Reading the tributes to the late (and great) Ted Kennedy from leaders on the Right–including even [Space-time continuum rips.] Sarah Palin–and looking at the widespread outpouring of grief at his passing, I'm struck by what this says about large (if not majoritarian) swathes of the Right, where he was vilified and demonized at every turn.How many of his critics on the Right so wont to vilify him as an un-American leftist zealot have show a fraction of his moderation and... Read more
A hearty "Ramzan mubarak" to one and all. Read more
This is old news, but I came across an exchange between Robert Spencer and his critics on the Right (for his tacit support for European fascists) wherein Spencer had the unmitigated chutzpah to whine that he was victim of “surmise, jumping to conclusions, and guilt by association.” Sounds like he’s describing his own smear jobs against Muslim organizations, don’t you think? The guy sees terror ties behind every rock in the Muslim community. Beyond rich. Read more
Below is a very interesting short lecture by a scholar who argues that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, war and violence are in dramatic decline in modern times. He contends that the historical evidence is overwhelmingly against the axiomatic notion that modern wars are worse in quality or frequency than those of premodern times. From the website: Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq... Read more
Speaking of Christianity–not to mention Dustin's post–I often listen to the BBC''s podcasts and happened the other day upon a wonderfully intelligent discussion on the British channel's "Beyond Belief" program of the rich thought and legacy of the 16th century Protestant theologian John Calvin. The occasion was the great theologian's recent 500th birthday. Here's the description from the "Beyond Belief" website: To mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, Ernie Rea and guests discuss why this major Protestant reformer... Read more
A disturbing case of stupidity and intolerance masquerading as Islamic law in Sudan. Sudan trouser woman ‘ready for 40,000 lashes’ – Yahoo! News KHARTOUM (AFP) – A Sudanese journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing “indecent” trousers vowed on the eve of her judgment that she is ready to be whipped 40,000 times in her bid to change the country’s harsh laws. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who works for the media department of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, is to be... Read more
And now for something completely different, as they used to say on Monty Python. What follows is a guest post for your consideration by Dustin Shramek, who runs "His Peace Upon Us," a Christian blog dedicated to building bridges between Muslims and Christians. He suggested that we swap posts to share some perspectives that our respective audiences are perhaps not used to considering. Which I thought was a nice idea (assuming I ever get a my act together and write... Read more
I had an exchange with with a fan of Robert Spencer that touches on some of the reasons why a debate with him would be a waste of time, not to mention a kind of recognition of which a strident ideologue like him is undeserving. The sub-caption of "What's Wrong with the World" reads "Dispatches from the 10th Crusade" and the conservative Christian group blog declares itself "dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom…[against] the Jihad and Liberalism,"... Read more
Br. Yahya Birtfrom across the pond was so kind as to inform me of a much better and more thought-provoking link regarding the place of Sufism in the GWOT than the article in Time magazine that I shared earlier, so I'm passing it on. I explained in the post's comments (reproduced below) why, despite my agreement with some of the Times article's underlying premises, I didn't like the piece much. As usual in MSM discussions of Sufism, the article reduces this extremely complex, multi-faceted... Read more
There’s a piece by Ishaan Tharoor in Time entitled, “Can Sufism Defuse Terrorism?” Read more
Akram's Razor
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In