Akram's Razor
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Speaking of the way people interpret behavior based on their shared religious background (or lack thereof), Dan Mathewson has a sharp analysis in Religion Dispatches of the conspicuous absence of Christian faith from MSM analysis of the recent abortion doctor murder by a Pro Life fanatic. The title says it all: Muslims Murder, Christians Don’t: What Went Missing in Analysis of Tiller’s Executioner While much of the media had no trouble detailing the religious commitment of the Muslim killer of an... Read more
Two years ago, I shared a great cartoon commentary on hijab in "The infinite varieties of hijab," and wrote: Doing a web search, I came across an entertaining cartoon drawn by Syrian cartoonist Puppeteer cataloging the many styles of hijab out there. Its focus is on Syria, but aside from the Kubeisya it seems pretty universal to me. And every community has its well-meaning but unnerving glarers who more or less share the aesthetic (if not the trademark coat…or the... Read more
Look at this creepy scene of jihadi role playing. This Islamic obsession with all things martial is so alien to the Judeo-Christian tradition, don’t you think? Photograph by Ed Kashi, National Geographic Which is why it’s so interesting that these are really Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, caught while celebrating Easter. When a Christian swings a sword at party, it’s just innocent fun, at most an assertion of healthy pride in tradition. When a Muslim does it, to the contrary, it’s... Read more
First, an anti-abortion fanatic gunned down an abortion doctor (and in the latter's own church, where he served as an usher). Yesterday, a spectacularly moronic and disgusting young convert to Islam shoots a man he didn't know outside a military recruiting center and then declares his conscience clean because of American military involvement in the Middle East and the allegedly concomitant need for retaliation. And today an unusually vigorous and hate-filled octogenarian White Supremacist barged into the Holocaust Museum in... Read more
I see it more of a quirk of the unexpected workings of Internet media than anything else, but as I’ve mentioned before, despite my blog’s quite modest traffic every now and again a contributor to an online forum will refer in all seriousness to the famous philosophical principle of, ahem, “Akram’s Razor.” The actual precept is called, of course, Occam’s Razor. (I explained the reasoning behind my pretentious neologism when I set up the blog in 2005.) Here are the... Read more
Sh. Faraz Rabbani at Seeker's Digest made a wonderfully thought provoking connection between President Obama's historic and courageous speech yesterday in Cairo and President John F. Kennedy's legendary Inaugural Address in 1961. Ask Not What Obama Can Do For You :SeekersDigest President Obama made some very important statements in his historic speech in Cairo earlier today. Many Muslims are excited, enthused by the positive tone and attitude. Indeed, Obama’s gestures were significant; his choice of symbols and issues, careful; and... Read more
For those wondering where to find it, I just listened to the audio for President Obama's historic speech in Cairo on NPR's website (from which you can download it, as well, if you don't have a connection fast enough for streaming audio). NPR also has the transcript, too, but their version isn't print-friendly. WaPo's transcript is much better for that purpose. And HuffPo has the video. So much to parse and ponder. Aside from the from-a-sitting-President-shockingly evenhanded tone, the biggest news... Read more
A light bit of news from the Af-Pak neck of the woods. Aussie troops in Afghanistan appalled by Dutch food A team of Australian military cooks has been rushed to Afghanistan after troops deployed there complained about the Dutch food they are being served. By Radio Netherlands Worldwide Feature – Dutch soldiers eat home specialities in the Afghan desert There have been few if any complaints about the Dutch troops in Afghanistan from the other countries in the coalition forming... Read more
Interesting commentary in the Washington Post about our government’s continuing (and in some respects worsening) involvement in human rights abuses even as it ostensibly suspends its own operations in this tawdry arena. Jack Goldsmith – The Shell Game on Detainees and Interrogation – washingtonpost.com The revelation last weekend that the United States is increasingly using foreign intelligence services to capture, interrogate and detain terrorist suspects points up an uncomfortable truth about the war against Islamist terrorists. Demands to raise legal... Read more
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