I posted on eteraz.org about Jimmy Carter’s claim at an event today ("Carter says majority in U.S. support views in book") that normal Americans share many of his concerns. Eteraz.org || Carter: Americans share my concerns The article closes with an observation from somebody on the other side of the issue. "It seems from what he said today that Israel’s occupation is at the root of the problem. But I would argue that Palestinian terrorism is at the root of... Read more
This commercial for the Chevy HHR from the recent Super Bowl is such a deliciously funny reversal of the typical objectification of women. Haven’t enjoyed a commercial this much in a long time. powered by performancing firefox Read more
I blogged elsewhere about a harebrained and counterproductive Turkish scheme to publish a "politically correct" hadith collection that is free of any traditions that violate modern gender sensibilities. Promoting reform by hacking up sacred texts – Eteraz.org In a move reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson’s rationalistic rearrangement of the New Testament, the Turkish government is planning to bowlderize hadith collections so as to eliminate traditions deemed misogynistic. This strikes me as an intellectually indefensible and politically tone-deaf move that is far... Read more
Anthropologist John Bowen argues in the San Francisco Chronicle for the unfashionable view that, even with the problems of integration that have been on public display in recent years, France represents the best hope for peaceful coexistence between Muslim and non-Muslim. I must confess that I am not a fan of the French brand of secularism, laïcité. In this I’m a unrepetent American imperialist, with little patience for those who subordinate individual rights in matters of faith in the name... Read more
Am not sure what to make of this, but anything that encourages people to examine their assumptions about other people is presumably to be welcomed. Orthodox rabbi, hip-hop mogul join forces to fight Islamophobia – Haaretz Marc Schneier, an Orthodox rabbi in New York, and hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons have joined forces to produce a short film to combat negative stereotypes of Muslims. The film, which will be shot in the coming weeks under Schneier’s direction, will also feature the... Read more
A UK Jewish school half of whose student body is Muslim. The surreal touch of Muslim kids waving the flag of a Jewish state aside, I don’t find this shocking. Growing up in a Muslim family in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s but for the most part isolated from other Muslims, I instinctively identified with Jews and saw them as natural allies in a majority Christian society that rarely deigned to take note of other religious traditions. I remember... Read more
I grow weary of the drudgery of constantly searching for convenient online definitions of foreign phrases or technical terms, so I’m going to start to define ’em myself when I don’t find one elsewhere Since I find this problem so irritating, I imagine other bloggers do, too, so I figure I’ll provide an HTML pointer for people looking to mooch off me do the same. Or you can just link directly to my page if you don’t care for monkeying... Read more
Check out Umar Lee’s “The rise and fall of the ’salafi dawah’ in the US”. Haven’t read it yet, but skimmed it and it looks fascinating. Read more
You can submit questions ahead of time, or during the discussion. Should be interesting. Too bad he’ll probably have to spend most of the time responding to idiotic neocon hysteria as opposed to talking about the real issues and historical factors. The Rise of the Wahhabi Movement (The Washington Post) Monday, Feb. 5 at 11 a.m. ET The Rise of the Wahhabi Movement Professor Says Politics, Not Religion, Pushed Stringent Branch of Islam Khalid al-DakhilAssistant Professor of Sociology, King Saud... Read more
The latest proof that that great American idol, the Market, is anything but ominiscent and just. In Tuition Game, Popularity Rises With Price – New York Times John Strassburger, the president of Ursinus College, a small liberal arts institution here in the eastern Pennsylvania countryside, vividly remembers the day that the chairman of the board of trustees told him the college was losing applicants because of its tuition. It was too low. So early in 2000 the board voted to... Read more
Akram's Razor
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