What is Truer than Truth? A story. Once upon a time, there was a man named Jesus, and the rest, according to Reza Aslan’s book, Zealot, is just history. When historians like Reza Aslan treat us to the un- romantic version of Jesus of Nazareth who walked on land, as opposed to the romantic version of a Jesus Christ who walked on water, I have a blasphemous urge to ask, what does history have to do with it? I am… Read more
December 21, 2020
The Story of Jesus: The Man and the Metaphor
December 21, 2020 By Inas Younis
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December 4, 2020
Politics is Not Religion
December 4, 2020 By Inas Younis
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If you have ever visited a holy site you may have been tempted to ask, “Is this where ‘it’ literally happened?” To which an exasperated tour guide might reply; ‘Does it really matter?’ Billions of people believe that it did. And billions of people throughout human history have brought their energy, their fears, their pains, their passions, their souls and laid them on this threshold, or this shore, or that rock. Isn’t that enough? To which you will respond,… Read more
November 26, 2020
We Have Reason to be Alarmed
November 26, 2020 By Inas Younis
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The worst kind of oppression is not the kind that breaks a man’s back, but the kind that breaks his spirit. And the only way to break a man’s spirit is to arbitrarily change the rules of survival. In a free and fair society, the primary rule of survival has traditionally been that hard work equals success. But in spite of the narrative, the rules of survival in the United States do not always subscribe to this pure formula. Unless you are… Read more
August 29, 2020
It’s Not That Deep: surviving the world of distraction overload
August 29, 2020 By Inas Younis
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Even after a global pandemic brought our world to a screeching halt, most of us still managed to stay “busy,” which I have since discovered is nothing but a euphemism for being distracted. In his hugely popular self-help book, Deep Work, best selling author and professor Cal Newport argues that the culture of constant interruptions has destroyed our ability to focus on cognitively demanding tasks. Every moment of potential tranquility in our lives is spoiled by glancing at our… Read more
August 25, 2020
Make America Think Again
August 25, 2020 By Inas Younis
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Soon after Donald Trump was elected, CNN released a powerful new ‘Facts First’ ad Campaign series featuring an onscreen image of an apple with a voiceover narrating the following words: This is an apple. Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana. They might scream, ‘Banana, banana, banana’ over and over again. They might put banana in all caps. You might even start to believe it’s a banana, but it’s not. This is an apple. The attempt… Read more
August 5, 2019
The Facts of the Matter: Trump and the post truth era
August 5, 2019 By Inas Younis
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Have you ever been to a quack doctor who sells you a snake oil with the disclaimer that your symptoms will actually become worse before they get better, and then looks you in the eye and insists that this is a good sign? And if that’s not enough, he advises you to apply more balm or to consume more poison until it either kills you or you wake up and realize that this doctor is merely trying to profit at… Read more
June 28, 2019
A Rant on Self-Care
June 28, 2019 By Inas Younis
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This year I joined the cult of self-care until I realized that real self-care is not self-indulgence but self-discipline. Sure contemplation and relaxation can be soul food for an impoverished psyche, but when downtime becomes a form of escapism it can have a counterproductive effect. Age should not be the only measure of our time on this earth. Maybe we have to stop taking ourselves so seriously so we can actually get things done. It’s time to stop allowing the big… Read more
February 14, 2019
Long Live Love
February 14, 2019 By Inas Younis
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The first rule of love is; Marriage is no real excuse for not loving. Rule number two; He who is not jealous cannot love. And lastly; When made public, love rarely endures. Translation: Love your spouse, be jealous, don’t tell anyone. Those were the “love rules” according to 12th century author of The Art of Courtly Love, Andreas Capellanus. In the 12th century, people were far more secretive about romantic love and for good reason. Love of the flesh was… Read more
February 12, 2019
American Mosques; Third, Fourth and Fifth Spaces
February 12, 2019 By Inas Younis
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State sponsored mosques are designed to serve a singular purpose; to provide a space for congregational religious services and prayers. In Muslim majority countries, mosques do not operate independently of political authority. The utility of the mosque is then limited, if not profoundly curtailed, within this context. But in the United States, the mosque is not just a place to pray but also doubles as a community center. American mosques are the nerve center of the Muslim community with… Read more
September 17, 2018
Islam and the Origins of Capitalism
September 17, 2018 By Inas Younis
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Anyone who comes from the resource-dense third world intuitively understands that the problem of poverty is not material but political. It has never been about a lack of resources, but about the individual freedom to develop technology to convert resources to material wealth. You may not see anyone starting revolutions with slogans that read “We Want Capitalism!” or “We want the state to stay out!” And yet the Arab Spring was triggered by the cries of a man who was… Read more
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