Religion Dispatches
…had already lived in one Muslim majority country before I came to live in Cairo, but there I had my first experience of Muslims NOT stopping everything to pray. I did not understand it then, and was weighed down by the experience. I had lived in two Muslim majority countries before I came face to face, in Malaysia, with people who actually kept to regular performance but where liars, cheaters, back stabbers and irresponsible. I never met a killer…
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…dia. Imagine the adrenaline boost listening to Rev. Edwards on that July 4, 1741 day, when his words rang out from the pulpit: “The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.” Except for those in the grip o…
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…beliefs), practices, history, culture, and much more. Instead, he reduced a 1400-year-old religion with well over a billion adherents to a handful of verses cherry-picked from the Qur’an. A central component of the systematic demonization is his caricature of Muslims and Muhammad as illiterate, perverted, sexist, and responsible for slavery. Federer repeatedly described Muhammad as illiterate, suggesting he was ignorant and making no mention of th…
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…different from Mr. Obama’s SOTU… sort of. Just before he affirmed that the spirit of “civility,” the solution to our dangerous dissention, is the mark of American exceptionalism, he also turned the problem itself—“the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate”—into a mark of exceptionalism. The “contentious debates” are “a good thing,” because “That’s what a robust democracy demands. That’s what helps set us apart as a nation.” He reprise…
Read More…and another witness who said his nephew was radicalized: Their courage and spirit will put a human face on the horror which Islamist radicalization has inflicted and will continue to inflict on good families, especially those in the Muslim community, unless we put aside political correctness and define who our enemy truly is. I’m not holding my breath on a correction from him. UPDATE: My coverage of the hearing is over at the Nation, in which I re…
Read More…r. Here is what Michael Bever reminds me: My Song of Mercy was published in 1994 [I’m afraid that’s all I got right]. This publication included both Matthew’s longer exposition of his sexual orientation in “Flute Solo” and the renowned essay, “Celibacy and the Gift of Gay.” “Flute Solo” had been in informal circulation since 1973 when it was written. Thus, he was 58 years old when he made public this affirmation of faith. On closer reading, I note…
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…Human Failing? Likewise, Muslim writer Pamela K. Taylor has described the spiritual significance of participating in prayer services online or via Skype for Muslims who are separated from active religious communities by geography, physical limitations, or other circumstances. Sun Dial: A Mobile Call to Prayer application available for the iPhone assists Muslims around the world in participating in daily prayer by tracking “the sun’s gentle moveme…
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…talism, presumably aimed at prosperity preachers. You never trust a millionaire quoting the sermon on the mount. Doing so leaves you with the gated community, a garden left for ruin by a millionaire inside of a private prison, compelling you to stay hidden inside your own private prison. And while parks beckon as places of escape, even there order exerts its authority—cops show up, shine their lights on the reflectors of our bikes, and call down c…
Read More…ountry suffering greatly as a result. But the people showed that the human spirit remains indomitable—that they would not choose despair over commitment or cowardice over bravery. I’ve been struck so many times over the last few weeks how well-behaved the people of the Square have been—whether its been the young men and women searching those who came into Tahrir, the youth manning the check-points in the neighborhoods, or the many others that coul…
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…ure, atheists have been known to condemn God, but they do this in the same spirit as one would condemn a fictional character—say, hapless Othello or the Grinch who stole Christmas. There is absolutely nothing unusual about people expressing disgust and dislike of fictional characters, and that includes the atheists. What is more unusual and, indeed, highly paradoxical, is to encounter people who do believe in the existence of God (hence, for them…
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