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The Real Context Of The “Taliban Dan” Ad

By Julie Ingersoll

…Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and its affiliated Advance Training Institute International (ATI). He claims to pray for IBLP founder Bill Gothard “every day,” has traveled with Gothard, has spoken at Gothard’s conferences (2009 and 2010 programs are online), and has contributed to “Wisdom Booklets” training materials that include David Barton and his Christian American history. These include The Light and the Glory, a Christian American history text…

Barakah: Blessings Without Numbers

By Amina Wadud

…really do it for the good of the thing alone? That is where those larger “numbers” would come in. That is what I would consider good for Allah. Still the basic principle is that the good is more powerful than the not so good, so why not go with the winning formula? In 2004 I participated in the international forum on HIV/AIDS and Islam. Well it was one of the worst experiences of my public life as a Muslim but from it came with lots of good, by w…

Did The “Taliban Dan” Ad “Backfire?”

By Sarah Posner

…ng the supposedly (but not really) secular arm of Gothard’s institute, the International Association of Character Cities. As I noted there, even Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of the evangelical world, has expressed dismay over the “alarming” nature of Gothard’s teachings on authority, and allegations of physical and emotional abuse in his programs. (For the most comprehensive treatment of the IACC, see Silja J.A. Talvi’s 2006 piece in…

French “Burqa Ban”: It’s Not About Religion

By Amina Wadud

…t purely a religious discussion. We become intensely involved in public or international debate over the dress of fewer than 2000 women in France because they choose (or are influenced to choose) to wear the niqab. The niqab covers the face, except the eyes, with a cloth; usually black and usually also accompanied by a full black garment. The burqa is specific to the regions of Afghanistan, but sometimes the term gets called in for any extreme for…

Travel Truths

By Amina Wadud

…was expecting it would be like the perfect synch between my laptop and my iPhone. Maybe it will be, but not yet. I am just at the place where I can say, it is lighter than my laptop. Oh yeah, and I got another plus: at airport security yesterday, I didn’t even have to take it out of the bag! That was the only good thing at the airport. Ever heard Robin Williams joke about the “random” checks at airport security?’ He reads all these, clearly, Musli…

Howling at the Moon

By Amina Wadud

…s greater than the need of a non-Muslim. This is like the tendency in some international circles to consider the blood of non-Muslim combatants more important than Muslim civilians and combatants with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have a very different sense of the shared human community now, and we need to adjust accordingly. This year, I face a dilemma because it seems the most pressing needs are actually in my own family. Some jurists sa…

Ultra Orthodox Murder-Suicide Makes Headlines

By Shalom Goldman

…had gained the respect of the Israeli public (both Jewish and Arab) and of international disaster relief organizations. These have either used Zaka’s direct services of have emulated their techniques in their own relief teams. The Israeli police force now teats the Zaka volunteers and staffers as colleagues. And the Israeli government has recognized a year of service to Zaka as a form of Shnat Sherut—national service. This all sounds very positive…

The Age of Dhikr

By Amina Wadud

…ally a very, very fast talker. But I have to really slow down when in most international contexts. I’m used it. I started living abroad 35 years ago and so my sense of Islam in the world is shaped by the world, not just some ideal of the world. Last night and when I was in Australia, I found I got more said in a short period of time than I could in most of my professional situations internationally. It does something to free my brain. But let me n…

Are Scientists Ethical?

By Arri Eisen

…e or less the same background and cultural assumptions to a vastly diverse international and cultural smorgasbord. Famous Harvard researcher Marc Hauser, who ironically studies the evolution of morality, has had to retract one published paper and is caught in the gnarly web of university and federal investigation he said/she said that I would wish upon no one. From the eventual investigation reports we will one day learn the final word on the alle…

Foreclosure, Fraud and Pharaoh

By Daniel Schultz

…ent, $400 million from Marsh & McLennan and $725 million from the American International Group. Last week, he filed suit against GMAC Mortgage, accusing the loan servicer of filing fraudulent affidavits in hundreds of Ohio foreclosures. His office has returned money to investors, pension funds, schools and cities. And he has directed millions to agencies fighting foreclosure. “We see what Washington doesn’t: the houses lying vacant, the eyesore st…