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Where Polls and Surveys Fall Short: A Conversation with Robert Wuthnow on “Inventing American Religion”

By Andrew Aghapour

…the data in a way that reflects the white majority better than the African-American minority. One of the consequences is that some of the polls, not all of them, suggest that there are really no differences between white Americans and African Americans in terms of things like church attendance, religiosity, prayer. And yet when you look at the occasional major study of African Americans, with a large number of respondents and some white Americans…

All-American Muslim is Just TV, Folks

By Zeba Iqbal

…ar to name a few. Did the lackluster Bombay Dreams promote increased Indian-American exposure on film and TV? Real-Time Hypercriticism A few Sundays ago, I watched the premiere of the first TV series featuring American Muslims, TLC’s All-American Muslim. Reality TV, like Broadway musicals, is not my preferred genre. Yet, as with Bombay Dreams, I made an exception and watched the show—along with 1.7 million others, as it turns out. I have limited e…

No Space for American Islam?

By Mark Bergen

…Islamists… in their stealth form.” Adam Serwer dissected his remarks: The key concept here is the “stealth Islamist,” which is as vague and unshakeable a label as “communist” in the 1950s. A terrorist can be proved a terrorist by his actions, but by Gingrich’s definition, a “stealth Islamist” could be any observant Muslim who engages in religiously-based political advocacy, no matter how benign. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, has call…

Morality Police, Jihadists, Religious Competition, Grindr, & Americans Abroad: Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…elmingly on September 1 to legalize marriage by same-sex couples. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has congratulated the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice for adopting a protocol to assist judges in applying international human rights standards to cases relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. A main goal of the protocol is to prevent stereotypes from impeding justice. Commissioner Tracy Robinson, Chair of the IACHR…

25 Things You Can Blame Muslims For

By Haroon Moghul

…ims built the vast trade networks through which concepts like the zero (and 1-9, too), spread to Europe. This is why, in the Arab world, Arabic numbers are called ‘Indian numbers,’ and why, in the West, ‘Indian numbers’ are called ‘Arabic numbers.’ In India they’re just known as numbers. No matter what they’re called, I think we can all agree they make life a lot easier. 2. Coffee Muslims invented coffee, and coffee is a good thing, and no good th…

As Gaza Burns, Jews Disagree, Protest & Pray

By Sam Kestenbaum

…n chairs and perched on tailgates. Someone is smoking a hookah. The Israeli-American can only speculate as to why they come. Because they are blood-thirsty? To pray for an end? To bear witness? It isn’t clear. After spending two hours watching his country bomb Gaza, he’s had enough. If called to join the other reserves in the ground invasion, he would load his weapon and fire it for the place he now calls home. But tonight he walks down the hill,…

How Not To Respond to Haiti

By Louis A. Ruprecht

…d, but illness decimated the troops and they finally surrendered on January 1, 1804. Since then, the small island nation’s fortunes have waxed and waned, often in tandem with American military occupation. In this, her story is like many others, deeply saddening, and offering a glimpse into the “dark side” of the European Renaissance (this is the marvelous title of Walter Mignolo’s important book on the ambivalence of European Modernity in the Amer…

Catholic Bishops End Family Synod With Little To Say To Gays; World Congress of Families Has Plenty To Say, None of it Good; How Same-Sex Marriage Came to a Buddhist Temple in Japan; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…sion on messaging from Frank Schubert, the notorious mastermind of the gays-as-threats-to-children ads used to promote Prop 8 and other anti-gay initiatives in the U.S. The conference also included an “emerging leaders” training track, which provided scholarships to about 260 young people from more than 40 countries and 25 states. A conference organizer estimated that they were part of a group of about 500 under-30 participants out of the more tha…

Mexico’s Religious Conservatives Seek Anti-LGBT Constitutional Amendment, LGBT Activists Defend Secular Government; Cash From Qatar Funds ‘Traditional’ Family Activism Worldwide; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…amilies has regional conferences scheduled in Belgrade, Serbia on September 16-18 and Nairobi, Kenya on September 23-25 each featuring an array of speakers from the global religious right. Another regional conference is planned for Cape Town, South Africa, in December. WCF hosted a regional conference in Argentina in June. The Washington Blade’s Michael Lavers published a wide-ranging interview with British activist Peter Tatchell, who spoke about…

Tutu’s Daughter Marries Woman & Loses Anglican Priest License; Romanian Anti-Marriage Activists Get 3 Million Signatures; Australian State Apologizes For Harmful Sodomy Laws; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights in an lawsuit against American anti-gay activist Scott Lively in a novel use of the Alien Tort Statute. This week SMUG and CCR released three expert reports that they say buttress their case that the persecution facing the LGBTI community in Uganda “constitutes a crime against humanity, one of the world’s most universally condemned crimes.” Oral arguments in the case are scheduled this September…