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Saipov Wasn’t a “Member” of ISIS, But That Misses the Point

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…yrian and Kurdish forces. There remain pockets of resistance in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor and smaller towns along the Iraq-Syrian border, but in general it is fair to say that ISIS’ days of territorial control are numbered. But ISIS has never been a movement that’s defined solely by territorial control. The enormous cyber network of participants in online chats on Twitter and Telegram, and the global audience for the slick online publications…

Reports of the Death of ISIS Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

By Mark Juergensmeyer

…rison,” they told me—but they were concerned that the destruction of their city meant that their own futures were uncertain. They were bitter towards the Iraqi government and its Shi’ite militia that were at the forefront of the military actions against Mosul. They felt that the liberating military forces did little to try to preserve the city in their eagerness to destroy ISIS, and that the Shi’a liberators treated the local Sunnis like “dirt.” “…

Palin Talks Israel in Anticipation of 2012

By Shalom Goldman

…wish people for 3,000 years—should be off-limits to Jews, while the entire city is open to Arabs, is deeply prejudicial. The suggestion that Jews, or any other ethnic group, would be denied residence in an American city would instantly be condemned as racist. Moreover, there are no settlers in Jerusalem, which is sovereign Israeli territory, just as there are no settlers in Tel Aviv and Haifa. While the Times often reports on construction in Isra…

Civil Rights and Soul: Memphis 2010

By Lauri Lebo

…tricity.) But I digress. The final leg of my journey took me to Memphis, a city so filled with rich history (and terrific barbecue) that it would take weeks to properly explore. There I met a man, a sanitation worker, who marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike. Elmore Nickelberry, who at 79 is still making the nightly sanitation runs, driving a garbage truck through the city. I tagged along on o…

Hajj Journal: Visiting the Kingdom is Not the Same as Visiting the King

By Amina Wadud

…his black BMW. We also received a third boxed meal. By the time we hit the city limits of Makkah and negotiated all of this, it was already after 4 a.m. Hope for completing umrah before fajr was out. Still, we wound our way through the city. Most of the time we followed a sign that said “Masjid al-Haram” in Arabic and English, so it was pretty clear we were going in the right direction. Well, that is until we did a few U-turns and went through a f…

Beware of Yoga, Taking the Jesus Out of AA, Atheist Billboard Wars—The Sequel

By Michael J. Altman

…flag from a public Veterans Memorial. The ACLU of New Jersey is suing the city of Point Pleasant Beach over the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at city council meetings. Oh, and by the way, Hitler invented the phrase “separation of church and state.” At least, that’s what Tea Party candidate Glen Urquhart claims. Could the coach’s Mormonism affect who plays quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles? Elsewhere in pro football, the Pittsburgh Steeler…

Trans Protections in India and Malta; Death-by-Stoning Law in Brunei; Church-State Divides on Marriage

By Peter Montgomery

…Couple’s Marriage; Church Objects Last week the Court of Grosseto ordered city registrars to register the marriage of a gay couple who were married in New York in 2012, saying there is no reference to gender in the city council registry of married couples. The president of the Italian Bishops Conference, Angelo Bagnasco, condemned the ruling, which he said was likely to “sweep away the fundamental pillars of the institution of marriage.” Ethiopia…

Pope Backs Anti-Gay Referendum; Islamic State Executions Include Gay Syrian; ‘Conscience Clause’ Debated in Northern Ireland; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…pposing efforts by a radical cleric to open an Islamic youth center in the city, reports the National Post. Mr. Coderre, who met with spiritual leaders Wednesday in hopes of fostering dialogue in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, said he will consult with borough mayor Réal Ménard about the plan. But Montreal’s mayor said he rejects Mr. Chaoui’s rigid views on democracy and homosexuality, and his suggestion that democracy and Islam…

25 Things You Can Blame Muslims For

By Haroon Moghul

…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 thing ever dies. At best it goes cold. In fact, one of the reasons coffee took off is because religious Muslims preferred the beverage for…

Istanbul ‘Haven of Sorts’ For LGBT Syrians and Iraqis; Cayman Islands Affirm Marriage Ban with ‘Holy Bible Evidence’; No Room for LGBTs in Malaysia’s ‘Islam-Based’ Human Rights Policy; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…place of gay people and families in Catholicism. Boorstein reports that a number of pro-LGBT groups have been denied permission to have a booth in the exhibition hall at the World Meeting. Among them was Fortunate Families, a group for Catholic parents seeking equality for their LGBT children. Its president, Deb Word, and her husband run a safe house for LGBT youth in Memphis. The World Meeting’s director of programming, Mary Beth Yount, told Wor…