Religion Dispatches
…lid of Zanzibar and the Master Drummers of Burundi. Although both are from East Africa, they demonstrated very different musical sensibilities. The large Zanzibari group was rhythmic and melodic, using lyrics to praise God and Prophet Muhammad. The Drummers were obviously percussion-heavy, and were ecstatic in their performance. This geographic nearness with a strong performative divergence helped to illustrate that geography is not sufficient to…
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…een on the news, particularly the news coverage of car bombs in the Middle East and the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Most tellingly in this regard, he told the undercover FBI agent that he did not know how he could become “operational” and “would need training.” The FBI’s operationalizing of Mohamud has raised many legitimate questions about entrapment. The arrest warrant, however, shows the FBI deliberately limiting their role to the prov…
Read More…ama is not a U.S. citizen and is a Muslim — and its ever-unreliable Middle East correspondent Aaron Klein, the “reporter” behind the debunked claim that Hamas supported Obama. He takes aim at Nobel Laureate and pro-democracy dissident Mohamed ElBaradei, claiming that he is an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Obama administration has been working with him to coordinate the protests in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood, Klein writes, “seeks to spr…
Read More…ecause they are culturally superior aspiring Europeans while states to the east have no such capacity. The reality in Egypt belies such simple analysis. For years we have endured the notion that ‘the Arab street’ alternates between indolent catatonia and frothing rage in the face of cartoons. Egyptians, who have been called too illiterate, poor, spiritless and lulled by “stability” to revolt, have staged impassioned protests for nothing less than…
Read More…ded as America spread its reach to the moon, to Vietnam, and to the Middle East. If we are exceptional and if we work the hardest, than surely we deserve to grow. It’s not imperialism, it’s a blessing for our hard work. This is the myth Pawlenty draws on when he brings up the examples of Valley Forge, the moon landing, and the settlement of the west. These myths are more than just ways of giving America meaning, and selling Pawlenty’s book. They a…
Read More…of astrological bodies—Jesus represents the sun, Sirius is the star in the east, and the stars in Orion’s belt are the three kings of the nativity. Jesus, in short, was just the latest in a long line of astral myths that use the movement of the stars as a source of mythic inspiration. Similarly, Moses is just another in a long line of law givers that includes Manu of India, Minos of Greece, and Mises of Egpyt. (See, they even all start with M, the…
Read More…e away from long-suffering EuroAmerica, and focuses his gaze on the Middle East instead, a very different picture comes into view. In a year where religious tolerance and peaceful pluralism have been major papal themes, the Pope now declares that “Christians are the most oppressed and tormented minority” in present circumstances, worldwide. This is a stunning conclusion, and we have not one word about what metric Benedict has used to draw it. He c…
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…lamic caliphate of al-Andalus. In the caliph’s library in Cordoba were at least 40,000 books (some said as many 400,000); Gerbert’s French monastery owned less than 400. Many of the caliph’s books came from Baghdad, known for its House of Wisdom, where for 200 years works of mathematics, astronomy, physics, and medicine had been translated from Greek and Persian and Hindu and further developed by Islamic scholars under their caliph’s patronage. In…
Read More…ounty, California, a lightly-populated, largely agricultural desert county east of San Diego, appeared as the only governmental entity in the state of California to seek standing as a proponent in the case to overturn Proposition 8. Whether or not the County has the standing to participate in the appeal is up to the panel of judges to determine. (Attorney Robert Tyler, appearing on behalf of Imperial County deputy clerk Isabel Vargas, proved himse…
Read More…and we’re left holding the bag,” said Mr. Cordray, whose office overlooks East Broad. “It’s important for us to show we’ll go after a company that does wrong.” Mr. Cordray in two years in office has demonstrated a willingness to sue early and often, filing lawsuits against global financial houses, rating agencies, subprime lenders and foreclosure scammers. He has wrested about $2 billion so far, a string of gilded pelts: a $475 million Merrill Ly…
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