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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Ramadan

By Haroon Moghul

…l, an Al-Jazeera producer who read my original post suggested adding ‘Iftar-B-Q,’ which is like lighting things on fire, except you’re delusional and starved of nutrition. Only good can come of this. Khutzpah: ‘Can you believe the Imam went on and on for 45 minutes in his Friday sermon (Khutbah)? How’s he not dying of thirst?’ 1. Friday is the Muslim Sunday (er, Saturday), except it’s spelled differently. 2. The Imam probably died in his office wh…

The Faith that Faith Produced

By Haroon Moghul

…r all its ecstasies and disappointments, it is a journey to faith that began with the loss of it. [We are grateful to the author, editors, and publishers of All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim for permission to reprint this excerpt. —The Eds.]…

Why the Disappeared Malaysian Airliner Brings Out the Paranormal

By Joseph Laycock

…help find the missing airliner by using the power of remote viewing, a form of ESP….

Finding the Missing Airliner with Coconuts

By Joseph Laycock

…ted. All cultures have experts that can be consulted for supernatural aid. Americans support a thriving industry of psychics and astrologers and generally don’t care what other countries think about it. However, countries with developing economies are sometimes embarrassed when world attention focuses on their traditional shamans and witches. Recourse to the supernatural is equated with backwardness. The stakes are further raised in this case beca…

Make Aeronautic Jobs, Not Jihad

By Haroon Moghul

…booming populations ravenous for rights, dignity, and prosperity. In short, thank the world’s largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, for a big order signed on the occasion of President Obama’s visit (230 planes at $21.7 billion!). And thank one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, Emirates from Dubai, for the other (50 jets at $18 billion). So here’s to cooperation of the civilizations. Here’s to throwing facts in the face of faux analysis. While V…

What Makes a Human Bomb Tick?

By Gordon Haber

…heard a series of bangs or popping noises. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old man from a prominent Nigerian family, was attempting to ignite an explosive device sewn into his underwear. He succeeded only in igniting himself—after his arrest, he had to be treated for second-degree burns on his hands and crotch. Instead of martyrdom, Abdulmutallab received four consecutive life sentences plus 50 years. He also earned the less-than-terrifying…

Before We Scold DeSean Jackson and Others For Anti-Semitism We Need To Talk About ‘Chosenness’

By A. E. Brooks-Key

…re espousing and how these beliefs operate within the parameters of African-American religious thought. In doing so this does not mean we should turn a blind eye nor condemn anti-Semitism in whatever form we may encounter it. Rather than ignoring or evading anti-Semitism I propose we take a more critical approach to these public statements which explores their origins and the actual meanings being communicated rather than offering preconditioned r…

The Myth of the Maya Apocalypse

By Evan Pondel

…Press, 2010), which reveals what the Maya actually believed about this end-of-days scenario. Religion Dispatches recently caught up with the highly sought after Van Stone to see what all the hubbub is about—and to get some answers. According to believers, how will the Maya apocalypse go down? Two of the more common ideas are that the world will end in a puff of smoke or that some rogue planet meteor will hit us, while others believe that our w…

Let’s Get Lost: Mapping Religion in the 21st Century

By Spencer Dew

…e strength of the United States.” Conservative political commentator Allen West offers three maps “of Islamic activity, mosques and refugees” on his website, describing the data contained with only one word: “disturbing.” The first map (as compiled by Salatomatic, an Islamic guide to mosques) compiled the number of mosques per state, while the second, using U.S. Department of State data, charts the number of refugees arriving in each state (from O…

The Russian Patriarch Just Gave His Most Dangerous Speech Yet — And Almost No One in the West Has Noticed

By Katherine Kelaidis

…loying the familiar rhetoric of the Culture Wars, “gay pride parades,” and Western decadence. He’s speaking in terms of the obscure history of the Christian East, a history largely unknown in the West. But do not be fooled; what he’s saying is extremely alarming. Patriarch Kirill’s sermon on the Sunday of St. John Climacus does no less than refuse to acknowledge the distinction between Russian and Ukrainian culture and identity, and it denies Ukra…