‘Open Mosque’ in South Africa Receives Threats; ‘Blood Test’ for ‘Degeneratism’: Global LGBT Recap
Americans Abroad The Human Rights Campaign has launched a social media campaign targeting American religious…
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What’s Islamophobia, and Do I Have It?
I’m not arguing that Islamophobia is racist, or that Islamophobes are racists, because that’s not quite what’s happening. For one thing, Islamophobes embrace ex-Muslims like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and racists wouldn’t (indeed couldn’t) do the same. But consider the similarities: the Islamophobe must assume Muslims suffer some sort of pre-Islamic inferiority, sufficient to explain how some (largely non-white) people—actually, a lot of people—not only fell for Islam in the first place, but then stayed down. How long do enforced ideologies last? Nazism: twelve years. Communism: some decades. Islam: Fourteen centuries and counting.
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When Blasphemy Was a Riot (But Didn’t Cause One)
Why on earth is an orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned Muslim man in a wheelchair on the cover of Charlie Hebdo, the French baby-boomers’ favorite satirical magazine? Don’t bother looking for any deep symbolism—you won’t find it.
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The Scandal of the Cross
It’s Easter weekend, and French vandals armed with hammers have given further reason for contemplating the crucifixion, or at least its representation.
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Of Gods and Men Resurrects Martyrdom
The idea of martyrdom hasn’t been in very good shape lately. One common usage of it—“I’ll not be made a martyr!”—refers to the prospect of somewhat tragic but mostly useless suffering, perhaps in the service of a delusional cause, religious or otherwise…
Read MoreNiqab and Short Shorts
Two French film students, one of them Muslim, decided to walk the streets of Paris in niqab and short shorts calling themselves ‘Niqabitches.’
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Claude, Adieu: A Farewell to Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss, visionary anthropologist, once said: “The world began without man and will end without him.” Was he post-humanist? Post-monotheist? Such binaries can’t capture a thinker of his subtlety.
Read MoreBanning the Burqa Isn’t the Answer
French President Sarkozy declared recently that the burqa “will not be welcome on our territory,” as it is a symbol of the enslavement of women. If the president is trying to foster equality of women, is this the best way to go about it?
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Take It Off, Or We’ll Make You: On Sarkozy’s Proposed Burqa Ban
When you step out in clothing that boldly states your womanhood, you are a free woman. You are no longer a slave to old rules and notions. Modernity is inherently free.
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