islam

Politics/Law

Jeffress is Both Right and Wrong on Religion & Politics

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Jeffress thinks it’s fine to interrogate candidates’ religious beliefs. Indeed there may be times when it is legitimate to ask whether a candidate’s religious positions would have a direct impact on policy. Religious Right activist David Barton has declared that the Bible is opposed to progressive taxation, capital gains taxes, collective bargaining, and the minimum wage. It’s legitimate to ask whether candidates who praise Barton’s work—such as Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich—share those opinions. Similarly, when a presidential candidate like Bachmann calls a Christian Reconstructionist thinker her “mentor,” it is not religious bigotry to ask whether she shares his views about the Constitution and the roles of religion and government in society. But questioning the authenticity or soundness of a candidate’s religious views, for example to have Barton and Glenn Beck rail against what they believe are President Obama’s religious views on the nature of salvation, seems far less appropriate—or useful.

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Politics/Law

Jesus, Carpet Bomb My Heart: An Undercover Muslim in Detroit

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When I heard the goals for this year’s massive prayer rally—healing America in a time of crisis, accomplishing racial reconciliation, repairing Detroit, and (here’s the part where I come in) bringing Jesus to Muslim hearts—I figured a Muslim in the crowd could be a nice twist. My plan was to report from the inside, to talk to the attendees as one among devoted thousands. I’d try to understand how such Christians understand Islam, for Lou Engle’s world is alien from my New England roots and New York life. I’d attended churches before, but nothing like this.

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Politics/Law

The Islamists vs. The Markets: Egypt’s Election Analyzed

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Left or Right, the market always seems to win. This is actually where I would locate the greater threat to Arab democracy, and the temptation to slide into some form of authoritarianism, older or newer. As the people of the region confront the reality that they have little say over economic policy, and will be forced to accede to the contingencies of global capitalism, they may well become immensely frustrated by the scale of change and demand something different. Considering how volatile European and American politics have become, and how frequently we now see street protests and even supposedly stable and demure countries, how much more so these new democracies?

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