Archive for the ‘islam’ Category
Muslim Reactions to Violence
Monday, January 10th, 2011Killing Blasphemers on the Peace Train
Sunday, October 31st, 2010This is apparently old news, but I was previously unaware of it. I recall being shocked when Cat Stevens was treated as potentially dangerous after his conversion to Islam. Now not so much!
The Left and the Jihad Fred Halliday – openDemocracy
Thursday, September 28th, 2006The Left and the Jihad Fred Halliday – openDemocracy may be worth reading
Does Islam deserve respect?
Wednesday, July 12th, 2006Shadi Hamid in DemocracyArsenal
Monday, June 19th, 2006In democracyarsenal.org, Shadi Hamid makes a Note to Muslims objecting to a the claim by Zaid Shakir that his wish for an Islamic law is shared by “every Muslim who is honest”.
Perhaps the wish for a Muslim country governed by Islamic law is parallel to the wish for a Christian nation governed according to Christian principles, or perhaps it is for sharia law which might be more parallel to asking to be governed by strictly literal Biblical rules. None of the four appeals to me but all are advocated by at least some of the religious “leaders” of each faith.
The claim that “every honest” Whateverist wants a Whateverist government may be denied by what Basil refers to as “Eid-Muslims” and “Christmas-Christians”, but to those who believe that their faith clearly demands committment to its establishment in law, those who do not make that demand are legitimately cast as dishonest.
In the case of Christianity, disestablismentarianism is so evident in scriptural teaching that to any reasonable person (ie anyone who agrees with me) it is clear that it is actually those who would establish religious law who are making a dishonest interpretation. Unfortunately, for Islam, so far as I understand it, this is not the case.
Weapons of Math Instruction
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006This has been around for at least a couple of years but keeps returning to the email inbox so I thought I’d point out that although the authors of the joke seem to see “al-gebra” as just a funny coincidence,I’ve always thought that it could be used as a lead-in to a discussion of the origins of the subject and as a timely reminder of the fact that there was once a time when the Islamic world was a refuge of tolerance and rationality.