Ever since I started meeting jihadis, I have been struck by one thing - their
Britishness. I am from the East End of London, and at some point in the past
decade I became used to hearing a hoarse and angry whisper of jihadism on
the streets where I live. Bearded young men stand outside the library
calling for "The Rule of God" and "Death to Democracy".
In an earlier
blog I argued that Sarkozy’s call for a ban on the Niqab must be viewed in
light of a “save the Muslim woman” discourse that has justified war and an
ongoing discrimination against Muslim communities. Those
supporting Sarkozy, and arguing against my position, suggest that, by
placing a legal ban on some of the most conservatively dressed, women would
somehow be liberated—that it is p
Being lied to and taken advantage of is something many of us have gotten used to over the years as we work ourselves silly trying to be responsible citizens in these United States. But many of us were also raised to believe in a god and trust there is a higher being that loves and heals and knows the truth about what justice is and how compassion works. And most of us who were raised into any sort of community of faith believe that caring for and comforting the sick is among those things that a caring and loving God would have us do for one another on this earth.
"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
That Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld supplied President Bush with Bible-laced Pentagon intelligence briefings might only seem like more Bush-era loopiness, but wait a minute. The deeper, and still current, question is: What in heaven (or, what the hell) is going on inside the US military?
A Robert Draper article in Gentleman's Quarterly revealed that some of the top-secret "World Wide Intelligence Briefings" that Rumsfeld provided to Bush were covered with photographs of Americans at war, and captions taken from Scripture.
President Obama goes to Notre Dame University this Sunday to deliver
the commencement address and receive an honorary degree, the ninth U.S.
president to be so honored. The event has stirred up a hornet's nest of
conservative Catholics, with more than 40 bishops objecting, and
hundreds of thousands of Catholics signing petitions in protest. In the
words of South Bend's Bishop John M.
Let us now put our hands together and pray. O God, we gather here today to ask you to free our schoolchildren from being forced to go through this charade every day. As you know, O Lord, because You see all, British law requires every schoolchild to participate in "an act of collective worship" every 24 hours. Irrespective of what the child thinks or believes, they are shepherded into a hall, silenced, and forced to pray - or pretend to.
If they refuse to bow their heads to You, they are punished.
KABUL - The U.S. military denied Monday it has allowed soldiers to try to convert Afghans to Christianity, after a television network showed pictures of soldiers with bibles translated into local languages.
General Order Number 1 from the U.S. military's Central Command forbids active duty troops -- including all those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to their religion, considered a crime in many Muslim countries.
President Obama made one of the most important statements of his young
presidency when he said in Turkey that the United States is not "a
Christian nation."
Rob Boston was right when he noted on the Americans United for Separation of Church and State site, Obama's secular declaration "reflects the best of Jefferson's thinking."
In recent years, non-religious
Americans have won a modicum of public acknowledgment. Not long ago,
politicians insulted them with impunity or at best simply overlooked
them. But the heightened public religious fervour of the Bush years led the country's infidels to organise as never before, turning atheist authors like Sam Harris into celebrities and opening lobbying offices in Washington, DC, just like religious interest groups do.
