We in the modern west have grown unused to the concept of religious war. In fact, the very term seems un-PC, like the word “crusade.” Wars of religion have come to be regarded as mere screens for other motivators: socioeconomic … Continue reading →
The Pope hosted Moslem leaders in a conference today, giving a five-minute speech that sounded conciliatory, at least from the short excerpts published (I can’t find a full transcript). Although he didn’t offer an apology for his previous remarks, the … Continue reading →
Alexandra is incensed at Bill Maher for making light of forced conversion to Islam. Maher isn’t one of my favorites (surprise, surprise, you say), and I don’t really tend to follow his shows. But in a comedy routine (video here; … Continue reading →
Richard Landes of Second Draft and Augean Stables has written what just might be the definitive answer to those who–like Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder–accuse Israel of heinous crimes and intents based (among other things) on the accusers’ complete misunderstanding of … Continue reading →
I’ve written before about the dilemma of choosing a term to describe our enemies in this war. Islamofascists? No, not exact enough; and misleading, hearkening back to our World War II enemies who had different political ideologies and methods. Islamic … Continue reading →
San Francisco is one of the most “progressive” (read: liberal) cities in the US. And, as this NY Times article describes, there’s a movement there to modernize Islam, at least in a small way. As part of renovations to the … Continue reading →
Starting in the mid-1800s, the Welsh Presbyterian Church was active in proselytizing, sending missionaries around the world. One of the places those missionaries went was Mizoram, an area of northeast India. They were wildly successful there with a tribe called … Continue reading →
Shrinkwrapped has written a series of thought-provoking posts on the survivor guilt of post-WWII Europeans, and how they might be dealing with it. Well worth reading. Three parts have been already written, and a fourth is planned. He writes of … Continue reading →
Now that the case against Abdul Rahman has been dropped, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi has offered him sanctuary: “I say that we are very glad to be able to welcome someone who has been so courageous,” Premier Silvio Berlusconi said. Berlusconi … Continue reading →
Sigmund Carl & Alfred has written a post that tells a story I’d not heard before, of “The Mosque that Sheltered Jews.” The rescue occurred in France during the German occupation of WWII. Here are some details: The mosque-based resistance … Continue reading →
So far I haven’t written about the recent uproar sparked by the publication of cartoon depictions of Mohammed. It’s been covered so thoroughly by others that there wasn’t anything I felt I needed to add. Especially good roundups and discussions … Continue reading →
This will be a short riff–a mere sketch, really–sparked by a comment that was part of an interview in the NY Times Magazine, drawn to my attention by this post of Gerard Van der Leun’s at American Digest. A historian … Continue reading →