March 15, 2005 – islamicate

Not minimum, living

islamoyankeeMarch 15, 2005

Father Jake has a good post on the failure of a Senate bill to increase the minimum wage. I love the FDR quote about the minimum wage and its implicit moral component. Riverstone picks up the idea and places it in the context of the teachings of Hazrat Isa. The two of them bring up an interesting point: If the people voting down this legislation are not interested in representing the will of the American people, nor in practicing the teachings of Hazrat Isa, are they the representatives of America? Christianity? If so, is this really what they stand for?…

Current Affairs Intra-faith

He doesn’t get it

islamoyankeeMarch 15, 2005

The article starts out so very promising on the varieties of interpretation that we call shari’ah. Then it so quickly devolves into conflating constitutional law with religious law, without really explaining how such conflations take place. The article also talks about the religious Shi’ah and the secular Kurds and Sunnis. What about the secular Shi’ah and the religious Kurds and Sunnis? There are huge varieties of interpretation even within the traditions. Finally, page 2 is mostly about cultural practices that the author makes sound like shari’ah. This is a blog, I can say things and pre-suppose knowledge, and get into…

Current Affairs Intra-faith

F You!

islamoyankeeMarch 15, 2005

The fatwa has arrived. Of course, such condemnations are not new. However, as long as things like this keep getting in the news, it’s good. More Muslims are forced to confront that there can be no horror at the actions, while having sympathy for the cause. Al-Qaeda is a disease, the disease of ignorance. The pestilence has run through the Muslim community for hundreds of years, and rather than confront it, beat back the major carrier, we condemn the symptoms and leave the disease untreated because we have become so used to it, we can’t imagine life with it. AQ…

Inter-faith Intra-faith

Murder is better than divorce?

islamoyankeeMarch 15, 2005

So thinketh the Dumass. Considering one of the Ten Commandment is “Thou shalt not kill,” I would have thought murder would be a bigger sin. Perhaps it’s what happens when you de-sacralize the word of God and simply make it a monument that has no religious meaning. BTW, did you know that Muslim women have the right to divorce? I did. Most Muslim women don’t. It’s a shame. I wonder if homicide rates in the Muslim world would go up if women knew their rights?