On Religion – Muslim Prayer Room Was Part of Life at Twin Towers – NYTimes.com. On any given day, Mr. Abdus-Salaam’s companions in the prayer room might include financial analysts, carpenters, receptionists, secretaries and ironworkers. There were American natives, immigrants who had earned citizenship, visitors conducting international business — the whole Muslim spectrum of nationality and race. Leaping down the stairs on Sept. 11, 2001, when he had been installing ceiling speakers for a reinsurance company on the 49th floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam had a brief, panicked thought. He didn’t see any of the Muslims he recognized from the prayer room.…
That’s a great article, and it brings up something I have said often in the past–the sadism that brings people to commit violent acts is prior to any religious or theological concept created to justify it. It’s not that religious people are violent, it’s that violent people have learned to hide behind religion.
I’ve elaborated a bit on my own blog. Incidentally, have you been invited to the Progressive Faith Blog Con?