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PFBC – Roots and Branches

[formatting is off. notes are incomplete. go read Rachel, she’s better.] Rabbi Arthur of the Shalom Center. Quoting friend and teacher: Different religions are like different organs in the body. Want them to do what they do, and nothing else, but also realize they have the same DNA. What is the DNA? and what unfolds for itself? Chris Walton, Philocrates: Do people interact with different perspectives within own faith tradition? (Good show of hands) Rachel: How do we connect across faith lines, and internally? easier to talk to other faiths than internally (Christian Alliance for Progress, Public Theologian) ep fracture…

Fort Hood and the invisibility of Arab Americans

The role Arab-Americans play in the military: Consider Navy SEAL Mike Monsoor who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq on September 29, 2006. The device had landed among SEALs and Iraqi soldiers, and Monsoor absorbed the blast with his body, saving everyone’s life but his own. For his act of self sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor last year. Then there’s Lance Corporal Abraham al-Thaibani of New York who enlisted with the Marines after his city was attacked on 9/11. On the day the World Trade Center towers fell, al-Thaibani ran through the streets of…

A Terror Trials Pep Talk

There are two reasons I am utterly baffled by the possible reversal of the decision to try terrorists in federal court. First, it comes at a time when efforts to find, kill, and capture terrorists are having significant success. The key, it turns out, is to be dogged and professional, rather than going to “the dark side.” And that’s the other puzzling thing — that arguments based on fear-mongering and emphasizing the appearance of toughness still carry weight long after they were shown to do more harm than good. … We’ve got this totally backwards; this is a chance for…