Between Pope and Prophet

Growing up Muslim-American in an age of Islamophobia | Pop and Politics. But passions over Islam in America became truly inflamed when Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center threatened to burn copies of the Koran to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Pop and Politics crew arrived in Gainesville, Florida on September 10th, a day before the the planned burning. In the midst of the worldwide media maelstrom, we met the Qamar family, moderate Muslims trying to convince their fellow Americans that being Muslim does not equal being a terrorist.

The Seeker: Let Muhammad Ali, not bin Laden, represent Islam in America. Osama bin Laden was an absolute embarrassment to all decent Muslims. Unlike the proud warrior known as the Prophet Muhammad, bin Laden was a cowardly killer of unarmed women and children. People like Muhammad Ali (a great warrior during his time) promote Islam as a respectable religion of peace. This was a common representation before the atrocities of 9/11. Since then blood, savagery and ignorance has tarnished the image.

God rest his soul. He walked the talk and was an influential and inspiring figure, even if I never was his student. If Heaven Exists, Peter Gomes Is There | Hubbub | Blogs | WBUR. He was a black, Republican, openly gay man of God. He assumed a bow tie and that wonderfully pedantic Harvard accent. Rev. Peter Gomes, the Harvard Divinity School professor, died Monday night after suffering a heart attack and brain aneurysm. He was 68.