Reclaiming a Most Hateful Symbol
The BBC talks about a young who is attempting to claim the swastika back from its Nazi associations.
Day: November 13, 2008
The Truth of Oskar Schindler
The NYT does a review of books on Schindler. I like the little details that get left out. I think the last line says it best “Much as the rescue could not have occurred without many small contributions along the way, the credits for the blockbuster “Schindler’s List” should begin not with a successful novelist or a powerful Hollywood director but with the immigrant proprietor of a luggage store.” Schinder
How do you say “Barack” in …
A friend has posted a series of videos of songs from around the world supporting Barack Obama. Very cool. Music, Obama
What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church?
I am dread to see what a mosque version of this would look like. (h/t Street Prophets)
Jews, Muslims, and Orthodoxy
Over at Talk Islam, Abu Noor talks about what the face of Islam in America will look like. He picks up two issues that I have argued previously: 1. The Catholic-Protestant divide is not a useful analogy for discussing the Sunni-Shi’ah divide. 2. We do not need a Reformation in Islam. (See more recently, my talk on Muslims in the Media (part 2)) Where I have difficulty with his argument is the extension of the analogy with Judaism. I agree that the movement approach (Conservative, Reform, Orthodox, etc.) better fits the Muslim experience. We generally speak of turuq (paths), of…
On a New York Times Roll
The NYT had an interesting series of unrelated articles about Muslims over the last week. Deprogramming Jihadists I respect that the article is trying to show how the Saudis are attempting to deal with demon they helped create, but really does not address some of the inconsistencies in the approach. For example: Saudi schools teach a version of world history that emphasizes repeated battles between Muslims and nonbelieving enemies. Whether to Afghanistan in the 1980s or present-day Iraq, Saudi Arabia has exported more jihadist volunteers than any other country; 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudis. and…
A Conversation in a Mosque
A friend recently went to Turkey and the tour guide started explaining Islam. It’s actually pretty good, and the guide is funny. Of course, I have objections to both a five pillar definition of Islam and linking of religious acts as dependent on science, but overall it is fun. It’s also nice to have a Muslim, from a Muslim-majority country, explain Islam in a way that resonates with the way many of us understand our own faith. Turkey