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Boston Review — Jan-Werner Müller: Making Muslim Democracies

Boston Review — Jan-Werner Müller: Making Muslim Democracies. This suggestive analogy between Christian and Muslim Democracy is not lost on Western politicians and intellectuals, but many of them have been at pains to reject it. One line of dismissal, pessimistic in its conclusions, argues that European Catholics only turned to democracy under instruction from the Vatican. Because Muslims do not have anything resembling a hierarchy or central institution of faith, the Christian Democratic example is, according to these critics, irrelevant.

Torture Bad, Maybe

In case you didn’t hear, President Bush bans torture. Maybe. Yes, maybe. It’s kind of sad that we need to have an explicit ban against torture (again. Hi Geneva Conventions). It’s worse that we’re not sure if it is a ban. Just in case you think the administration might start believing in the rule of law and right, have no fear, unfettered power is still on their agenda. I thought it was scare mongering, then I followed the links. As a Muslim I can be Gitmo’d. As a born American I can have my entire life taken away without any…

Race in this Race

Received via email —– Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?….think about it. Would the country’s collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit? Ponder the following: What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter? What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee? What if Obama was the candidate who…