Religious Witness Against Torture

OK, the news has broken. The Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo accused of espionage has apparently been charged with adultery and downloading pornography. Not quite espionage. I think TPM has it right in his analysis: it might be that all the information against him cannot be released, but would you then see him back on active duty? The Boston Globe discusses how the charge against Yee, the chaplain in question, might be the result of hysteria. I think they might be on to something. I could go on about how this really is a quest for the Justice Department, who now…

Opinion: After 9/11, reaction to Muslim Americans more nuanced However, whatever we learn about them does not tell us why they did what they did – only parts of who they are. It is easy, in the initial aftermath of the bombings, to make careless associations between identity and motive, similar to post 9/11 reaction. But this time, there is a change in rhetoric of how  potential suspects are identified, particularly if they are Muslim. It is because of this change we are learning to move past paralyzing fear and maturing in how we think of what it means to be…

Traditionally, Muslims read the Qur'an in its entirety over this time, in a section a day. The Qur'an is split into thirty sections, called juz', and one section is read each night.  This year is the 8th year I am inviting people to tweet the Qur’an for Ramadan. I will be tweeting @islamoyankee. To see how the call has (not) evolved, here are the six call outs: 2009 Windsor Star Article 2010 (despite the title, which says 2011) 2011 USA Today Article 2012 2013 Storify (including press stories) 2014 A piece I did on Immanent Frame   The Background [from the…