Stephen Salisbury on Mosques and Muslims

The recent exchange between Haroon and Reid has got me thinking and churning and preventing me from working on my dissertation!. I was struck by Reids’ quotation of Jesus Christ (PBUH)saying: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 and then reflecting on my own Shia-Ismaili-Muslim religous education and the attribution of the following the following hadith to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH): “I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is its gate.” The similarities and implications are very interesting. What is the Prophet implying when he says…

Islamophobia and Homophobia – NYTimes.com. So why have conservative Christians gotten less homophobic? Putnam and Campbell favor the “bridging” model. The idea is that tolerance is largely a question of getting to know people. If, say, your work brings you in touch with gay people or Muslims — and especially if your relationship with them is collaborative — this can brighten your attitude toward the whole tribe they’re part of. And if this broader tolerance requires ignoring or reinterpreting certain scriptures, so be it; the meaning of scripture is shaped by social relations.