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I do run, run, run; I do run, run, run

Name the country with the following traits: A female Olympian with medal hopes in marksmanship. Queen – the band with an openly gay lead singer – is highly popular. Has a very successful family planning program. Allows abortion – albeit in limited circumstances. Transsexuals are accepted as part of society. Hopefully the first thought that came to your mind was an Islamic state described as fundamentalist. A state where women are supposed to wear hijab and the state is theocratic. Perhaps a state that is part of the Axis of Evil, and has had no diplomatic relations with the US…

I confess, I was amused

A friend was insulted, but doesn’t read the blog on a (semi-)regular basis. I think the real criticism is the hypocrisy of the Republicans, but you decide.

Reading the Qur’an – Part 2 – Interpreting and Translating

Finally, I’m getting around to writing the second part of my three part post on Reading the Qur’an. (Parts 1 and 3) The catalyst for this event was this post by Abu Dilbert (yes, that Scott Adams). Part one of the series talked about the Arabic of the Qur’an and scholarly apparatus of the Sunni community that developed to deal with interpreting the word of God. The idea that God’s word is not necessarily clear to humans should come as no surprise, and when you introduce translations, the problem is further compounded. Most Muslims view any translation as actually an…