Aside: Alien Life Next Door

"He told of a time, more than a millennium ago, when Baghdad reigned as the intellectual center of the world, a history fossilized in the night sky. The names of the constellations are Greek and Roman, Dr. Tyson said, but two-thirds of the stars have Arabic names. The words “algebra” and “algorithm” are Arabic. But sometime around 1100, a dark age descended. Mathematics became seen as the work of the devil, as Dr. Tyson put it. “Revelation replaced investigation,” he said, and the intellectual foundation collapsed." Fascinating article in NYT about scientists trying to grapple with religion. IQRA!

Islamic Science Rediscovered. Stereotyping Muslims, Myths and the Media Sunday, November 13, 2:00 p.m. Panel discussion with Dr. Reza Aslan, Wajahat Ali, Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq, moderated by Angie Coiro

I wanted to add a comment to SAM I AM’s post on Amana or trust, but then my comment expanded, so I thought I would make a post out of it instead. SAM I AM formulates a simple and beautiful message: “We are trustees of God’s creation, and we should seek to leave the world a better place than it was when we came into it.” In his formulation, he stated something that caught my attention: “Intellect makes Man unique and exalted from amongst creation”. This places incredible responsibility on Man to act as stewards for God’s creation. At the…