islam doesn't speak, muslims do | "the ink of the scholar is worth more than the blood of the martyr" – Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Uncle Sam Is No Imam – NYTimes.com. In each of these cases, counterterrorism has put officials on a collision course with Islamic thought and practice — and, perhaps more dangerously, with the Constitution. The First Amendment prohibits government action “respecting an establishment of religion.”
How the Logic of Law Enforcement Leads to Spying on Muslims | Religion Dispatches. With all the talk of the NYPD and its relationship to New York’s huge Muslim community, of which I am a part, we deserve a sustained and public conversation.
NYPD’s Religious Profiling – Ta-Nehisi Coates – National – The Atlantic. This where you see the really long-term effects of terrorism. It’s not simply the number of people you murder, it’s how the smallest can alter the character of a country. Some incompetent asshole straps a bomb to his underwear, and now we have to get full body scans. The free exchange of ideas is one of democracy’s greatest benefits. Universities, ostensibly, are supposed to showcase that more than anywhere else. But for want of conjured evil, we’re willing to part with that asset.
Go Haroon. I really don’t understand how people take Ferguson’s opinion seriously. His basic argument is that reasons for not going to war are bad, therefore we must go to war. Maybe we’ll all get ponies and unicorns this time. In The Daily Beast, Niall Ferguson Says: Bomb Iran | Politics | Religion Dispatches. Iran’s government has much to answer for. But the people who judged Iraq so badly, and so inhumanely, do not have the moral right to preside over that trial. That someone could so blandly suggest that we are on the “eve of creative destruction,” and that…
Linda does a really nice job laying out what’s been happening with respect to the NYPD and the American Muslim community in NYC. I hope to add some of my thoughts later. Hijabi Revolution: NYPD and the Muslim American Community in NYC. I am sure you are all following the controversy around the NYPD’s use of a hateful, anti-Muslim film, The Third Jihad, to train close to 1500 officers. As a member of the Muslim American community, and a member of the broad based coalition calling for the resignation of Raymond Kelly and Paul Browne, I would like to give…
Wait, there’s actual evidence of what American Muslims think about shariah? But what will we do with the Islamophobia industry who thinks they know everything about everything? ISPU Report “Shari’a Law: Coming to a Courthouse Near You?: What Shari’a Really Means to American Muslims” by Julie Macfarlane. This is the first empirical study to ask North American Muslims what shari’a means to them in their everyday lives. The study demonstrates that the present “moral panic” over shari’a and its alleged impact on American legal and social culture is wildly overblown. Based on the study, for most American Muslims shari’a represents…
A fairly, good common sense article on the integration conundrum many European nations are facing. My only gripe, the intimation that it’s only Muslim youth who rebel against excessive policing and securitization of their communities. How to Integrate Europe’s Muslims – NYTimes.com. only by strengthening the democratic rights of Muslim citizens to form associations, join political parties and engage in other aspects of civic life can Europe integrate immigrants and give full meaning to the abstract promise of religious liberty.
Civic Pride Makes People Happier Than Ethnic Pride – News – GOOD. Patriotism looks different depending on how you spin it. It can create a fascist, racist monster, or it can be a symbol of justice and independence. The difference, according to a new global study published in Psychological Science, is the source of the pride in question. The study found that people who love their country for its laws and institutions, rather than its lineage, are happier.
Doesn't matter if it's late, it's a great list of people, including my friend, Haroon Moghul. Anti-Loons of 2011: Profiles in Courage | loonwatch.com. That time where we recount and reflect upon the events and happenings of the past year is upon us. A review of 2011 is due in short order, but before we post that piece we will consider the anti-Loons of the year. This time around it would only be fair to allow loonwatchers to vote for the Anti-Loon of the Year. As we can’t create a poll, we present those we found deserving of such a…
Let's hope they win this one. We don't stop being American citizens when we leave this country. ACLU in Court Today: Government Can't Use Border Checks to Avoid the Bill of Rights » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union. Late last year at Chicago's O’Hare airport, while returning from a vacation in Mexico, Mr. House was approached by two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who questioned him about his political beliefs and then seized his computer, USB drive, video camera, and cell phone. The government retained the devices for nearly seven weeks, copying and…