Reading Time: 4 minutes Critics of Islam love the Sword Verse. It’s Koran 9:5, or the fifth verse of the ninth Surah, At-Tawbah, “The Repentance”. The bit they like says, “Kill the pagans wherever you find them.” The charge is often applied that Muslims are being instructed by Allah to murder everyone who does not share their religion. At […]
Muslims
Posted inReligion
More counter-arguments from a Muslim apologist
Reading Time: 6 minutes Let’s wrap up with five more attacks on the atheist position from a Muslim source: free will, proof of God, theists’ poor behavior, violence, and fashion.
Posted inFree Expression
Islamic dress codes and women’s rights
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Koran instructs Muslim women to be modest in their dress partly to publicly identify with Islam and partly to avoid sexual assault. Since 630 CE, we have come to understand that the sexual assault of women is not caused by how sexy they look but by male control issues. Human rights groups and feminists universally advise that […]
Posted inReligion
Something about Muslims
Reading Time: 3 minutes I often write about Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church. Some Christian friends of mine have suggested that I should direct my critical attention onto Muslims. They join the chorus of similar anonymous grumbles I get on my blog. I criticise Islam (and Hinduism and Judaism and others) regularly, but they only notice when their […]
Posted inEducation
Christian teacher fired after rudely interrupting Muslim students mid-prayer
Reading Time: 2 minutes A teacher at Franklin Academy, a public charter school in Florida, has been fired after she interrupted three Muslim students in the middle of a prayer. She stepped on their hands during the sacred ritual and dismissively calling their worship “magic.” That’s especially ironic coming from a Christian, since the same faculty member said, “I […]
Posted inPhilosophy
The art of conversion
Reading Time: 5 minutes Like most Afghans, Rahim was born a Muslim. Not that he cared much about religion. What he did care about was flying. And being a bright adventurous young man, he became a pilot. With Aryana, the Afghan Airlines, that flew, among other routes, from Kabul to London. The line started operating three years before I […]
Posted inReligion
Fascism in India: The weaponization of religious custom
Reading Time: 8 minutes Where I live, Navidad and Semana Santa are significant religious affairs, times when the hustle and bustle of city life eases for a month and a week respectively: to observe Catholic customs, to be with family, or simply to travel to nearby towns and farms. One side effect, though, is the impact of reduced foot […]
Posted inPolitics
Fascism in India: The global turn toward nationalist politics
Reading Time: 9 minutes Although I never needed to “deconvert” from a religious tradition, I was fascinated by New Atheism’s debate circuits at the turn of the century: The eloquence of its speeches. All those witty rejoinders. The rallying of knowledge from a range of disciplines to out-fact an opponent. It was easy to fall prey to the idea […]
Posted inReligion
Eid al-Fitr is a celebration for all, not just Muslims
Reading Time: 3 minutes Today marks Eid al-Fitr, the day that Muslims await each year. After performing fast for a month during Ramadan, they finish it with celebration and family reunions. Special dishes are served, and kids receive money from older relatives. Most importantly, it’s a day for many social aspects and messages. But Eid is not just for […]
Posted inHistory
Fascism in India: The role of Nazis in Hindu nationalism
Reading Time: 8 minutes When writing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in Hindu extremism, I committed the cardinal sin of not defining a key term: fascism. This was a conscious choice, because I’ve written before on how quickly we mire ourselves in political word games. Better to start with the government figure that Western media keeps centering, as […]