BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Tawfik Hamid Muslims can start with better Quranic scholarship. The film "Fitna" by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders has created an uproar around the world because it links violence committed by Islamists to Islam. Many commentators and politicians — including the British government, which denied him entry to the country last month — — reflexively accused Mr. Wilders of inciting hatred. The question, however, is whether the blame is with Mr. Wilders, who simply exposed Islamic radicalism, or with those who promote and engage in this religious extremism. In other words, shall we fault Mr. Wilders for raising issues like the stoning of women, or shall we fault those who actually promote and practice this crime? Many Muslims seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion — while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as a religion of peace, love and harmony. Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic institut...

Without a Pastor of His Own, Obama Turns to Five by Laurie Goodstein President Obama has been without a pastor or a home church ever since he cut his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. in the heat of the presidential campaign. But he has quietly cultivated a handful of evangelical pastors for private prayer sessions on the telephone and for discussions on the role of religion in politics. All are men, two of them white and three black — including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a graying lion of the civil rights movement. Two, the entrepreneurial dynamos Bishop T. D. Jakes and the Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, also served as occasional spiritual advisers to President George W. Bush. Another, the Rev. Jim Wallis, leans left on some issues, like military intervention and poverty programs, but opposes abortion. None of these pastors are affiliated with the religious right, though several are quite conservative theologically. One of them, the Rev. Joel C. Hunter, the pastor of a conservative meg...

by Tawfik Hamid The film "Fitna" by Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders has created an uproar around the world as it linked violence committed by Islamists to Islam. Many commentators and politicians -- including the British government, which denied him entry to the country last month -- reflexively accused Mr. Wilders of inciting hatred. The question, however, is whether the blame is with Mr. Wilders, who simply exposed Islamic radicalism, or with those who promote and engage in this religious extremism. In other words, shall we fault Mr. Wilders for showing photos of the hanging of homosexuals, or shall we fault those who actually promote and practice this crime? There is a certain schizophrenia among many Muslims who seem to believe that it is acceptable to teach hatred and violence in the name of their religion, while at the same time expecting the world to respect Islam as "a religion of peace, love and harmony." Scholars in the most prestigious Islamic insti...

by Phil Mushnick The news media always seems to lose their nerve with the wrong people at the worst times. The news media almost always grows politely silent when it's time to be firm and inquisitive. Thus, thus the follow-up questions that audiences are eager to have answered are never even asked. The recent terrorist bombings that left 200 murdered and 300 injured in Mumbai inspired the usual shock and outrage. And the same, boilerplate responses from Muslim spokesmen here, there and everywhere: "This is not what Islam teaches" and/or "These are not real Muslims; Islam teaches respect for life." For example, an organization known as Muslim Matters, responded with: "As Muslims, we condemn such senseless carnage against innocent civilians, wherever it may occur. This goes against the fundamental spirit of Islam, which promotes a culture of life and humanity, not bloodshed and violence. And another example of why extremist ideology, whatever that ideology m...

From The Confluence: Pop quiz: Robert is a 20 year-old black man who was raised in the ghettos of Chicago’s South Side by a single mother. He has committed a violent crime. The reason he committed the crime is: A. He is black B. He is a young male C. He comes from a single-parent home D. His economic situation (poverty) E. Insufficient data I would hope that everyone picked “E” as the correct answer, because we simply don’t have enough information to answer the question. Although “A” is obviously wrong, not that many years ago it was believed that blacks were predisposed to commit violent crimes. Answers “B,” “C,” and “D” are all considered by social scientists to be factors that contribute to violent crime. Let’s try another: Ali is a 20 year-old Iraqi man who was raised in the Anbar Province by a single mother. He has detonated a car bomb. The reason he detonated the bomb is: A. He is a Muslim B. He is a Muslim C. He is a Muslim D. He is a Muslim E. He is a Muslim Whe...

Narcissists, in accordance with their Machiavellian mind frame, will often appear religious, especially if they are leaders. But they may also ascribe to a religion in an effort to understand their special status, which they believe they enjoy. As written of the narcissist: "he is a captive of the false conviction that his uniqueness destines him to fulfill a mission of cosmic significance." The narcissist despises authority and is totally incapable of collaboration. That is why he inevitably seeks a position of authority, even in a religious context. Should he be Catholic, he will most certainly come into conflict with the teaching authority of the Church, for he has a need to defy authority, and he refuses to be measured by anything larger than himself, even God. One writer describes what the narcissistic cycle of extreme valuation and devaluation looks like in a religious context. Those who are sources of narcissistic supply are highly valued by the narcissist, not for the...

Restoring Virginity Becomes Risky Business By Sandy Kobrin / WeNews correspondent Many women who seek hymen-repair surgery do so under threat of death if family members in religious fundamentalist households find out they are not virgins. Now, the U.S. doctors who help them are also being intimidated . LOS ANGELES (WOMENSENEWS)--Some doctors perform these specialized surgeries on women late at night when there's no one else in the waiting room. The patients are most often women of Middle Eastern descent, some with origins from countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. They frequently give false names and pay in cash. They arrive alone, faces hidden, under elaborate hats, wigs, scarves and sunglasses and, afraid, say doctors. They are there for hymenoplasties, or the repair of hymens, which, when intact, are widely recognized as evidence of virginity. The surgeries could save their lives, noted the physicians who perform them, because, according to some interpretations of Islamic law...

Religion And The Brain In the new field of "Neurotheology," scientists seek the biological basis of sprituality. Is God all in our heads? by: Sharon Begley with Anne Underwood One Sunday morning in March, 19 years ago, as Dr. James Austin waited for a train in London, he glanced away from the tracks toward the river Thames. The neurologist--who was spending a sabbatical year in England--saw nothing out of the ordinary: the grimy Underground station, a few dingy buildings, some pale gray sky. He was thinking, a bit absent-mindedly, about the Zen Buddhist retreat he was headed toward. And then Austin suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment unlike anything he had ever experienced. His sense of individual existence, of separateness from the physical world around him, evaporated like morning mist in a bright dawn. He saw things "as they really are," he recalls. The sense of "I, me, mine" disappeared. "Time was not present," he says. "I had a sense...

(while I do NOT personally agree with Ms. Kilkenny's there-is-no-God stance - she makes some very interesting points about Obama's campaign and rhetoric here) By Allison Kilkenny Outside his audacity of hope, it could be Barack Obama's audacious scrutiny of religion that becomes his undoing. Did I mention it's 2008? And yet we're still talking about God. Despite being so advanced and clever in all aspects of our existence, human beings are still talking about a bearded dude, who supposedly walked on water, and could cure people with one touch, but couldn't navigate his way off a cross. Perhaps recognizing the benefits of leading a population fearful of an invisible daddy figure in the clouds, moderate politicians have always approached the issue of religion cautiously. After all, terrified people are easily led and fed all kinds of crazy bullshit. Why educate them and screw it all up? But when politicians do dare to break past the restrains of religion, they bec...

NOT THE GUY I'D WANT IN CHARGE NO WAY! Huckabee links gay sex to bestiality, abortion to slavery Republican presidential hopeful and former Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee linked gay sex to bestiality and abortion to slavery in an interview Thursday, explaining why, if elected, he would try to amend the constitution. "Marriage has ... as long as there's been human history, meant a man and a woman in a relationship for life. Once we change that definition, then where does it go from there?" he asked in an interview with online "Beliefnet" magazine. "Well, I don't think that's a radical view, to say we're going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we're going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal," he added. "The Bible was not written to be amended. The Constitution was," he said, announcing his intention to ...

This is Your Brain Praying by Louise Danielle Palmer When Andrew Newberg’s book on the brain science behind religious and mystical experience turned up on the cover of Newsweek, it sparked a lively debate about God, evolution, and the meaning of life. This “neurotheologist’s” work is moving fast, so we caught up on his personal quest to understand the mysterious workings of mind and spirit, his latest research, and its profound implications for our daily lives. When Andrew Newberg, M.D., was a little kid, he had questions so pressing that they would wake him in the middle of the night, get him out of bed, and lead him into his father’s den. How do we know God exists ? he would ask. Why is there good and evil? How do I know what’s real ? “It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was five years old when I started asking these questions,” says Newberg, co-author of the acclaimed book Why God Won’t Go Away . Not the musings of an average youngster. Then again, there is nothing average about Newbe...