Archive for 2008

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Questioning the existence of the Prophet

posted by Laura Duane

Muhammad Sven Kalisch, a German convert to Islam and professor of Islamic theology at Münster University, has put forward a theory that the prophet Muhammad never existed, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Read Questioning the existence of the Prophet.
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Gay marriage advocates and religious intolerance

posted by Ruth Braunstein

Jessie Daniels at Racism Review argues that “advocates for gay marriage need to work on their religious intolerance.”

Read Gay marriage advocates and religious intolerance.
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Caught between Islam and ultra-nationalism

posted by Ruth Braunstein

Jenny White of Kamil Pasha (and of The Immanent Frame) links to “an insightful and provocative article” by Kerem Oktem in The New Humanist.

Read Caught between Islam and ultra-nationalism.
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

The greening of religion

posted by Nicole Greenfield

Presbyterian pastor Henry G. Brinton believes the secular environmental movement must reach out to religious groups if the planet is to be saved.

Read The greening of religion.
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

For Christmas this year, the atheist bus is here

posted by Laura Duane

Echoing the atheist bus campaign in England, the American Humanist Association is launching a series of wonderfully grammatically correct ads that read, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” These ads have been run in the New York Times and Washington Post, and will soon find their way into Washington DC Metro buses. The AHA’s press release tells us…

Read For Christmas this year, the atheist bus is here.
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

A “forced marriage” in France?

posted by Ruth Braunstein

Tom Heneghan at FaithWorld reports.

Read A “forced marriage” in France?.
Monday, November 17th, 2008

The case of religious environmentalism

posted by Roger Gottlieb

In response to the resurgence of aggressive, intolerant and even violent religious fundamentalism of recent decades, deep questions, often answered in the negative, have been raised about the place of religion in public life. Religion is often experienced and described as antithetical to public order, democracy, and progressive values. However, the example of religious environmentalism shows (once again) that religion in and of itself has no particular political identity—it is neither left nor right, democratic nor undemocratic. [...]

Read The case of religious environmentalism.
Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Democracy, religion and Prop 8

posted by Nicole Greenfield

Geoffrey R. Stone writes on the separation of church and state in The Huffington Post.

Read Democracy, religion and Prop 8.
Saturday, November 15th, 2008

Abundant history

posted by Jonathan VanAntwerpen

In a recent post at The Immanent Frame, Jason Bivins wondered in closing whether our present moment might become what Robert Orsi has called an “abundant event,” “characterized by aspects of the human imagination that cannot be completely accounted for by social and cultural codes.” Randall J. Stephens reports on a recent forum on “abundant history” in Historically Speaking, and has posted Robert Orsi’s lead essay and Jane Shaw’s response here.

Read Abundant history.
Friday, November 14th, 2008

Secular trends

posted by Nicole Greenfield

From The Economist, a report on setting limits on Islamic extremism in Indonesia since the 2002 Bali bombings.

Read Secular trends.

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