religion

by Julie Poucher Harbin, EDITOR | ( ISLAMiCommentary) | – – Over the past week-and-a-half Islamophobia seemed to dominate the headlines; first when a 14-year-old Texas student who was arrested for bringing “a hoax bomb” to school that was really a home-made clock, and capped off by GOP presidential contender Dr. Ben Carson saying a […]

Assyrians

Iraq: Can Mosul’s Christians ever Go Home to their Historic Neighborhoods?

contributors

Nawzat Shamdeen | Berlin | (Niqash.org) | – – They have been harassed, threatened, have lost all their worldly goods and forced to flee. What, if anything, would make Mosul’s Christians want to return to the city they used to call home? A celebration at an Orthodox church in Mosul in the early 20th Century: […]

Iraq

The tragedy of Iraq’s Sunnis

contributors

By Chloe Cornish IRIN | – – KIRKUK (IRIN) – Iraq is congested with armed men: Kurdish peshmerga in the north; forlorn Iraqi army troops strung across the country; ascendant Shia militia groups and volunteer Popular Mobilisation Forces in the centre; and, of course, fighters from so-called Islamic State in the west. Civilians travelling through […]

Islam

Breakdown In Saudi Organization leads to Stampede killing over 700 pilgrims near Mecca

contributors

CNN | (Video News Report) | – – “Miqdaad Versi of the Muslim Council of Britain says Saudi Arabia has made strides to keep pilgrims safe at Hajj but growing numbers increase danger.” CNN: “Council member: Hajj stampede is disappointing tragedy”

Arab Americans

A First: New York City Schools close for Muslim Holy Day

contributors

Deena Takruri | (Aj+ video report) “New York City public-school students will get the day off this Thursday, Sept. 24, for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Summer-school students will also get off for Eid al-Fitr starting next year. Is this a signal of change in the public’s perception of Islam?” AJ+: “School’s Out For […]

Christians

Will the US Catholic Church Divest from Fossil Fuels, buy Solar Panels?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In his White House address on Wednesday, Pope Francis again brought up the urgent issue of global warming, climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our “common home”, we are living […]

Bill of Rights

A Majority of Iowa Republicans unsure Islam should be Legal, but Support Kim Davis

contributors

Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “We hear a lot about religious freedom from conservatives these days, but what do they actually mean when they use that term? A new poll out of Iowa sheds some light… Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (Think Tank), hosts of the The […]

Christianity

Top Signs Pope Francis is an Honest Conservative

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The positioning of Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, as a “liberal” or “progressive” in American politics is incorrect and indeed a little bizarre. The Pope is a conservative. In fact, he has railed against “adolescent progressivism” and against secularism, which he calls “the devil.” Pope Francis opposes […]

Christians

Why the Pope and America won’t leave each Other Unchanged

contributors

By Massimo Faggioli | (The Conversation) | – – The papal trip to the United States that Francis will begin on September 22 is the most difficult of his pontificate so far. This is because of what I call the pope’s “American problem” – a cultural and ideological distance between the more socially minded Jesuit […]