religion

Via: Texts out Now: Jadaliya (Excerpt from the Jadaliya Interview – go to original site for full text.): Jadaliyya (J): What made you edit this book? Juan Cole (JC): I began this project in 2015 because of the avalanche of writing in the United States and Europe about the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and […]

Christianity

Which Way America? Confronting Christian Nationalism in the Spirit of Desmond Tutu

Liz Theoharis

( Tomdispatch.com) – “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu The world lost a great moral […]

Antisemitism

The Capitol Insurrectionists came for America with Bibles, Guns and a Messianic Trumpism

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – At Christian Nationalist conferences , “ . . . resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God,” according to New York Times writer Katherine Stewart. That accounts for the heavy presence of Christian symbols, crosses and Bibles, AND guns carried by rioters during the January 6 […]

Featured

Juan Cole on his new Book “Peace Movements in Islam” (Simon Mabon’s Podcast)

Juan Cole

Many thanks to Simon Mabon, Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University and prominent Middle East specialist, for hosting me on his Sepad Podcast to speak about my new edited book, Peace Movements in Islam This book results from two conferences held at the International Institute of the University of Michigan to explore the theme […]

Christianity

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: father of South Africa’s ‘Rainbow Nation’

The Conversation

By P. Pratap Kumar | – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has died at the age of 90. Archbishop Tutu earned the respect and love of millions of South Africans and the world. He carved out a permanent place in their hearts and minds, becoming known affectionately as “The Arch”. When South Africans woke up […]

Authoritarianism

The Long Arm of Religious Intolerance: Where the Inquisition was Strongest, Poverty and Mistrust Still Prevail

The Conversation

By Jordi Vidal-Robert, Hans-Joachim Voth, and Mauricio Drelichman | – From Imperial Rome to the Crusades, to modern North Korea or the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar, religious persecution has been a tool of state control for millennia. While its immediate violence and human consequences are obvious, less obvious is whether it leaves scars centuries […]

Christianity

No Santa Claus for Christians of Lebanon, Syria or Palestine this Year as US Piles on With Sanctions or Neglect

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Why is America imposing hardships on the Christians of the Middle East? Xinhua’s reporter visited Syria and found that the Christians in Damascus don’t appear to be able to put up much in the way of Christmas lights in the Christian district of Bab Touma. They complain of a lack […]

art and photography

The Nativity, Jesus and Mary in Paintings of the Muslim Mughal Court of India

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Here’s a Christmas entry. The Mughal dynasty, originating in what is now Uzbekistan, ruled India from 1526 until the 18th century, though the dynasty continued under British rule until 1857. Some of the members of the royal family were remarkably open-minded about religion, being a Muslim minority in a sea […]

Bill of Rights

Will the US ‘Combating Islamophobia Act’ signal a Change towards hate Crime in America?

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor) – The result of a vote in the US House of Representatives on 14 December may signal a change in Washington’s approach to the social-political evil that is Islamophobia. However, we should not jump to hasty conclusions. Amazingly, Congress was nearly split on the vote. While 219 representatives voted in favour […]