Posts tagged as:

Islam

MISANTHROPE [MIS-uhn-throhp]: a hater of humankind

April 3, 2013

Given the atrocities we observe in places like Syria, is it any wonder that we have to ask the question about motivation? Specifically, what is the motivation for a national leader who seemingly willingly slaughters his people without regard for their relationships,ages, or circumstances. I can only come to the conclusion that Syrian President Bashar [...]

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PURDAH [PUR-duh]: the seclusion of women from the sight of men or strangers, practiced by some Muslims and Hindus.

February 6, 2013

The more we in the non-Islamic world can learn about the traditions and practices of Islam the better.  We have been raised, for the most part, in a culture of ignorance about the religion, and are vulnerable to teachings which are biased and dangerous. One such example came to me in viewing the film, Zero [...]

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SHARIAH [shah-REE-ah]: a system of law deemed to be derived from the Koran

August 19, 2012

      A lot has been said and written about Islamic law over the past few years, some out of intelligence, some out of ignorance.  The fear of something “different” keeps some people from seeking the truth when it comes to things Islamic.  This is particularly true when dealing with the concept of Shariah, [...]

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ABRAHAMIC TRADITION: belonging to a community which traces its history to Abraham

June 13, 2012

In a very interesting op-ed piece in Wednesday’s New York Times, David  V. Mason, an associate professor of theater at Rhodes College, explains his unique understanding that as a Mormon he does not see himself as a Christian.   This flies in the face of numerous positions that have been stated over the past couple of [...]

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DEMOCRACY: a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

February 2, 2011

Sometimes we Americans can be  myopic, especially when it comes to political issues.   We have been raised in a system which teaches us that our way of government is excellent, and that we are fortunate to live in a country where democracy is understood to be the superior way of conducting a nation.  From the [...]

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GLOBAL: having a world view that is expansive

November 26, 2010

Our Thanksgiving dinner was outstanding.   It was a shared preparation process with all of us doing what was needed to put together the ingredients of a traditional turkey dinner.   The food was outstanding.  After the pumpkin and apple pies had been invaded appropriately, we felt that familiar Thanksgiving sense of satisfaction that can only come [...]

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IDOLATRY: the religious worship of images

January 3, 2010

The attempt on the life of Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist, has brought the issue of Islamic prohibitions against idolatry back into the news again. At the invitation of a Danish newspaper in 2005 Westergaard produced twelve cartoons poking fun at the Islamic prohibition against depicting the image of Mohammad. Since then there have been [...]

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AL QAEDA: a network comprising both a multinational, stateless arm and a fundamentalist Sunni movement calling for global jihad.

December 29, 2009

I have made reference to Al Qaeda numerous times over the past several months. My assumption has been that because the term is used so frequently in the media and in political speeches, people must know what it means. The reality is that some people don’t have a clue what is meant by Al Qaeda. [...]

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