Tag Archives: Allah

John Stuart Mill on the “Omnipotent Author of Hell” (God)

For John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), a good reason to reject Christianity and Islam is hell belief, and in his Autobiography he recalls his father’s strong views on the matter: [H]is aversion to religion, in the sense usually attached to the term, … Continue reading

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Twitter Blasphemy Watch: 26,000 Now Call for Death of Hamza Kashgari

As of this morning, over 26,000 Facebookers are calling for the death of poet and feminist Hamza Kashgari for Twitter blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad. The number has been steadily climbing over the past week. If you find this as distressing as … Continue reading

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Christopher Hitchens’s Opiate: Not Religion, But Alcohol

Marx was right. Religion is an opiate. But Sophocles was right as well. In the furnace of this world, it’s understandable if, Oedipus-like, a person avoids too naked and persistent a confrontation with the world by plucking out her eyes. … Continue reading

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Debating the Future of Islam in Egypt

The birth pangs of a new Egypt: a Hitler-like religious fanatic (living in London!) argues with an Enlightenment influenced liberal over the future of Egypt: Hat tip: Concerned Christian.

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Unholy Night: A Muslim Tries to Blow Up Portland Christians Gathered around a Christmas Tree

Talk about a (real) war on Christmas! A Muslim 19-year-old, Mohamed Osman Mohamud—born in Somalia but raised in Oregon—tried to take out, with a truck bomb, a whole crowd of human beings—the majority of which were no doubt Christians—gathered for the public lighting … Continue reading

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An Agnostic Interviews a Muslim: Are One of the Names of God Love?

In this clip, I ask Kamal al Khatib, an imam who heads a Muslim congregation in Palmdale, Ca., about non-retaliation and love in Islam:

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What I Believe, and What Islam Teaches

On Wednesday, I’m scheduled to interview an American imam. But I’m a member of the doubting community, not any faith community, which means that I trace my intellectual lineage to people like these: Rene Descartes. Descartes made the first principle of his life, … Continue reading

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Abdullah Antepli: An American Imam to Watch

His name is Abdullah Antepli, and he’s a Duke University chaplain. You can watch him discuss, with another American Muslim, the Quran burning uproar here. And here he is giving a prayer in the House of Representatives: I don’t like … Continue reading

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Clothing police in Muslim Indonesia: for women, no jeans or short skirts

Indonesia is a country with 200 million Muslims, some of them relatively moderate in their religious practices, some conservative. And in a district within Aceh province, some are really, really  conservative, instituting aspects of Shariah law (such as stoning for adultery). … Continue reading

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