Christians characterized the coming of Islam as “a punishment without pity” for the world.
The Secret to Islam’s Rapid Expansion: Free Love (?)
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Islam
Sanctifying the Killing of Muslims
Before the first crusade, Christianity killing in war was but a necessary evil.
America’s Image Problem
It’s not that Afghans are inherently untrustworthy. Rather, the United States has put them in an untenable position. They must choose between supporting unpalatable insiders and unpalatable outsiders.
But it’s actually worse than this.
Running Against Islam
Every political season has its hot-button issues. There’s race, abortion, lunar colonies. But the hottest hot-button issue these days, judging from comments by Republican presidential hopefuls as well as what happened during the 2010 mid-term elections, is Islam.
Egypt and the Islamists
The Egyptian electoral results, as in similar elections in Tunisia, Palestine, Iraq, and Turkey, suggest that in any fair and transparent elections in the Islamic world, Islamist parties and their affiliates can easily win at least 40 percent of the votes. In fact, in the case of Egypt, Islamist parties together won over 77 percent of the seats. These results can be used as predictors of future elections in other Arab and Islamic countries in the area. The question, then, is no longer whether Islamists can win a majority in elections, but which strain of Islamism and by how much.
Resolving Muslim-Western Disputes
Western countries are embroiled in armed conflicts with Muslims, Arab nations, and non-state Arab and Muslim groups. To manage or resolve these ongoing disputes, Western disputants — including Israelis, who define themselves as Western — should become familiar with the ways Muslims and Arabs customarily manage and resolve disputes. Failure to understand these cultural differences will prolong or exacerbate ongoing conflicts.
Nigeria’s Perfect Storm
Nigeria is facing a perfect storm of crises including a national strike, widespread protests, and sectarian violence in the north. Although the strikes, attacks, and protests raise the specter of another civil war in Africa’s biggest oil producer, the United States and the international community should avoid aggravating the situation by seeming to encourage a military solution.
The New Chicken Littles
I decided to wait a couple weeks just to make sure. So far, so good. Citizens went to the polls in Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt. A plurality of voters threw their support behind Islamist parties. I take a look outside. The sky is still intact.
Still, there is no shortage of Chicken Littles. After Islamist parties won three elections in a row, columnists and pundits in the West threw up their hands in horror.
Review: Patriot Acts
The world started to make sense to Zac Reed when he accepted a new religion into his life. As he describes his story in the new book of oral histories titled Patriot Acts, assembled by Alia Malek, Reed’s conversion to Islam erased everything he had done for his country. He’d served in the military, volunteered for Desert Storm as part of the National Guard, and worked as a firefighter. But his life of service didn’t protect him from being detained and interrogated as part of the religious profiling that took place in the United States after 9/11.
Fear of an Islamic Planet
It’s easy to make fun of Michele Bachmann: her history gaffes, her Christian extremism, her ludicrous political positions. Journalists, though, would be sad to see her leave the Republican primary race, since she can be reliably counted on to make an outrageous statement to enliven a slow news day. Last week, for instance, she blamed the Arab Spring on the Obama administration. “You want to know why we have an Arab Spring?” she asked her audience at a Republican Party fundraiser in New Hampshire. “Barack Obama has laid the table for an Arab Spring by demonstrating weakness from the United States of America.”