a review of religion and media
The religious fundamentalism of ISIS is not evidence that Islam needs a Reformation, but that one has already occurred by Suzanne Schneider. Continue Reading →
Numbers never tell the whole story–which is why liberal pleas to rely solely on science and facts carry so little weight.
Internet years are like dog years. Way back in 2003 when The Revealer was founded as a joint project between NYU’s Journalism Department and The Center for Religion and Media, we placed a more traditional emphasis on educating future journalists about how to report about religion: with links to academic and reporting resources, explicit examples of how journalists get religion right and wrong, and by debunking hypocritical or imbalanced, precious or erroneous reporting. While our emphasis on that aspect of our mission has varied over the past eight years, we’ve always paid close attention to what tools institutions use to school journalists in religion’s means and ways.
For instance: there’s a cool new online course about Islam, created by Washington State University and Poynter News University. Designed by Lawrence Pintak (who will be speaking at an event co-sponsored by The Center for Religion and Media on October 5th), the course is meant:
as a tool for journalists who want to be accurate in educating their audience about the religion and culture of Islam, Muslim communities in the U.S., and the distinctions between Islam as a political movement and the radical philosophies that inspire militant Islamists.
Smart and necessary! But that’s not what the Culture and Media Institute (CMI, part of Brent “that’s indecent!” Bozell’s family of non-profits) has to say about the project. Continue Reading →
As Adam Sewer of WaPo writes, a new report by The Center for American Progress debunks anti-shari’ah rhetoric. Read the report here. And a clip:
But by defining Sharia itself as the problem, and then asserting the authenticity of only the most extreme interpretations of Sharia, the authors are effectively arguing that the internecine struggle within Islam should be ceded to extremists. They also cast suspi- cion upon all observant Muslims.
It’s important to understand that adopting such a flawed analysis would direct limited resources away from actual threats to the United States and bolster an anti-Muslim nar- rative that Islamist extremist groups find useful in recruiting.
As Adam Sewer of WaPo writes, a new report by The Center for American Progress debunks anti-shari’ah rhetoric. Read the report here. And a clip:
But by defining Sharia itself as the problem, and then asserting the authenticity of only the most extreme interpretations of Sharia, the authors are effectively arguing that the internecine struggle within Islam should be ceded to extremists. They also cast suspi- cion upon all observant Muslims.
It’s important to understand that adopting such a flawed analysis would direct limited resources away from actual threats to the United States and bolster an anti-Muslim nar- rative that Islamist extremist groups find useful in recruiting.
Of course we don’t endorse primary candidates (Mitt Romney 5.0)! But if we could…
Reading, writing and the absolute horrors of being in divinity school.
Old evangelical wine in old evangelical wineskins?
The Archbishop of Canterbury designates a Pakistani martyr.
Alabama Rep on Shari’ah: I don’t know what it is but I’m gonna ban it.
To the victim goes the forgiveness.
And today’s must-read is Tim Nafziger’s fantastic romp through Mennonite “institutions and bureaucracy” at Young Anabaptist Radicals, parts one and two. (Read Tim’s columns at The Mennonite here.) Continue Reading →
In a recent interview Egyptian-born journalist Mona Eltahawy tells Bill Maher (notoriously anti-religion, Maher so often perfectly demonstrates the confounding problem the left has with articulating religious tolerance) that Egypt has less chance of becoming a theocracy than is assumed in U.S. commentary. Continue Reading →
MoJo‘s Tim Murphy does the Shari’ah in America round-up so we don’t have to.
Elissa Lerner: Have you been losing sleep over the crippling anxiety that Islamic law might one day trump Constitutional law? Fear not – Oklahoma is on the case! “Save Our State” question 755 banning shari’a law from the Sooner State passed with a whopping 70% of the vote on Tuesday. In a “pre-emptive strike” according to the proposition’s sponsor Rex Duncan, Oklahoma is now proudly the first state in the union to prevent courts from considering shari’a in reaching decisions. Please. Like they would in the first place. Oklahoma’s Muslim community hovers somewhere between 0 and .1% of the population. Continue Reading →
Elissa Lerner: Have you been losing sleep over the crippling anxiety that Islamic law might one day trump Constitutional law? Fear not – Oklahoma is on the case! “Save Our State” question 755 banning shari’a law from the Sooner State passed with a whopping 70% of the vote on Tuesday. In a “pre-emptive strike” according to the proposition’s sponsor Rex Duncan, Oklahoma is now proudly the first state in the union to prevent courts from considering shari’a in reaching decisions. Please. Like they would in the first place. Oklahoma’s Muslim community hovers somewhere between 0 and .1% of the population. Continue Reading →
Elissa Lerner: Have you been losing sleep over the crippling anxiety that Islamic law might one day trump Constitutional law? Fear not – Oklahoma is on the case! “Save Our State” question 755 banning shari’a law from the Sooner State passed with a whopping 70% of the vote on Tuesday. In a “pre-emptive strike” according to the proposition’s sponsor Rex Duncan, Oklahoma is now proudly the first state in the union to prevent courts from considering shari’a in reaching decisions. Please. Like they would in the first place. Oklahoma’s Muslim community hovers somewhere between 0 and .1% of the population. Continue Reading →