Imagine yourself walking down the street. You see a crowd harassing a man, pushing him, calling him vile names, bullying him... the man looks frightened. Perhaps he is trying to protect someone he's with, perhaps his wife or child. The crowd, more of a mob now, past reason and spurred on by the force of its own numbers, becomes increasingly violent, both in word and deed. What will you do? Will you have the courage to speak out, to speak up, to stand beside the victim and face the mob?
Or will you slink away, frightened, hoping the mob doesn't notice you?
Tariq Ramadan, professore alla Facoltà di Teologia di Oxford, arriva negli Stati Uniti per la prima volta dopo la messa al bando nel 2004, durante l’amministrazione Bush.
PEN American Center (in collaborazione con l’American Civil...
Pakistan: the world’s most dangerous country, read American papers.
America: the world’s most dangerous country, read Pakistani papers.
A Pakistani novelist, a Vietnamese short-story writer and a Syrian-born poet/translator spoke with eloquent hope about the idea that, scattered across the globe, we are more alike than we are different. But their conversation shined a spotlight on opposing worldviews that stem from varied cultural, historical and religious backgrounds.
Perhaps the clearest examples of those discordant views during the panel titled “East-West Storytelling” came from Nadeem Aslam, author most recently of The Wasted Vigil, set in Afghanistan, and also of Maps for Lost Lovers, about Pakistani emigrants living in England. He mentioned that he reads here in our newspapers about the most dangerous country...
The deed to Palestine is more complicated than most Jews, Arabs and Christians wish to admit. God promised the Holy Land to the seed of Abraham. (Gen. 12:7, 13:14-15). That story and that promise is in the Jewish Bible, the Christian Bible and the Koran. Abraham was the father of Ishmael and Isaac, and others. (Gen. 25:1-6.)
Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son. Some claim that Ishmael doesn’t count because his mother was a sex slave but the birthright belonged to the father and not the mother. The firstborn son was the first sign of the father’s strength (Deut. 21:15-17). That son received a double portion of all the father had.
The Hebrews had a problem because according to the Jewish Bible the first born son...
What is “holy” land? Can a place be uniquely holy? Holy means separate; therefore, only God is holy. Things are not naturally holy. However, God imparts holiness to whatever is set apart for God’s use and to those who use them. According to the Jewish Bible God’s name, garments, vessels, places where the vessels are kept, the house of God, temple mount, city of Jerusalem, tithe, priests and Nazirites, Sabbath, Ark of the Covenant are holy.
The New Testament declares as holy the Christian calling, faith, sacrifice, John the Baptist, Christians, Christian children. And the scriptures. However, the scriptures would apply only to the Jewish Bible because the Christian Bible had not yet been written. The apostle Paul points out that holiness is spiritual and...
Three world religions embrace the Ten Commandments but I’ve never seen a monument of the Commandments outside a church, synagogue, temple or mosque. Yet, some, mostly Christians, want to enshrine the Commandments in public schools, parks, courthouses and other state and federal buildings. Why? If it’s for religious reasons, a better place would be inside a place of worship. If it’s to educate others, then a better place would be outside the place where the educators worship. What is it about the Ten Commandments that arouses such passion?
A larger question is: Are they relevant today in a capitalist society where greed, celebrity and conspicuous consumption are virtues?
The first troublesome thing about the Ten Commandments is that there are three lists in the Bible. The...
Visit another country and you will hear an American voice saying, “That’s real bread,” with disapproval. “That’s real coffee,” with distaste. “That’s real sugar,” with displeasure.
We have become addicted to the artificial--manicured cowboys who are afraid of horses, male impersonators who pose as Mission Accomplished, phony patriots who wear flag lapels but refuse to serve in the military or pay taxes to provide for those who do, fabricated prophets who loll in ease and revel in wealth.
We are inured to radio and TV preachers who promise that if we give them a few bucks God will return it to us in gold. We are accustomed to preachers who caution us to stay at the center of the consumer culture--not too greedy nor too gullible;...
