EXCERPT: AUSTIN — The Texas State Board of Education adopted a resolution Friday that seeks to curtail references to Islam in Texas textbooks, as social conservative board members warned of what they describe as a creeping Middle Eastern influence in the nation’s publishing industry. The board approved the one-page nonbinding resolution, which urges textbook publishers…
Category: Religion
Stopping US Muslim backlash (AJE)
EXCERPT: Religious leaders – Muslim, Jewish, and Christian – met in Washington, DC, on Tuesday [September 7] to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry. More than 30 religious leaders [were] in one room with one aim: to stop a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment that has already had violent consequences. There was the attack on a Muslim taxi driver…
Hitchens on the Danger of Emotions Underlying Self-Pity of Beck Rally (Slate)
Christopher Hitchens in Slate: In a rather curious and confused way, some white people are starting almost to think like a minority, even like a persecuted one. What does it take to believe that Christianity is an endangered religion in America or that the name of Jesus is insufficiently spoken or appreciated? Who wakes up…
Mau-Mauing the Mosque: The dispute over the “Ground Zero mosque” is an object lesson in how not to resist intolerance. (Slate)
By Christopher Hitchens Read the full article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2263334 EXCERPTS: The dispute over the construction of an Islamic center at “Ground Zero” in Lower Manhattan has now sunk to a level of stupidity that really does shame the memory and the victims of that terrible day in September 2001. One might think that a mosque…
Mayor Bloomberg Gives Stirring Speech on Mosque
Campus Christian Groups Loses Appeal at Supreme Court (CNN)
EXCERPT: CNN – The Supreme Court has ruled against a Christian campus group that sued after a California law school denied it official recognition because the student organization limits its core membership to those who share its beliefs on faith and marriage. At issue was the conflict between a public university’s anti-discrimination policies and a…
‘Under God’ Spray-Painted On Secularist Billboard (WSOC)
EXCERPT: Charlotte, NC (WSOC) – A secularist billboard on the Billy Graham Parkway was vandalized over the weekend.The billboard, which was paid for by the The North Carolina Secular Association, shows an American flag and the words “One Nation, Indivisible.” Over the weekend, someone spray-painted the words “under God” on the billboard.Police were notified and…
Italy Fights School Crucifix Ban (AJE)
The Italian government has begun its appeal against a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to ban crucifixes in school classrooms.
Nikki Haley provokes question: What’s Sikhism? (CNN)
EXCERPT: By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN – While researching my prior post about Nikki Haley coming under attack by her fellow South Carolina Republicans for her Sikh heritage, I came across a local activist, Oran Smith of the Palmetto Family Council, who told CNN, “Most people can’t even pronounce ?Sikh,’ even the ones that…
North Carolina billboards challenge “one nation under God” (WBTV)
EXCERPT: Charlotte, NC (WBTV) – Some billboards popping up in Charlotte and across North Carolina are giving some drivers reason to pause. One of the billboards is on Billy Graham Parkway in west Charlotte. It shows an American flag with the words “One Nation Indivisible” superimposed. The billboard campaign has just started and will appear…