Skittles, Syrians, and Accidental Genius

Last night on Twitter I saw Donald Trump, Jr.’s tweet about Syrian refugees and Skittles. This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 It struck me as a stupid and crass thing to say, and I watchedContinue reading “Skittles, Syrians, and Accidental Genius”

Link Round-Up: December 21

Here are some things I read today that interested me. Do Christians And Muslims Worship The Same God? – Yes. Next question? (For more about this, see my link round-up for December 17th.) NPR 12 Days of Christmas Songs: ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ Is A Hymn for the Ages – As part of their “12Continue reading “Link Round-Up: December 21”

Link Round-Up: December 19

Not a lot of links today. Star wars, religious violence, and how to make a new emoji – The BBC World Service’s On Background program takes an in-depth look at three or four big news stories during the week, and this episode interested me not for its Star Wars content but for its interview withContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 19”

Link Round-Up: December 18

Last night, after work, I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my coworkers thanks for an end-of-year work function. Here are my non-spoilery thoughts, posted on social media last night and this morning. First, Facebook: My non-spoilery reaction to the new Star Wars movie — I was entertained, but it’s best to have temperedContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 18”

Link Round-Up: December 17

We start today’s link round-up with something I wrote on Facebook this morning. It relates to two of today’s links, and I’ll link a third article in this: Christians and Muslims worship the same god. This isn’t and shouldn’t be a controversial statement. As a matter of history, it’s as much of a fact asContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 17”

An Ancient Qur’an and Early Islam

Putting on my historian hat for the moment. In Birmingham, fragments of a Qur’an dating to the 7th century have been discovered in a collection at the university there, making this one of the oldest known Qur’ans in existence. (The headline says “oldest,” but the article is not as definitive.) The Carbon-14 dating may putContinue reading “An Ancient Qur’an and Early Islam”

Link Roundup

Some random links that caught my fancy today. Islamic clerics in the United Arab Emirites have issued a fatwa against humans traveling to Mars. The reason? They consider it a suicide mission, and the Qu’ran prohibits suicide, therefore anyone who travels to Mars is committing suicide. A cellist wants HBO to rerecord the Game ofContinue reading “Link Roundup”

On Barack Obama’s Religion

Wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who said that “You’ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public?” That’s how I felt this morning, when I heard NPR’s story on a just-released Pew Research poll that indicates that a growing percentage of Americans — now 1 in 5 — believe that President Obama is, inContinue reading “On Barack Obama’s Religion”

On The Cordoba House Project

I’m thinking of converting to Islam, just to annoy a Republican. I’ve watched the news coverage the past month of the “controversy” over the Cordoba House project in New York City where a 13-story Burlington Coat Factory building two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood will be renovated into an Islamic community center.Continue reading “On The Cordoba House Project”

On Draw Muhammad Day

Today is “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.” The day was declared in the aftermath of Comedy Central’s censoring of a recent South Park. Muhammad, who had appeared in 2001 in the episode “Super Best Friends” was depicted wearing a bear suit; Sunni Muslims find depictions of the Prophet offensive, and editorial cartoons in Denmark resulted inContinue reading “On Draw Muhammad Day”