islamism

Just as I finished Karen Armstrong’s Fields of Blood, which is a very extended attack on the notion that “religion is inherently violent” or that religion and war go together like a horse and carriage…

The Boston Globe reported this week that the U.S. State Department will appoint a special envoy “to advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people overseas.” Legislation…

US President Barack Obama made history this week with what are reported to have been the first appearances of the words lesbian, bisexual, and transgender in a State of the Union address. He also…

It’s ironic that a number of (mostly right wing) commentators have been invoking the ideals of freedom of speech and expression while praising an authoritarian leader who has cracked down on these…

Transgender Day of Remembrance was observed around the world on Thursday to memorialize victims of violence against transgender people. Organizers report that at least 226 trans people were murdered…

International religious freedom has become the civilizing discourse of our time.

Earlier this month, Vocativ reported on rumors circulating on Twitter and some Islamic websites that a baby born with a rare birth defect known as cyclopism is actually the Muslim anti-Christ…

In his September 10th address, President Obama asserted that the Islamic State is neither Islamic nor a state. And there is some truth to both assertions. ISIS—the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham…

The recent arrival of ISIS in the international spotlight has demonstrated once again that there is no easy way to talk about religious extremism and the martyrs, real or imagined, that it produces…

The latest gruesome video released by ISIS showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff, just thirteen days after the execution of James Foley, is a stark reminder – if such reminders…