popular culture

By presenting itself as a disinterested collection of “facts” and “data,” an alarmist new book about the Muslim threat to Europe has been taken more seriously than your standard Islamophobic pamphlet.

The staging in Jaffa of a controversial play with Jesus as central character is shut down by protests—but not for the reasons one might imagine.

A primetime sci-fi soap opera takes on issues of secular vs. spiritual—in space.

A few gamers call for a boycott of an Xbox title designed by a well-known gay rights opponent. Most are unfazed.

Or: It’s a great day for a Wii Wedding…

An interview with a singer marked for death by the Taliban. Curiously, while the Taliban claims that music is a violation of Islamic law, they do have their own melodies and hymns.

An interview with the director of Afghan Star, a documentary that follows a tense but cathartic talent competition.

We’ve made Abraham Lincoln into a secular saint, as a visit to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois—complete with relics and incense—easily confirms. But what of his cutthroat skill in the political arena? Contemporary politicians can’t compete.

A group named Anonymous has been using electronic sabotage and staging street demonstrations against Scientology in what may be a first—an unaffiliated, secular group protesting an entire religion.

Given the strictures of Muslim dating, what are all the eligible Muslim women to do in the face of the dearth of eligible Muslim men? Sex? Online dating? Marry outside the faith?