There is a question that has been haunting me about our times and our collective condition, specifically in regard to…
democracy
The shared future of Islam and democracy
In the Huffington Post, Professor of Religion and International Affairs John L. Esposito argues that American and European governments need…
Teaching for democracy
When Obama intoned, "This is our moment. This is our time...Yes we can," we needed to ask, of course, "yes,…
The primacy of practice
Here's an "old thing" which relates, I think, to President Obama and the debate about civil religion---the primacy of practice.…
Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy
Charles Taylor blurbs Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies, a new book by Nader Hashemi.
Whose injustice? Which rights?
Wolterstorff (not unlike Jeff Stout) sometimes assumes that commitment to liberal democracy is the only way to care about justice;…
Nicholas Wolterstorff’s fear of the secular
The truly dynamic discussion in America today about religion and politics is not between "wall of separation" secularists and Christian…
Violence, publicity, and sovereignty
Today we are once more at a time when lawless violence proliferates and territorial boundaries are infringed upon, when state…
An internationalist president
In the Muslim world, as in Europe and much of the world, Obama is welcomed as an internationalist president.
The challenge of creating change
Abdullahi An-Na‘im's Islam and the Secular State has rightfully received a great deal of attention and commentary. A prominent Muslim…