One of the questions that plagues my study of American religion is why there is such a frequent close correspondence…
Cheerleading for war?
violence
Violence, publicity, and sovereignty
Today we are once more at a time when lawless violence proliferates and territorial boundaries are infringed upon, when state…
Jihad, fitna, and Muslims in Mumbai
While the dichotomy of "moderate" Muslims and "extremists" is prevalent in many media representations, this binary hides more than it…
How religion gets mixed with violence
Violence has been accepted, then, by jihadis, warriors defending Islam, as a necessary step in creating a purer Islamic society.…
The paradoxes of Pakistan
While pundits are busy debating who was responsible for Benazir’s tragic death, the larger tragedy of Pakistan’s political history should…
Sex & aggression
I want to raise some questions about Taylor’s account of “our moral landscape” after the mainstreaming of the sexual revolution…
Idealism, materialism, secularism?
When I teach early modern political theory to undergraduates, I begin by trying to conjure a worldview and subjective experience…