New York Times national religion correspondent Laurie Goodstein has written a bio/exposé piece on Brigitte Gabriel: "Through her books, media appearances and speeches, and her organization, ACT! for America, Ms. Gabriel has become one of the most visible personalities on a circuit of self-appointed terrorism detectors who warn that Muslims pose an enormous danger within United States borders."
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Announcements, events, and opportunities related to topics of interest to TIF readers are posted here. Additionally you may find round-ups of news items and brief commentary on current events.
For a listing of all of the events announcements, click here.
For a listing of announcements regarding books, click here.
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The future of Haaretz (and of Israel)
by Charles GelmanDavid Remnick, in The New Yorker, profiles Amos Schocken, the prickly but principled (albeit ideologically nonconformist) publisher of Haaretz, which, though long seen---by its own staff as much as its readers---as the conscience of Israeli society, shares with the state itself an increasingly uncertain future.
March 9, 2011
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NPR’s religion reporters are not anti-religious
by John SchmalzbauerLast month, conservative trickster James O'Keefe caught NPR fundraising executive Ron Schiller saying this: "The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian---I wouldn’t even call it Christian. It’s this weird evangelical kind of move." Yesterday, these secretly-taped remarks were made public, leading to the resignation of both Schiller and NPR CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation).
March 9, 2011
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Mosques in America
by Jessica PolebaumIn a CNN op-ed, Karam Dana and Matt A. Barreto, SSRC Academia in the Public Sphere grantees and co-principal investigators of the Muslim American Public Opinion Survey, consider Representative Peter King's upcoming hearings on radicalization in the American Muslim community in light of their research on Muslim identity and civic engagement.
March 9, 2011
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Putting hell on trial
by John D. BoyA long-simmering conflict within U.S. evangelicalism came to the fore recently---a conflict which, as Martin Marty points out, may be more significant in the long run than the question of whether evangelicals support Mike Huckabee or Sarah Palin for the presidency in 2012. Partly theological and partly generational, it pits Rob Bell, the 40-year-old founding minister of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan (not to be confused with the equally prominent Mars Hill Church in Seattle), against the likes of John Piper, the 65-year-old theologian, pastor, and author, who has long stood in opposition to newer developments in evangelical theology sometimes called "the emergent church." Now, the conflict erupted into the public. . . . Bell's critics are taking advance materials for his forthcoming book, Love Wins, as suggesting a negative answer. According to Bell's alleged universalist stance, everybody is "saved"; there is no punishment for non-Christians. Since then, various media---online and offline, Christian and secular---have been reverberating with the charge of heresy.
March 10, 2011
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Reflecting on the minaret ban
by Jessica PolebaumAt Georgetown/On Faith, Katherine Marshall, Co-Chair of the SSRC Religion and International Affairs Advisory Committee, reports on how Swiss society has dealt with the 2009 passage of a referendum to ban construction of new minarets.
March 10, 2011
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Poll finds mixed support for hearings on Muslim radicalization
by Grace YukichA new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute finds that, while a majority of Americans (56 percent) support the upcoming Congressional hearings on radicalization in American Muslim communities, seven in ten believe that Muslim communities should not be singled out.
March 11, 2011
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All Arab politics is local
by John D. BoyGilles Kepel writes on a past encounter with Samuel Huntington and current events in the Middle East.
March 14, 2011
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“Killing in the Name of. . .”
by Charles GelmanAyça Çubukçu on state sovereignty and the political theology of humanitarian intervention with regard to the ongoing crisis in Libya, at Jadaliyya.
March 14, 2011
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What we talk about when we talk about the postsecular
by John D. BoyThe term "postsecular" is quickly becoming a keyword for scholars of religion and public life. So what is it all about? An overview of its uses and meanings.
March 15, 2011