From noted war correspondent-turned filmmaker Greg Barker, a new documentary, Koran by Heart, which premiers August 1.
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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.
books
Forthcoming SSRC book: What Matters?
by The EditorsEdited by Courtney Bender and Ann Taves, and forthcoming from Columbia University Press, What Matters? Ethnographies of Value in a (not so) Secular Age is the product of a collaboration between the SSRC and the School for Advanced Research.
August 3, 2011
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The WTC cross: a religious synecdoche?
by Amanda KaplanAtlantic columnist Wendy Kaminer discusses American Atheists' suit to prevent the "World Trade Center cross," an original cross-beam from one of the two towers that was recently moved from a lower Manhattan church to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The move, American Atheists charge, identifies the United States with Christianity and excludes nonbelievers from the ranks of the aggrieved.
August 4, 2011
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On religious freedom: from colanders to questions
by Amanda KaplanEver since proclaimed Pastafarian Nico Alms obtained his official Austrian driver's license stamped with a photo of him wearing a pasta strainer (for declared religious reasons), the question of what constitutes religious freedom has been abuzz. At Religion Dispatches, Austin Dacey contributes to the conversation.
August 8, 2011
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American evangelicals and the Arab Spring
by Jessica PolebaumAt Foreign Policy, Molly Worthen examines the sentiments and commitments that inform many American evangelicals' ambivalence towards the democratic possibilities of the Arab Spring.
August 8, 2011
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Slavoj Žižek on radical politics and Christianity
by Sam HanOver at the Religion and Ethics blog of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Slavoj Zizek has written an opinion piece on what he views as the aspect of the Christian legacy that is most important for radical politics today---atheism.
August 9, 2011
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Religion and development in Africa
by Jessica PolebaumAt African Arguments, Knox Chitiyo and Lucy Mbugua investigate the potential for faith-based groups to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.
August 9, 2011
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What would Jesus do?
by Amanda KaplanReligion blog, Debate Faith comments on the U.S. Air Force training program recently suspended for employing biblical language and religious imagery in its teachings.
August 10, 2011
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Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference
by Grace YukichSOCREL, the British Sociological Association's study group on Religion, is now accepting abstract submissions for its 2012 annual conference. The conference will be held at the University of Chester, UK, March 28-30, 2012. Plenary speakers include Tariq Modood (University of Bristol), Elaine Graham (University of Chester), and Sean McCloud (University of North Carolina). According to the call for abstracts, the conference is on religion and (in)equalities.
August 12, 2011
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Secularism and its discontents
by Richard AmesburyIn the current issue of the New Yorker, James Wood reviews The Joy of Secularism: 11 Essays for How We Live Now (Princeton, 2011).
August 12, 2011