What is interesting about An-Na`im's arguments is that they ground the case for the secular state not in the Quran,…
Arguing with An-Na`im
morality
The cognitive revolution and the decline of monotheism
To appreciate the cultural impact of the “cognitive revolution” discussed by David Brooks in his New York Times op-ed column…
Secularism and the paradoxes of Muslim politics
Few books in Islamic studies have been as eagerly awaited or intensely debated prior to publication as Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im's…
“Trust me”
On Sunday evening at Messiah College, the two contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination agreed to talk in a “deeply…
The confession forum
A funny thing happened on the way to last Sunday’s Compassion Forum: the politics of religion gave way to the…
Play
Sometimes we come closest to the gods in moments of play. When play is genuine, time is suspended and we…
Going beyond
One of the main arguments of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age is that people, at least modern secular Westerners, have…
Sex and the subject of religion
The current campaign within the Archdiocese of New York to canonize the radical activist Dorothy Day (1897-1980) offers a good…
Practicing sex, practicing democracy
Why is it that sex is such a central part of American political life anyway? Why, when The New York…
Marriage plots
Despite the putative separation of church and state, one of the major places in the U.S. where religion and the…