Tag Archives: radical Islam

The far right, with a little help from Russian bots, are gunning for McMaster

When news broke that members of the U.S. intelligence community were in possession of recordings proving that, contrary to what he’d said to the FBI, Michael Flynn had been in direct communication with Russian operatives prior to Trump’s inauguration, he was forced out as White House national security adviser, and ultimately replaced by Lt. Gen. […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Charlie Hebdo, terrorism, and the attempted assassination of political satire

This was Stéphane Charbonnier, better known as Charb. He was a political cartoonist, and the editor-in-chief of the French satire publication Charlie Hebdo. Today, he was murdered in Paris by masked gunmen along with 11 others, including cartoonists Cabu, Wolinski and Tignous. The men who perpetrated the attack have yet to be found, but evidence […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 87 Comments

Because you asked for it, here’s my ill-informed, not-terribly-thoughtful, completely unsatisfying post on Syria

I have absolutely nothing of value to add to the debate on whether or not we get involved in the Syrian civil war. I know that. And I’m inclined to just keep my mouth shut. But, as people keep writing to me, demanding that I take a stand, as though what’s said on a tiny […]

Posted in Observations, Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Humanists present their “sensible approach to Islam”

A few times a year, inspired by my ever-growing admiration for Kurt Vonnegut, I get the urge to delve into Humanism. (For those of you who are unaware of what Humanism is, Vonnegut, a devout Humanist, described it thusly… “Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you […]

Posted in Religious Extremism, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Trying to reason with people on the existence of moderate Islam

A few days ago, in a thread about the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens a conservative Christian reader of this site, who goes by the name EOS, proclaimed definitively, “There is no such thing as moderate Islam regardless of how much we might wish it were so.” When confronted with facts, and asked to […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 76 Comments

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