All Posts Tagged With: "Islam in America"
The Compassion Forum: Highlights and Lowlights
Just finished watching “The Compassion Forum” — an intimate evening with the two Democratic presidential candidates, hosted by Messiah College in Grantham, PA, and Faith in Public Life, a progressive Washington D.C.-based organization. Overall, it was a little dull — after all, how much new ground can be covered after the endless months of campaigning? [...]
13Apr2008 | Andrea Useem | 5 comments | ContinuedAmerican Muslims are so American they are…boring?
At last September’s Religion Newswriters Association pow-wow in San Antonio, veteran religion reporter (and bead-blogger) Kimberly Winston pulled me aside to tell me about Melody Moezzi, the young author of the Dec. 2007 book, War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims. “You have to meet her,” said Kimberly, who profiled Moezzi and her book [...]
24Mar2008 | Andrea Useem | 6 comments | ContinuedThe “Crisis” of Covering Islam in America: Q+A with Terry Mattingly
If there’s one religion blog that sets the standard when it comes to high quality coverage of religion-in-the-media, it’s GetReligion.org, a multi-contributor blog founded by veteran religion reporter Terry Mattingly (or, as he’s known online, tmatt.) The blog has a very specific angle: taking a critical look at how religion is, or isn’t, covered in [...]
28Jan2008 | Andrea Useem | 5 comments | ContinuedA Gripping Tale of the Iranian Revolution (without the cartoons)
Don’t let the headline mislead you: I’m thrilled that Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is coming to a movie theater near me, hopefully this weekend. Indeed, I spent the last several months loaning out copies of Persepolis: it is a funny, sad, perfectly rendered child’s-eye view on what [...]
24Jan2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | ContinuedNative Deen Responds: “Our Audience is Global”
Earlier this week, I reviewed the latest album of Muslim hip-hop trio Native Deen, Not Afraid to Stand Alone.
Displaying a great deal of patience and civility, the band and its manager, David Hawa, agreed to answer some of my criticisms in an e-mail interview: Abdul-Malik Ahmad responded on behalf of the group. Ahmad, in [...]
Romney, Muslims and “Conservative Multiculturalism”
While lounging on the couch after an indulgent Christmas dinner this evening, ReligionWriter could not resist turning her attention from relatives and instead reading an essay titled, “Mormons, Muslims and Multiculturalism,” which she stumbled upon while leafing through a recent issue of the conservative Weekly Standard.
The essay, which goes for a lengthy 6,000 words, would [...]
The Grinch Who Stole Eid ul-Adha
What are the biggest Christian and Jewish holidays of the year? Religiously speaking, Christmas and Hannukah are not the answer — rather, as observant Christians know, Easter has more significance for followers of Christ, and, as Jews know, Hannukah pales besides Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashonah.
Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the same phenomenon happens in [...]
Surviving Salafism: An American Muslim Recovers from Extremism and Makes a Difference
Editor’s Note: On June 25, 2009, the text of this post was removed at the request of Tariq Nelson.
12Dec2007 | Andrea Useem | 18 comments | ContinuedIslam’s “Fallen Pillar:” Compulsory Charity
Four of Islam’s five pillars lend themselves to easily to stories and pictures. Whether it’s articles about converts, images of men bent over in prayer (a photographic trope one Muslim journalist refers to as “a**-shots,”) video of pilgrims swirling around the Kaaba as they complete their Hajj, or stories about Muslims breaking their Ramadan fasts, [...]
26Oct2007 | Andrea Useem | 5 comments | ContinuedWorld Peace Through Sit-Coms: Can Culture Succeed Where “Kinetic Solutions” Fail?
Just as megachurch pastor Rick Warren argues that churches can succeed where governments fail when it comes to humanitarian work, particularly in Africa, so some policy thinkers have begun to believe that culture can succeed where the current administration cannot when it comes to bridging the Islam vs. the West divide.
This win-through-culture approach resulted in [...]