Originally published in the Star Telegram As painful as it is to admit, the image of Islam in America is tainted. A heinous act 13 years ago by barbarians who claim to be Muslim will forever haunt not only the image of Islam, but America as a whole. Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, Boko Haram and any other terrorist organization claiming to represent Islam have dragged my beautiful religion through...
Originally published in The Morning Call e peaceful religion of Islam is yet again being dishonored by the barbaric acts of the militant group ISIS (“Chaos in Baghdad,” Aug. 12). It has taken over key parts of Northern Iraq, demolished several holy sites and has targeted many minority groups. The group’s members have also threatened the Christians living in the cities they have...
Originally published in Journal Sentinel Two terms used in the media today in conjunction with each other are ISIS and “Caliphate.” The former is the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an extremist militant group waging a territorial war in that region; the latter is a divinely guided spiritual leadership from the perspective of Islam. These two things cannot possibly...
Originally published in Foreign Policy On May 13, 2014, police in the province of Punjab announced that they had registered a complaint of blasphemy against sixty-eight lawyers who had been involved in a protest against a police officer. The protest started after a senior officer allegedly detained and beat one of the lawyer’s colleagues. During the protests, the lawyers had called out the...
Originally published in Dallas News Yet again, a terrorist organization defaces the beautiful religion of Islam with their heinous actions. This time we are in Nigeria, where so-called “Muslims” from Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls because they claim Islam disallows the education of women. You can read that over and over again because I can’t wrap my head around the logic behind this. As a...
Originally published in the Akron Beacon Journal We should all join Pope Francis in his prayers for the nuns in Syria who were kidnapped by rebel troops. It is claimed that these nuns were taken for safety, but this is very unlikely, as minorities such as Christians throughout the two-and-a-half-year war have been caught in this huge mess, and many of their towns and places of worship have been...