I wrote this brief reflection for the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) on the recent US midterm elections.
American civil religion took a massive shellacking all summer in a momentum that reached into the fall as politicians on both sides of the aisle demonized Islam and Muslims. …
ACT OF RECONCILIATION: AN APOLOGY?
The strong opposition to the proposed Park51 Islamic Center in New York over the summer of 2010 made me ponder and think hard as to why so many Americans had serious fears and misgivings about Islam and Muslims.
Troubled and pained while agonizing over this reality all …
MY EXCHANGE WITH TAREK FATAH ON IMAM FAISAL AL-RAUF
After watching a post by Tarek Fatah on Facebook in which he posted an audio tape about Imam Faisal al-Rauf followed by his unhappy comments, I felt compelled to respond to Tarek.
Tarek first wrote on FB:
Was stunned after listening to this 1996 off …
David Schanzer, Associate Professor of the Practice, Sanford School of Public Policy & Director, Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security; Ebrahim Moosa, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies & Associate Professor, Islamic Studies, Department of Religion, Duke
Presented with Duke Islamic Studies Center and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies.
(A blog post I wrote for the Immanent Frame)
Robert Bellah’s idea of civil religion, captured in his now famous essay “Civil Religion in America,” can in a moment of naïveté not only be seductive, but could almost pass as something universal: all countries have a …
