Monthly Archives: October 2006

Headless in Saudi Arabia

Art, Saudi Arabia

[”Traffic sign in Saudi Arabia. The man-without-a-head symbol indicates a pedestrian sidewalk.”]

I recently came across a rather plebian junior high school level text on The Middle East: History, Culture, People (by Thomas G. Kavunedos and Harold E. Hammond, Bronxville, New York, Cambridge Book Company, Inc, 1968). The book is quite forgetable, but some of the illustrations bring you to a full stop. My favorite is the illustration above. If indeed this was once the sign for a crosswalk, no wonder everyone seems to drive Mercedes in the kingdom.

Daniel Martin Varisco

How Pundits Fuel Nonsense

Gender and Sexuality, Journalism and Media, Terrorism Issue

There are multiple ways of looking at polygamy, but in an op-ed piece this summer William Tucker did so with blinders on. His July 26 op-ed piece, called “How polygamy fuels terrorism” foolishly fuels nonsense instead.

I suppose enterprising American pundits like William Tucker need to find things to say for weekly (or shall I say weakly?) columns. Continue reading How Pundits Fuel Nonsense →

Where Are We Beheading?

Islamophobia, Terrorism Issue

The search engine Google can easily become a kind of ouija board for those of us engaged in connected scholarship. There is much useful information just a click away, but also much out there of which to be wary. It is worthwhile to take time out every once in awhile to see what Goggle will offer up for an innocent query. Out of curiosity on October 4, 2005, I decided to type “beheading” into Google and see what came up.

The first 10 sites (of 1,890,000) are instructive (you can see for yourself) of the problem facing the representation of Islam on the internet. Continue reading Where Are We Beheading? →

Woody Guthrie, Pope Benedict and Western Stereotypes

Islam and Christianity

“Argue not with the People of the Book unless it be in a better way, except with such of them as do wrong; and say: ‘We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and your God is One, and to God do we surrender’” (Qur’an 29:46)

I am a Canadian Muslim (of Pakistani background) who teaches theology at a Jesuit university in Los Angeles. As such, a number of people have asked me about my thoughts on His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks in September about Islam, and the subsequent events that unfolded. Before I do that, I begin with a story about the importance of symbols for Christians and Muslims. Continue reading Woody Guthrie, Pope Benedict and Western Stereotypes →