Arab atheists: A demonised minority
Atheists are widely misunderstood by many Arabs and Muslims. There are those who believe us to be Satanists or that
Read MoreThe unlikely demonisation of Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie made a very unlikely target for the fury of conservative Muslims, which is why the opportunistic fatwa issued by a Khomeini in serious decline took the novelist and the world by surprise.
Read MoreThe curious case of the Islamophobe who became a Muslim
Rather than being like a vegetarian who suddenly becomes a carnivore, a former Islamophobic politician’s conversion to Islam is more akin to a committed soda beverage drinker switching from Coca Cola to Pepsi.
Read MoreUnsung death on the Nile – Part I
Once the mother of our world departed, her ghost arrived, plunging me into the memory hole which grief opens up, where the past becomes its own present and the present morphs into a kind of phantom future.
Read MoreTrump’s ignorance of Islam is matched by his ignorance of Christianity
Despite Donald Trump and Ted Cruz’s aversion to Islam, their own beloved Bible contains troubling “Christian values” of war, misogyny and homophobia.
Read MoreIn condemnation of “spiritual” atheism
Atheists do not “pray” and are not “spiritual”. I urge my fellow non-believers to halt the creeping spiritualisation of our creed.
Read MoreSocialising with the disabled: A guide for the perplexed
Out of awkardness, the able-bodied find it hard to deal with the disabled. The golden rule is to treat the handicapped like the normal people they are.
Read MoreThe leper priest who lost his marbles
Father Damien’s dying wish of marbles for his children may seem odd, but this saint’s caring for lepers can teach us a lot about selfless sacrifice.
Read MoreYoung and futureless in Iraq under ISIS
Mosul’s youth are desperate, disillusioned and terrified because “ISIS will never let us have a future, we could die any second.”
Read MoreThe Viking Allah and the submerged history of Islam in Europe
A mysterious ring in a dead Viking woman’s tomb shows how Northern Europeans came into contact with Muslims and Islam before even becoming Christian.
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