It is always a sign of war going badly when the US mounts a “winning hearts and minds” campaign to go alongside conventional military operations. It surely is a worse sign when US Marines teach Afghanis to read the Koran so they can “help people understand Islam’s true nature.” When Devil Dogs are tasked with [...]
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One of the great tragedies associated with Afghanistan’s recent history — aside from all the killing, which is both obvious and horrific — is our inability to explore this region’s rich, varied, and fascinating past. In this time of war, it is easy to forget that Afghanistan has always been a crossroads and meeting place [...]
Tags:Afghanistan·Bamiyan·Bamyan·Buddhas·Buddhism·Chinese mining·destruction·dynamite·idolatry·intolerance·Mes Aynak·mineral wealth·monastery·monks·Mullah Omar·radical Islam·Silk Road·stupas·Taliban·trade route
Over at the NYT, Rob Nordlund chillingly reports on the execution by stoning of a young couple in Afghanistan who had fallen in love and eloped. The details are disgusting:
Mr. Khan said that as a Taliban mullah prepared to read the judgment of a religious court, the lovers, a 25-year-old man named Khayyam and a [...]
Tags:Afghanistan·death by stoning·execution by stoning·Islam·mullahs·osteology·religious court·religious crimes·Sharia law·Shariah law·social crimes·Taliban
Not long ago, I discussed an article on Islam by Cynthia Boaz. In her article, Boaz attempted to correct several misconceptions regarding Islam and presented us with a progressive, liberal, and tolerant interpretation of Islam. While there are Muslims outside of the US who interpret Islam in the way Boaz does, there are also Muslims [...]
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