There’s a double meaning to the title of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” filmmaker Mira Nair’s great, gripping and complex drama based on the 2007 novel by Mohsin Hamid about the roots of extremism. On a superficial level, “fundamentalist” refers to religious identity, one unfortunately most often associated with Islamic terrorism these days. And the story — about an…
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/5/13) — The nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today said the decision by The Associated Press (AP) to revise its Stylebook reference to the term “Islamist” is a “step in the right direction.” Late last year, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) approached AP about modifying the reference, which…
The new Five Star party headed by Beppo Grillo swept Italian politics during the most recent elections, winning more candidates in the Chamber of Deputies than any other party. Grillo, a former comedian, organized a movement that will likely bring the Italian government to its knees unless the traditional parties of the Left and Right…
The MIT Survey on Science, Religion and Origins, which we’re officially publishing today in honor of Charles Darwin’s 204th birthday. We found that only 11 percent of Americans belong to religions openly rejecting evolution or our Big Bang. So if someone you know has the same stressful predicament as my student, chances are that they…
Bombings in London, riots in Paris, terrorists in Germany, fury over mosques, veils and cartoons–such headlines underscore the tensions between Muslims and their European hosts. Did too much immigration, or too little integration, produce Muslim second-generation anger? Is that rage imported or spawned inside Europe itself? What do the conflicts between Muslims and their European…
