Thursday, December 13, 2007
  Humanity Prevails
The House voted today to outlaw waterboarding and other interogation methods that do not meet the Geneva convention standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.

Thank God for small miracles.

Let us hope that the Senate follows suit, and Bush doesn't veto it.

Call your senator today and tell her/him to support the ban on torture.
 
Sunday, December 02, 2007
  Take a Teddy To Work
In face of the sheer idiocy going on in the Sudan over a teacher who allowed her young students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad, I suggest Muslims all over get themselves a teddy bear and name it Muhammad.

Muhammad was in fact a bit of a teddy bear kinda guy -- he was ridiculed by macho desert men for kissing his grandchildren. They would run to him for big embraces, and he let them clamber all over him while he was praying. He did mending at home, helped with the household chores, ran in the fields with is youngest wife, and was so in love with his first wife that even years after her death the mention of her name would make him pale. He was known for never being the first to release a handshake, and for the joviality of his laughter and his smile which was sometimes so wide you could see all his molars.

I suggest one of those small clip on kinds of bears -- the one you can fasten to a tie or a purse strap. Make a statement. Let people know kids naming a teddy Muhammad is not an insult. And perhaps, if some one asks about your new companion, you will get the opportunity to discuss the really distressing situation in Sudan -- Darfur and the horrific murder, torture, rape, mutilation, etc that is going on in that part of the country.

Perspective! We need some perspective here!
 

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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


What I'm reading now



Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

To see an archive of all the books I've read (well the ones I've read and review since I started the blog) with comments, please click here

Causes Worth Supporting

This is just a short list -- a few of my favorites.

English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
Network of Spiritual Progressives. Working to reclaim religion and morality for the religious left.

Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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