Perhaps you’ve wondered about my bit of a blogging hiatus: I spent December 7-13 in Beirut for the second annual Arab Bloggers Workshop. The workshop, sponsored by The Heinrich Böll Foundation and Global Voices Online, with support from HIVOS and the Open Society Institute, brought together about 80 of the most amazing bloggers from around […]
On a night unlike many others, I took a taxi home. I had approached the first cab I saw outside of the bar, but the driver didn’t have a credit card machine and I didn’t have cash. The second cab I approached didn’t want to go to my neighborhood. The third driver agreed to it. […]
Many people are outraged at the Swiss people’s decision to ban minarets from their skylines, a decision made by referendum.
From the outset, let me say that I am wholly opposed to this decision, just as I am opposed to the burqa ban in France, Egypt’s ban on building churches, several Muslim countries’ bans on conversion, and Saudi Arabia’s banning of female hair. I fundamentally believe in the right of anyone to practice their religion, anywhere (though I certainly prefer they keep it to themselves). I should also say that two wrongs don’t make a right: I’ve heard plenty of statements along the lines of “good for the Swiss, they’re standing up to Islam” from people who, were the tables turned, would call inequality if a majority-Muslim nation does the same thing.