Religion

On Religious War

כ״ח בניסן ה׳תשע״א (Monday 2 May 2011)

If two groups of people are fighting, and both groups deny that it is a religious war, it is not a religious war. If two groups of people are fighting, and both groups agree that it is a religious war, it is a religious war. But if two groups of people are fighting, and one [...]

Read the full article →

Obama Is Not a Muslim or a Christian

י״א באלול ה׳תש״ע (Saturday 21 August 2010)

Half Sigma has written a couple posts in the past few days proclaiming that President Obama is not only not a Muslim, but that he’s not a Christian either: Obama: Muslim, atheist, or Christian? Is Obama a Muslim? I know he doesn’t claim that all his ideas are original, but I was saying that Obama [...]

Read the full article →

Ramadan & Islam in America

י׳ באלול ה׳תש״ע (Friday 20 August 2010)

I won’t be the first to observe that US President Obama’s Ramadan statement is so full of factual errors that it hardly contains even the whiff of truth: On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I want to extend our best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem. Nothing untrue [...]

Read the full article →

What is a Jew?

י״ד באב ה׳תש״ע (Sunday 25 July 2010)

In response to my post on 9 Av, Will S. asked why non-religious Jews choose to remain Jewish by choice: Is it just shared experience, and/or sense of high degree of persecution by outsiders, that inculcates the sense of “we’re a people” in secularist Jews, making them want to live amongst their own rather than [...]

Read the full article →

9 Av

ח׳ באב ה׳תש״ע (Monday 19 July 2010)

Today is a calamitous day in Jewish history, when we observe the destruction of both Temples, by the Babylonians and Romans respectively. It’s not a holiday the observance of which is mandated in the Torah, so I consider it entirely optional to participate in the public mourning. Nevertheless, I am always surprised and disappointed how [...]

Read the full article →

Soccer Equals Islam

כ״ח בתמוז ה׳תש״ע (Saturday 10 July 2010)

More proof that soccer is not only the lamest sport in history, but that it’s also evil: according to Haaretz, nine out of ten Islamists and mujahidin prefer soccer to more civilized sports like football (the real kind) or tennis. Consequently, if you watch soccer on television, in the best case scenario you’re inadvertently endorsing [...]

Read the full article →