Tag: Opinion

Islamophobia

Video: Why I Admire Prophet Muhammad – A Response to Islamophobes

Dr. Craig Considine9 Comments

The following lecture, which I broadcasted first on Periscope, is based on my article, Why I Admire Muhammad: A Response to Islamophobes. Islamophobes have attacked me because I’ve written positively about Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. Because I am a Catholic, they consider me to be a heretic and feel that my interfaith activities are sacrilegious.…… Continue reading Video: Why I Admire Prophet Muhammad – A Response to Islamophobes

Politics

Why Forgiving the Boston Bomber is the Right Thing to Do

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

In Massachusetts federal court yesterday, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev apologized to the victims and families that have been impacted by the bombs he set off. Tsarnaev, who is waiting his death sentence, stated: “I am sorry for the lives that I’ve taken, for the suffering that I’ve caused you, for the damage that I’ve done.…… Continue reading Why Forgiving the Boston Bomber is the Right Thing to Do

Politics · Travels

Turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque, a church, or both?

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

News of the beautiful and awe-inspiring Hagia Sophia, or “Holy Wisdom,” turning into an active mosque is a tricky situation for political and cultural reasons, as Religion News Services reports (via Huffington Post). Christians and other minorities may see the Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque as a challenge to Turkey’s secular-republican origin, whereas Muslims…… Continue reading Turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque, a church, or both?

Politics

Time For a New Patriot Act

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

2001 was a dark year for Americans. The Twin Towers fell. The Pentagon was struck. But the Nation lost much more than that in 2001. 2001 was the year that George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is kind of like a propaganda document for the following reasons. Literally, the Patriot Act…… Continue reading Time For a New Patriot Act

Commentary

The similarities between Al Jazeera and Fox News

Dr. Craig Considine3 Comments

Many Americans around the United States are making a fuss about Al Jazeera’s purchase of Current TV, which will allow the Arab based channel to air its content in the United States.  Some Americans have called Al Jazeera a threat to national security, while others have even suggested that Al Jazeera spreads anti-Semitic propaganda.  The Fox News commentator,…… Continue reading The similarities between Al Jazeera and Fox News

Politics

Politics: Impression on first debate is Romney winner

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

You don’t have to tell the truth to win a debate, but you do have to have fine talking points, clear and simple policies, effective communication, good body language, sound composure, a sense of humour, and a competitive edge. I woke up this morning and read on Twitter that media outlets the world over are…… Continue reading Politics: Impression on first debate is Romney winner

Commentary

Commentary: Time for Obama to say something about mosque attacks across U.S.

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

The arsonist attack at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo adds to the growing concern that the constitutional right to worship freely is not safeguarded when it comes American Muslims. In the summer of 2012, 8 mosques were attacked in just eleven days (Salon.com).  In Joplin, Missouri, a mosque was destroyed by an arsonist; the same…… Continue reading Commentary: Time for Obama to say something about mosque attacks across U.S.

Politics

Politics: What do you think of the Newsweek cover ‘Muslim rage’?

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment
Work

Work: Huffington Post piece, ‘The “other” Islam’ and reflecting on religion and 9/11

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

A short piece I wrote about how 9/11 changed the way I looked at religion, specifically Islam, was published today (September 11th) in the Huffington Post’s article (slide 12) How 9/11 Changed Religion in America. I’m honoured to be featured alongside a Hindu Monk, a Sikh activist, an Ahmadi writer, a Jewish scholar, a Dean at USC,…… Continue reading Work: Huffington Post piece, ‘The “other” Islam’ and reflecting on religion and 9/11

Politics

Calls for secession in the U.S.

Dr. Craig Considine5 Comments

Last update: November 5th, 2013 New Colorado: the 51st state? Rural Coloradans feel marginalized by urban voters. So 11 counties will soon vote on a proposal to secede from Colorado. Keep reading at Al-Jazeera America. * The US government shutdown is over, but the divide between the “two America’s” continues, as the New York Times…… Continue reading Calls for secession in the U.S.

Politics

Politics: Double standard in war crimes

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

From Desmond Tutu’s Why I had no choice but to spurn Tony Blair: ‘On what grounds do we decide that Robert Mugabe should go the International Criminal Court, Tony Blair should join the international speakers’ circuit, bin Laden should be assassinated, but Iraq should be invaded, not because it possesses weapons of mass destruction, as…… Continue reading Politics: Double standard in war crimes

Commentary

Commentary: Fox ‘News’ homepage reads as a tabloid, not the most ‘trusted name in news’

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Today is August 30, 2012. It’s 9:00 am. Like on every other morning, I have taken a very quick glimpse at the homepage of Fox News, the ‘Fair and Balanced’ ‘news outlet’, to gage where the right and far right are basing their political arguments. Like on every other morning, I am pretty appalled. Look at…… Continue reading Commentary: Fox ‘News’ homepage reads as a tabloid, not the most ‘trusted name in news’

Politics

Politics: Politics of ‘Anti-Semitic’

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

About five minutes ago, I had a link ready for posting on my Facebook profile. The link had to do with Eilat, Israel’s (mis)treatment of the children of African migrants. In a nut shell, the rulers of Eilat want these children to be placed in separate schools and away from the ‘real’ and more ‘authentic’…… Continue reading Politics: Politics of ‘Anti-Semitic’

Politics

Politics: Who is ‘We’ and what have they ‘Built’?

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

I won’t be tuning into the Republican National Convention, though last night, while eating dinner, I overheard that the theme for the first night of the Convention was ‘We Built That’. So who and/or what is the Grand Old Party (GOP) referring to with ‘We’? Who exactly is ‘We’? Is it a reference to Americans generally or…… Continue reading Politics: Who is ‘We’ and what have they ‘Built’?

Politics

Irish President Calls American Tea Partier “Wanker Whipping Up Fear”

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins eviscerated ardent US Republican radio broadcaster Michael Graham over issues like healthcare and foreign policy. Read more here.

Quoted · Religion

The Difference Between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment
Film-work

Video/commentary: Will there be a radicalization of white people hearing on Capitol Hill?

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment
Politics

Politics: Tea Party founder overlooked Muslims’ sacrifices for US

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

Check out the piece I just had published in the Arizona Capitol Times (the most read newspapers in Arizona for political affairs). I wrote in response to what a Tea Party leader had said about the loyalty of Muslim Americans. Read it here

Politics

Politics: Help our veterans with their mental issues

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Chris Fields, a disgruntled, if not delusional veteran of the Iraq War, is running against Congressman Keith Ellison for a spot on Capitol Hill. Fields had the following to say in a letter to the City Pages that was directed towards Ellison: Dear Patriot, While I was fighting on a battlefield in Iraq, my opponent…… Continue reading Politics: Help our veterans with their mental issues

Politics

Weak Economy Means an Inferior Culture?

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

In a nut-shell, Mitt Romney insinuated on his recent visit to Jerusalem that Israel’s economy performs well because Israeli society has a superior culture.  Inevitably, Romney also hinted that the Palestinian economy does not perform well because Palestinian society lacks ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’, thus making Palestinian culture ‘inferior’. Romney’s ‘logic’, therefore, suggests that a strong…… Continue reading Weak Economy Means an Inferior Culture?

Commentary

Article from 2007: Reflections of a Concerned Young American

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

An article Reflections of a Concerned Young American for Pakistan Link when I was a senior at American University, Washington, DC. Unfortunately one sentence from the article still rings true today. Some have already begun the fight against ignorance and misunderstanding surrounding Islam, but citizens who continue to malign Islam without truly understanding the religion…… Continue reading Article from 2007: Reflections of a Concerned Young American

Commentary

What Does the Confederate Flag Mean?

Dr. Craig Considine12 Comments

I just had a Twitter conversation with a presumably white, southern man who had argued that the real definition of the Confederate flag is pride in the confederacy and states rights and only these two things.  I told him that he needs to be careful with such bold definitions because this was his subjective interpretation.  He proceeded…… Continue reading What Does the Confederate Flag Mean?

Commentary

Response to Founder and Chairman of Original North Phoenix Tea Party

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Mr. Harris, I want to challenge your comment that Americans need to be concerned about the loyalty of Muslim Americans.  I want to do so through a story of my own experience. Throughout 2008 and 2009, I was conducting research under Professor Akbar Ahmed of American University with the hope of better understanding American identity…… Continue reading Response to Founder and Chairman of Original North Phoenix Tea Party

Commentary

Politics: Call James Holmes what he is – a TERRORIST

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

To suggest otherwise and insist that acts of terrorism must be premised on an established ideology or discernible beliefs would be to place subjective motivation above objective action. It would be to posit, in effect, that the “terrorism” definition applies without question to those who claim some allegiance to radical Islam, regardless of their psychological…… Continue reading Politics: Call James Holmes what he is – a TERRORIST

Film-work · Politics

Video: Reading a Muslim Brotherhood response to Michele Bachmann

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

I am trying to be more creative.  Rather than writing something, I have decided to speak something.

Politics

A ‘radical Islamist’ group responds to Bachmann’s remarks with… SANITY!?

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

By now you may have heard that Michele Bachmann has accused Huma Abedin of being a mole that has successfully infiltrated the US State Department on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Hmm, I wonder what MB leaders think of their mole… One Ahmed Al Nahhas, a long-time MB activist and leader in Alexandria, Egypt, has said, I haven’t…… Continue reading A ‘radical Islamist’ group responds to Bachmann’s remarks with… SANITY!?

Personal · Religion

Benjamin Franklin’s Case for Pluralism

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

We can gain a sense of young Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts on religion in A Witch Trial at Mount Holly, which raised the concern of his Puritan parents that he held ‘erroneous’ religious opinions.  Franklin was not himself an emphatically religious man; while he believed in God, he did not subscribe to one particular creed.  What we do…… Continue reading Benjamin Franklin’s Case for Pluralism

Sociology

Recommended reading: ‘Islam Under Siege’

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Akbar Ahmed’s Islam Under Siege is an attempt to make sense of a rapidly transforming and dangerous world where ‘Westerners’ and ‘Muslims’ (as if the to are not inclusive!) are often pitted against each other as mortal enemies.  In his analysis, Ahmed explains what is going wrong in the Muslim world; why it is going…… Continue reading Recommended reading: ‘Islam Under Siege’

Religion

The “free” in Murfreesboro bugs me

Dr. Craig Considine5 Comments

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Muslims are hoping to celebrate Ramadan in the much-anticipated opening of their Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (ICM). While it seems they will be able to do so, a most unfortunate story is lurking in the shadow.  A group of non-Muslims who filed suit seeking a restraining order to end the Centre’s construction has…… Continue reading The “free” in Murfreesboro bugs me

Commentary

Politics: Terror babies and Bachmann

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Texas Representative Louie Gohmert is one of several members of Congress who decided (stupidly) to sign the now infamous ‘Bachmann letter’, which accused Huma Abedin’s PARENTS for being the reason the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ has ‘infiltrated’ the US State Department.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Abdein’s PARENTS have successfully infiltrated the US State Department.

Uncategorized

Politics: Speech on what makes America exceptional

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Perhaps I never gave him a chance (I do not really give politicians too many), but THIS… now THIS truly fantastic passage says a lot about John McCain and, I think, represents all that is holy about the US of A (if anything can be holy about it).  McCain is speaking in reference to (the…… Continue reading Politics: Speech on what makes America exceptional

Politics

Shattering ‘Catholic Ireland’: Some thoughts on the recent controversy over church and state

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

The relationship between church and state in Ireland is again in question as Alan Shatter, Ireland’s Jewish Defense Minister, has been accused of being ‘ant-Catholic’ because he refused to allow the Irish army to offer a guard of honour for a religious procession during the recent International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.  This ‘unprecedented move’, writes…… Continue reading Shattering ‘Catholic Ireland’: Some thoughts on the recent controversy over church and state

Politics

Politics: How to spot a fascist

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

Dr. Lawrence Britt examined the former fascist regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, and several Latin American countries and found 14 defining characteristics common to each.  Considering the saliency of several current issues, such as Congressman King’s ‘radical Muslim’ hearings to the influence of the media and rampant corruption and militarism, one has to wonder…… Continue reading Politics: How to spot a fascist

Politics

Time to Go Green in American elections

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

I have actually never voted in an American election, whether it be local, state, or national.  I am not even registered to vote, but this is not stopping me from commenting on the state of American democracy and the 2012 elections. Democrats and Republicans: Two ‘different’ parties with essentially the same fundamental principles and entities…… Continue reading Time to Go Green in American elections

Poems · Religion

Prophet Muhammad on the Importance of Mothers

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

After Sheikh Muzaffer A companion once asked the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH)): Who is the most important person for the soul in Islam?’ The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) replied: ‘The mother’. The companion pressed the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for more information. ‘Who is the next most important person?’ Once more, the Prophet Muhammad…… Continue reading Prophet Muhammad on the Importance of Mothers

Commentary

My point on the Che Guevara statue in Galway

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida is, amazingly, telling the people of Galway to not erect a Che Guevara Memorial statue. Florida, I should note, is roughly 4,000 miles away from Galway. And Che, if you aren’t aware, has Irish roots with the Lynch family (of Galway). Now,…… Continue reading My point on the Che Guevara statue in Galway

Creativity

Love, country, and border

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

The love of one’s country is a splendid thing.  But why should love stop at the border? – Pablo Casals

Poems

‘It always struck me that…’

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

… in a way poetry is stronger than death but it’s like love in that somebody two hundred years later could know you somehow through your words. – Medbh McGuckian An amazing line.

Poems

T***t

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

The slippery and elusive Untouchable and invisible Thing. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack or Bringing peace to earth for eternity. * Have you ever held a little kitten? Your arms wrapped around it, held ever so tightly Then the kitten wiggles away and escapes Just as you think you have it wrapped…… Continue reading T***t

Politics

Margolis on the clear defeat in Afghanistan

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

One of my favourite journalists, Eric Margolis, recently published a piece titled ‘Facing the Writing on the Wall in Kabul’.  Here is an excerpt.  Link to article below. The objective of war is to achieve political goals, not kill people. The US goal was to turn Afghanistan into a protectorate providing bases close to Caspian…… Continue reading Margolis on the clear defeat in Afghanistan

Poems

Just do it

Dr. Craig Considine1 Comment

Who am I? What am I? Where am I going? Tough questions to ponder. * To find the answers You better not ask For action and not thinking Defines you.

Personal

Personal: 10 things successful people do

Dr. Craig Considine3 Comments

By Chad Howse from www.chadhowsefitness.com 1.  They didn’t use excuses. 2.  It wasn’t just about them. 3.  Early morning and late nights. 4.  The greatest commodity. 5.  Principles. 6.  Wavering, yet unbreakable faith. 7.  A reason. 8. They persevered when others didn’t. 9. Great people relentlessly studied their craft. 10. Risk. Read WHY at addicted2success.com

Politics

Commentary: Breivik and the relativity of insanity

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Anders Behring Breivik, the man who went on a ruthless murder-spree which killed over 70 people (mostly youth) in Utoeya, Norway, has recently gone on trial. Breivik has justified his actions by claiming that those he killed were like ‘criminals’ for showing their support for a Norwegian political party, Labour, that promotes multicultural policies. The main…… Continue reading Commentary: Breivik and the relativity of insanity

Poems

Poems: What is the greatest evil?

Dr. Craig Considine2 Comments

Jealousy’s a form of love, though self-love; not love for you and I or others. Inferiority is what lights its fire. Low self-esteem keeps it fueled. Anger and hatred are its residue. © Craig Considine

Fieldwork

Wondering About Ireland’s Immigration System

Dr. Craig Considine3 Comments

I’m heading tomorrow morning to meet with a Pakistani friend who I met back in January.  This young man, whose name I’ll keep anonymous for security purposes, is a native of Islamabad, Pakistan.  He arrived to Dublin via work visa over eight years ago. When his work visa ended he filed the necessary paperwork to live (legally) in Ireland.  His…… Continue reading Wondering About Ireland’s Immigration System

Poems

Successful minds in question

Dr. Craig ConsidineLeave a comment

Have you thought about who you are? About where you’ve been? Of what you’ve seen? If not, when will you start? Ever so gradually or now? And do you prepare yourself? Take stock of your soul? Do you know what drives you? Do you stray from that? Do you take shortcuts? And what about goals? Do…… Continue reading Successful minds in question