The Crusades are over: stop trying to weaponize history.
Misguided people who try to use medieval history to advance modern ideologies are missing the point--and are seriously damaging our understanding of the past.
Begetting intolerance: Why I, as a Jew, fear Donald Trump.
Donald Trump's enthusiasm at scapegoating certain groups as hostile "others" frankly terrifies me.
A long intolerance: The Council of Clermont and the First Crusade.
The First Crusade and the medieval sack of Jerusalem began in 1095 with a speech by a Pope, which may not have been precisely what he intended.
Metal for Friday: Orphaned Land, “Norra El Norra” [video].
I have my iPod on random shuffle while I'm doing research in the library, and yesterday a song by the awesome Israeli prog/death [...]
The pen, the sword, and offending God: my thoughts on “The Satanic Verses” controversy.
The story behind the world's most infamous banned book is still badly misunderstood in the West, to say nothing of the Islamic world.
42 Historical Objects, No. 12: the Black Stone.
The Black Stone is one of the most revered objects in all of human history. Although it shares some similarities with the previous religious relic [...]
Haunting the chapel: my thoughts on heavy metal and religion.
Is heavy metal inherently anti-religious? Having been virtually a lifelong metalhead, I can say from experience that many people, both within and without the scene, [...]
Earth: Unfinished mosque in Baghdad, Iraq.
This is the Al-Rahman Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq. When I first came across it on Google Earth in about 2005 or 06, I thought it [...]
A great step forward for equality…but we aren’t done yet.
Generally I try to avoid political comment on this blog, but I feel like I must comment on the Supreme Court's decision this morning, in [...]
Tolerance FTW!
A couple of things have happened this week that made me think about tolerance in our society--how important it is, how fragile it is, and [...]