Last week, I had an essay up on HuffPost entitled "An Atheist Muslim's Perspective on the 'Root Causes' of Islamist Jihadism and the Politics of Islamophobia."

One of the goals of the piece was to emphasize the difference between the criticism of Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry: the first...

The ambassador answered us that [their right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be...

There are very few things in life that simultaneously fill you with both cynicism and exhilaration like the American presidential election. And 2012 is certainly no exception. As the election cycle draws to a close, here's a look back at some of the most valuable insights from the year.

1....

I'm not really superstitious, but Friday the 13th hit a little harder this year than usual. My dad died April 13th in 2001, a Friday. This year, April 13 fell on a Friday again, the first time in 11 years. I know that doesn't really mean anything, but it somehow...

A swarm of criticism has been leveled against Mona Eltahawy's recent Foreign Policy cover story on the state of women in the Arab world.

Some of it has been ridiculous, like Samia Errazzouki's allegation that the cover photo and story was "degrading" to women who wear the...

Before watching Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I thought I'd relate to it mostly because it is set in my city of Toronto. (Many movies are shot here, but this is one of the few that doesn't pretend it's not.) Afterwards, however, I was a little more impressed than I'd...

"Only 3000 Americans died in that 9/11 drama. But they have killed many more in response."

Fair enough. The young, educated English-speaking Pakistani man who sent me these words may have thought 9/11 was a "drama," but at least he got his numbers right -- even if he missed the...

Even though WikiLeaks has now been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Suzanne Merkelson at Foreign Policy doesn't think it's likely to win -- and she's probably right: the biggest human rights stories this year have, so far, come out of Tunisia and Egypt.

But Snorre Valen, the...

"Before we get carried away, let's read our Bibles now," said the young first-term Senator from Illinois in his speech to Call for Renewal, a liberal Christian group. "Folks haven't been reading their Bibles!"

It was June 2006, and it wasn't long before Barack Obama started to

"Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts," tweeted Sarah Palin last month, summing up the position that most Americans currently hold: that the Park51 Islamic Community Center, originally named the Cordoba House, should not be built two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks.

The...

Martin Gill is fighting to adopt the kids he has cared for for six years as a foster parent in Florida, a state that allows gays and lesbians to be foster parents, but stops short of allowing them to adopt.

But if Bill McCollum -- Florida's Jeb Bush-backed gubernatorial...

Brian McKeever isn't done yet.

This year, when the talented Canadian skier qualified to compete in the men's 50-kilometer cross-country race at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, he made headlines. However, there were only four spots available for five Canadian competitors, so coach Inge Braten had to...

Imagine a man born in Boston, Massachusetts, who after beginning his career as a writer in a local paper at age fifteen, develops into a legendary intellectual, author, and satirist, as well as a prominent scientist and politician. Being a competent violinist and harp player, he composes several original pieces...

On Friday, thousands of scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) -- where Tim Berners-Lee and a group of his students invented the World Wide Web -- embarked on their second attempt in 14 months to invent, or re-invent, something almost as significant: the universe.

Yes, at...

In 2007, Barack Obama attracted controversy during his campaign by declaring that if elected, he would be willing to go into Pakistan if there is "actionable intelligence about high-value targets" in the country, and if the Pakistani government "won't act" against them.

During her three-day visit to Pakistan this...

The turning point occurred on June 16, 2008 at 4:40 pm, when David Littman took the floor at a UN Human Rights Council meeting to speak on behalf of the Association for World Education (AWE) and the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU).

"Mr. President," he said, "In the...

In the next 200 years, wars will come and go, the economy will recover and crash and recover again, and the geopolitical landscape will morph repeatedly, as it always has. But people will still remember Barack Obama as a legendary historical figure worldwide, centuries from now, because of his single...

Could Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who again reaffirmed his belief last week that the Holocaust was a myth, land his own show on Fox News? Going by Richard Dawkins' new book The Greatest Show on Earth, out now in the US and Canada, it may not be such a long...

This year, 1.2 million male babies in the United States will have between 35 and 50% of healthy, functioning penile skin -- containing over 20,000 nerve endings and the five most sensitive areas of the penis -- removed in a procedure that all of the major medical associations in...

Could the traditional burqa-clad woman and the modern Western exotic dancer be two sides of the same coin?

Think about it:

The tradition of the burqa/headscarf is the product of a patriarchal system that is geared towards and tailored to pleasing men by placing the responsibility of curbing male lust...