Social Science Research Council

In the Los Angeles Times, Edmund Sanders reports on Mt. Kenya’s steadily diminishing ice cap.  Beyond the obvious environmental impact of the melting ice cap (which sits atop Africa’s second tallest peak), the destruction represents a blow to the faith of the many Kenyans who worship the mountain.

The New York Times’s Hillary Brenhouse explores the proliferation in European and American higher education of courses and degrees in Islamic banking and finance.

Last night on The Colbert Report, Cornel West challenged Obama to step up his efforts to fight poverty in America.

At altmuslim, Parvez Ahmed examines the distressingly low socio-economic status of India’s minority Muslim community and addresses what must be done to empower and integrate Indian Muslims.

The Guardian’s Maznah Mohamad reflects on the increasing Islamization of the Malaysian government, in spite of Malaysia’s significant non-Muslim population (40% of the total citizenry) and supposed commitment to pluralism.

NPR’s Morning Edition explores the difference of opinion among atheists concerning how to speak about religion and engage with believers.

At Religion Dispatches, Sarah M. Pike explores the significance of New York City Council candidate Dan Halloran’s Neopagan faith.

In the Guardian, Inayat Bunglawala addresses the recent decision by a  British asylum and immigration tribunal to allow Geert Wilders, an extremist Dutch politician facing trial in the Netherlands for discrimination and inciting hatred, to enter the UK.

In the New York Times, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the first elected president of the post-revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran, expounds on the brand of Islam Afghanistan needs in order to move towards a future peace.

At Holy Post, Charles Lewis looks into the the Muslim Canadian Congress’s call for the Canadian government to ban the public wearing of the burka.