Category Archives: politics

Wheaton College Suspends Professor for Wearing Hijab

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Professor Larycia Hawkins was suspended from teaching at Wheaton College for wearing a cloth head covering. In an attempt to justify this decision, the College stated:

“While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer,” Wheaton College said in a statement.

“Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity,” the college said in a statement. “As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the college’s evangelical Statement of Faith.” – Chicago Tribune.

This is quite a peculiar statement. What part of Christian theology, prevents women from wearing a cloth covering on their heads? There is no part of Christian theology which specifically states that women cannot wear a head covering. To the contrary, there is an edict where women are supposed to wear a head covering or veil:

That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. – 1 Corinthians 11:10.

Explicating upon this passage, Matthew Henry’s commentary states:

It was the common usage of the churches, for women to appear in public assemblies, and join in public worship, veiled; and it was right that they should do so.

Gill’s Exposition of the Bible says about this verse:

The Greek word more properly signifies the power she had of putting on and off her covering as she pleased, according as times, places, and persons; made it necessary…

Women have the power, as given to them by God, to put on or take off a hawkinsveil according to the aforementioned commentary. Thus, it is quite damning that a Christian College would find it necessary to condemn, reproach and suspend a Christian woman because she wore a veil, a piece of cloth on her head. The question needs to be asked, if educated Christians from a Christian College  are so insecure about a woman’s wearing of a piece of cloth on her head, does this reaction from the College indicate the level of prejudice and xenophobia Christians hold towards Muslims?

and God knows best.

Donald Trump Wants Ban on Muslims

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Donald Trump, the current Republican presidential front runner recently proposed that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States of America:

“Without looking at the various  polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine,” Trump said in a statement. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.” – CNN.

donald trump

Donald Trump

However, we do know at least one of the major motivating factors. Former Senator Warren Rudman who served on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1997 to 2000, and who co-chaired a bipartisan commission on national security, in an interview with PBS stated:

“These are fundamentally very, very sick people, who believe it is all right to take thousands of lives because they believe that their basic beliefs and geopolitical views are not being observed by the United States government.” – PBS.

“Are you telling me there are people who disagree totally with our foreign policy? You bet there are. You bet there are. And is it a potential contributor to this problem? You bet it is. Question: What do we do about it?” – PBS.

Former CIA intelligence officer Michael Scheuer, stated that events on September 11th occurred due to America’s “horrid” foreign policy strategies.

Special Supervisor with the FBI, Agent James Fitzgerald, stated:

“At the 12th and final public hearing of the 9/11 commission on 16 June, 2004, in Washington DC, a phalanx of senior law-enforcement and intelligence officials from the US government arrived to offer their testimonies. “You’ve looked [at] and examined the lives of these people as closely as anybody … What have you found out about why these men did what they did?” asked Lee Hamilton, the former congressman and vice-chair of the commission. “What motivated them to do it?” The answers to these questions were provided by supervisory special agent James Fitzgerald of the FBI. “I believe they feel a sense of outrage against the United States”, he said. “They identify with the Palestinian problem, they identify with people who oppose repressive regimes and I believe they tend to focus their anger on the United States.” – NY Times, The Guardian.

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research further states that, “civilian casualties in Afghanistan at the hands of foreign troops creates enemies and causes people to become radicalised“. As the report itself states, “In Afghanistan we find strong evidence that local exposure to civilian casualties caused by international forces leads to increased insurgent violence over the long-run, what we term the ‘revenge’ effect.”

Therefore, it’s not a case of “we” having to determine and understand this problem, we already know what the problems are. The research indicates to us what the problems are. As a Muslim, while I myself reject and denounce the barbaric killing of innocents, there is a mountain worth of data available for anyone willing to understand why these attacks occur. His proposal therefore, is unadulterated rhetoric meant to pander to his audience. It has nothing to do with preventing terrorism, or with trying to remedy the issues that contribute to terrorism. His ignorance of the data, does not excuse him from his responsibility to make statements based on rational and informed thinking.

and God knows best.