by Heather Hastie | Oct 30, 2014 | Atheism, Religion, Terrorism
One of the journalists I most admire is Christiane Amanpour. I never miss her show Amanpour on CNN International if I can help it. On 21 October though she disappointed me – she fell into the trap many liberal Americans do (and New Zealanders too, as I’ve...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 24, 2014 | Health, Human Rights, Middle East, Religion
Orla Guerin of the BBC, a reporter I admire greatly, today presented this report about FGM in Egypt. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to embed it into this article, but I urge you to go to the link and watch it. It’s only 2:49 long. In the...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 21, 2014 | International Politics, Middle East, NZ Politics, Religion, Terrorism
Islamophobia-phobia is the fear of appearing to be Islamophobic. I have to give credit to author and television personality Greg Gutfeld (Fox News’s The Five, Red Eye) for the term. The Five is a guilty pleasure of mine, and it was while watching this show that I...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 16, 2014 | Atheism, Religion
In his self-appointed role as an apologist for Islam, Reza Aslan is determined to prove that the religion is a wholly benign influence. His position is that Islam itself should not be blamed for the negative attitudes and behaviours of its adherents. This is an...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 12, 2014 | Health, Human Rights, Religion, Women
There was a window when Reza Aslan had my sympathy. At the end of July Fox News reporter Lauren Green interviewed him about his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Green’s opinion seemed to be that as a Muslim, Aslan had no right to write a book...
by Heather Hastie | Sep 17, 2014 | International Politics, Middle East, Religion, Terrorism, US Politics, USA
President Barack Obama has received much criticism, especially domestically, for his foreign policy, and it has to be said that much of that criticism is justified. However, his strategy in relation to the self-styled Islamic State is a good one, and has a far better...
