Gregory Taylor

Lilli Wessling Hart

I have heard it said several times and in several places that followers of Islam prefer to be referred to as "Muslim" rather than "Moslem," but no one ever explained the why of it to me. In the course of chasing down a quiz that asks you to consider the rhetorical similarities of Messrs. Falwell, Robertson, and bin Laden, I found the answer here. It also provides a great excuse for why I could never spell the name of that guy who runs Libya correctly either. Whew.


I have heard it said several times and in several places that followers of Islam prefer to be referred to as "Muslim" rather than "Moslem," but no one ever explained the why of it to me.

transliterations-oh-so-thats-it

Transliterations (Oh, so *that's* it....)

F. C. Zuke

The Word That Binds Them is an interactive installation that invites viewers to interact with several famous books. As viewers open the books, voices from inside each book’s pages begin speaking. These voices belong to the books’ authors and those who hold positions of power in promoting each book’s teachings. As the voices resound from the books, they are also panned up and down five suspended speakers, traversing the vertical length of the gallery. 

When the box of fire reaches its apex, a bright amber-colored light illuminates the gallery and pages are printed in real time, raining down from above. These pages contain passages from the texts that contain both “power” and the dictionary term that was submitted by participants (via Mira). Without knowing the source to which each quotation belongs, viewers are left to consider its origin.

Max was used to read sensor data, to control a motorized winch system, to control an electrical relay switch, and to control 17 channels of audio. 

The Word That Binds Them is an interactive installation that invites viewers to interact with several famous books. As viewers open the book

the-word-that-binds-them

The Word That Binds Them

I walked to the local post office to mail some stuff to colleagues, and wound up in line behind some guy explaining to his friend that the current violence in Iraq is due to the fact that "terrorists hate freedom." Since I'm not nursing a black eye or broken nose, you'd be correct in thinking that I kept my peace. Yes, I was a wuss.

Like a lot of people, I find that regular mantra  about as stupid as it's possible to be in the face of such a serious and nuanced set of issues. But it sometimes seems as though there's a dearth of interesting analyses out there for those of us who don't speak Arabic. This article has given me some pause; it's a way of seeing things new to me, but one that meshes well with what understanding of the Islamic world I've been able to wrest from books like Karen Armstrong's excellent Islam: a Short History. You can find an excerpt of her book here. I've found reading it to be really helpful.

In a similar vein, here is a fascinating article on recent developments surrounding the interpretation of Shari'a, the Islamic legal code. Having reading like this (and this available to us is a great antidote to a lot of the ignorance that characterizes current discourse. Let us bless all those who light the candle rather than cursing in the darkness.


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