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Shaving Nidal Hasan's irreligious religious beard

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I hope you’re having a day that enables some thoughtful reflection on this anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. It’s a day that changed many of our lives and is the main reason why I became interested in religion writing. Eleven years ago, I knew very little about Islam. The more I study it and read about it, the more I realize how little I know and how much I have left to learn. And the battle against Islamic terrorism continues, as this story about the trial of Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan shows.


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Sad closing of a Washington Post-friendly parish

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One of the hardest concepts to explain to people who have never worked in a newsroom is why some events in a city are “news stories” in the eyes of most journalists and other events, that seem similar, are not.


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57 Communists: McCarthyism from The Australian

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I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.


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UMBC's Habrowski: Who sent him to serve the world?

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First things first. I need to state, right up front, that I am the father of a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Thus, I am quite familiar with this rather unique campus, which, while operating with a title that sounds like a commuter school, is actually an unusually diverse and proudly nerdy honors campus. UMBC is turning into an important story in Baltimore, in Maryland and in higher education, in general.


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Pod people: Civil (religion) wars

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On this week’s Crossroads podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discuss coverage of some of the religion battles at or near the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. We also talked, briefly, about coverage of the Pakistani Christian girl who was charged with blasphemy and the imam who was charged with setting her up.


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God purged from ... major story in Washington Post

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Obviously, the Divine Mrs. M.Z. Hemingway was all over the political conventions this week. I must confess that I focused on events in a different religion in American life. Well, duh. I live in Baltimore.


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Cardinal Dolan's benediction makes news

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I could not have had more fun watching the conventions. Before they began, if someone had asked me which convention would have the more dramatic religious stories, I would have picked the Republican one in a heartbeat. What with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and his evangelical base and all that. But it turned out that all the interesting religion news action was over in Charlotte, where the Democrats gathered.


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