John Esposito

John Esposito

Founding director, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

“On Faith” panelist John L. Esposito is professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University. He also is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. A specialist in Islam, political Islam and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia, Esposito is editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (4 vols.), The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, and The Islamic World: Past and Present (3 vols.). His more than 30 books include: Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, World Religions Today (with D. Fasching & T. Lewis), The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Islam: The Straight Path; Islam and Politics; Islam and Democrac, Makers of Contemporary Islam (with J. Voll) and Islam and Secularism in the Middle East (with A. Tamimi). A consultant to the State Department and corporations, Esposito was appointed to the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders and to the High Level Group of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. He is a recipient of the American Academy of Religion’s 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan’s Quaid-i-Azzam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies Close.

John Esposito

Founding director, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

“On Faith” panelist John L. Esposito is professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University. He also is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. more »

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The Media's Fixation with Religion and Politics

The focus on religion in the presidential elections and in politics in general has gotten out of hand.

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All Comments (8)

VICTORIA:

that was kind, hope is not lost

Hope is not lost, forgiveness prevails:

B-man:
JOZEVS:

"Why don't you just go out and get yourself a real life?

I have shut you down...accept this and move on. Your time here is through. Quit your cry-baby whining. Goodbye" (Delete!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know that his post are annoying, but be kind maybe this is all the life that he has right now.

You do not know when or how you will touch the heart of someone at any given time so it is best not to give up on them.

"All things are possible to them that believe."

B-man:

JOZEVS:

Why don't you just go out and get yourself a real life?

I have shut you down...accept this and move on. Your time here is through. Quit your cry-baby whining. Goodbye (Delete!).

Garyd:

CSW that is utter nonsense what killed the Democrats in 94 as much as anything was a Check kiting scandal, Dan the furniture man Rostenkowski's thievery, and another Democrat's jail sentence for statutory rape of a fifteen year old girl.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

ChurchStateWall,

There is an easy solution. The media should publish or announce 24/7, the following flaws/errors in Christianity:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was either the embellishment of the lives of three different men or a mythical character as was Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.

1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT. http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm

2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man, suffered from hallucinations. He has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress
the various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".


3. Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy talking flying fictional thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

As noted below, there are analogous flaws and errors in Islam.

ChurchStateWall:

Actually, the mainstream media were about 15 years TOO LATE in picking up on the fixation on religion and politics that has been infecting my Republican Party.

The media *completely* missed the fact that the Republican landslide, in that dark year of hate 1994, was ALL ABOUT theocracy and the fusion of church and state.

The mainstream media are being *forced* to look at religion and politics now, only because the American Taliban -- the Religious Right -- and their massively numerous allies on radio -- have been driving religion into politics nonstop since 1990.

Far from being fixated on religion and politics, the mainstream media have been criminally negligent in paying so little attention -- until now -- to this extremely dangerous trend.

http://churchstatewall.typepad.com/

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

John,

Ok, let us focus on the first four flaws and errors of Islam:

1. Belief in "pretty/ugly wingie thingies".

2. Belief that an hallucinating, illiterate Arab did actually talk to the "pretty Gabriel" in the hot "Gabe" cave and therein received the warmongering and anti-female words and resultant laws now listed in the koran.

3. That Sunnis are superior to Shiites in all aspects of life. And Shiites think the same way about Sunnis.

4. That Islam is perfect and the koran inherently condones no sin even though the 24/7, 800 year-old blood feud between Sunnis and Shiites gives significant credence that greed, hate, suicides, assassinations, maiming, and murder are condoned by the koran. Having multiple wives also gives significant credence to the sins of rape, adultery, lust and polygamy. The condoned treatment of these wives gives credence that the koran allows the sins of hatred, anger and greed.


And we await your perusal and response!!!

garyd:

There is sir a difference between being a strong leader and telling lies from the front of the church/Mosque/Synagogue.

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