In responding to the question about my memories on the day Dr. Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, I have several things to say.

It was a morose day, a day of anger, shame and fear about his efforts to change American society. It was a day I will continue to describe as a moment when clouds of frustration, fear and anger had taken over the sky and limited the hopes and dreams of many riding on the same train as the Man from Georgia.I was then a junior at Hampton Institute which is now called Hampton University. I was in that semester actively involved in student politics on campus and in that particular month Theodos Holland and I were elected President and Vice President of the Student Government. These were the days of student agitation and we had a student body with many colleagues caught in the web of the Civil Rights Struggle.

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Einstein has been quoted as saying," science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind." If these words of wisdom from one of the most celebrated scientists are taken seriously by both scientists and religious people, then one can make the statements I am going to assert in this brief piece.

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Every year since I knew myself as a young Muslim kid growing up in the Gambia, Christians in Africa, in Europe and in the United States of America where I have lived for over forty years, Christians have celebrated Christmas with fun and joy.

What was striking to me in my childhood days back in the Gambia, then a British colony, was the fact that Christians were joined by certain Muslims in this festival. Not only did you have young Muslims dressed in masquerades dancing joyously with their Christian friends but local communities in Bathurst (now called Banjul) built lanterns known as Fanal. According to David P. Gamble, the well known British anthropologist who pioneered research in this field in the Gambia over fifty years ago and spent a large part of his life in the U.S., traced the roots of this phenomenon back to the Portuguese influence in the Gambia.

Apparently, though the Portuguese Catholics failed to make significant inroads in terms of conversion of Gambians, their legacy includes part of this phenomenon of Muslim-Christian celebrations during the month of Christmas.

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Thanksgiving has long been established as a national day and a joyful moment in the lives of most Americans who look at the material and spiritual resources of the country and thank God and nature for making it possible for us to live in domestic tranquility when compared to many other societies in the world. Those of us who have the willingness to eat, drink and be reflective about the human condition and the challenges facing us as creatures in this terribly polarizing planet cannot remain silent without asking the big questions. Who are we and what are the things that deserve our attention while we enjoyed the fruits of this society and dig deep into the bosom of the planet? Are we faithful to our duties and mindful of our responsibilities to safeguard peace and security among us as human being and as custodians of the earth?

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I think bio-sociologist E.O. Wilson was correct and cautious in his assertion that: "An alliance between science and religion, forged in an atmosphere of mutual respect, may be the only way to protect life on earth." There are several reasons for supporting this statement.

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The Dalai Lama is a man of peace and a maker of world history. His statement is true at three levels.

No religion has ever appeared on this planet that advocates suicide, homicide and genocide. All of them, to the best of my knowledge, preach the language of peace between the creatures of the planet. On this point of convergence which advocates the common bond of humanity that links all of us together, the Dalai Lama is on the right side of the road of life.

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Life is a dot for a living human being who has not developed any sense about the meaning of life. For him and those who cannot think of a line connecting these isolated dots of life, this existence we live in as sentient beings is a project. This was the opinion of some existentialists after the Second World War. Although there were distinctions among them, those who were philosophically materialist, this life needs to be seen as a project. Our destiny in this physical universe was here and no where else. This has always been seen as Dunyaism from a Muslim point of view.

To the practicing Muslim life has meaning and a purpose. Its purpose and destiny were enveloped in the letter addressed to humanity in the form of scriptures. These texts were not works of fiction and imagination. They were revelations from a Creator to us in this life. Therefore, life is indeed a mystery and a challenge for a thinking human being who engages in the endless search for the meaning of life.

These two sentences capture for me why my particular faith leads me to my belief in a life beyond the grave. Although I believe in a Creator and a life beyond the grave, my own encounter with death reaffirmed this faith.

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The Middle East Problem that plagues us today is rooted in history, but the intellectual and political forces that keep it going are territorial/demotic nationalism on the one hand and religion on the other. Contrary to the more widely distributed lie the Middle East people have learned to live and fight as all human beings have done since the days of Cain and Abel if you accept the Abrahamic narrative about human origins and the unfolding of history. People from a non-Abrahamic faith may look at the origins of human conflict differently. But regardless of their points of view, the fact remains that on the Middle East question many points can be made and such answers could serve as analytical tools guiding us as we unravel the critical nature of the problem and the intricacies that accompany the battle of wills in this theater of history.

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Faith and doubt are twin brothers or sisters in the human condition. The Qur'an recognizes the capacity of the human being to believe or not to believe. Believing in the visible and the tangible is more widely acknowledged by most people when they are confined within their own mental estate. When they venture beyond their own world into the wide world of others where language and concepts rule, chances are one may claim belief when in actual fact belief is not the thing in place, social solidarity has become the mother of all faiths. This is true of religious belief as well as secular faith in ideologies.

There are a number of things to ponder about this revelation about Mother Theresa. To me such revelations are merely articulations of her spiritual journey which was unknown to all of us but a few who travel led along with her in their universe of fears and hopes, promises and anxieties. She was a human being and her belief is Jesus and Christianity most probably were reinforced by the element of doubt.

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Pagan rights can be a subject of dispute only when the state and society are not in sync with respect to the standing of the Pagans as members of society and to the public acknowledgment of their status as fellow citizens.

There are three points to remember about this matter. The first is the question of citizenship and the right of the Pagan to live and let live with Pagan or non-Pagan members of American society. Because the state allows Americans to believe or not to believe in a Deity (monotheism as in the case of the Abrahamic religions), secularism, polytheism and many other world views have coexisted with the Monotheists for many decades.

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