Sam Harris posted a recent blog about my views on Jihadis that is unbecoming of serious intellectual debate, if not ugly. He claims that I told him following a “preening and delusional lecture” that “no one [connected with suicide bombing] believes in paradise.”

There are (at least) two things that are commonly “known” about religion. First, adherents of very different religions can’t get along. Second, there is an ancient struggle between religion and science. As with much common lore, however, these two points are not necessarily true.

Islamophobia, the virulent strain of religious hatred that has been spreading like wildfire across the country, is set to put in an appearance at the Texas State Board of Education.

The news the other week shocked a lot of people: 18% of Americans believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. This sounds pretty dismal, until you realize that in a 2002 poll, 38% of Americans believed the United States should make Canada the 51st state.