Showing posts with label Harvard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harvard. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Harvard-Chefin wegen Antisemitismus am Pranger

Dec 12, 2023 | Uni-Campusse werden zum „Ground Zero“ des Antisemitismus in den USA – und jetzt gießen die Präsidentinnen von drei Elite-Universitäten Öl ins Feuer. Der Feuersturm über die unfassbaren Aussagen schockt die Nation.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

The New Chief Chaplain at Harvard? An Atheist.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The elevation of Greg Epstein, author of “Good Without God,” reflects a broader trend of young people who increasingly identify as spiritual but religiously nonaffiliated

Greg Epstein has been Harvard’s humanist chaplain since 2005. Credit: Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times

The Puritan colonists who settled in New England in the 1630s had a nagging concern about the churches they were building: How would they ensure that the clergymen would be literate? Their answer was Harvard University, a school that was established to educate the ministry and adopted the motto “Truth for Christ and the Church.” It was named after a pastor, John Harvard, and it would be more than 70 years before the school had a president who was not a clergyman.

Nearly four centuries later, Harvard’s organization of chaplains has elected as its next president an atheist named Greg Epstein, who takes on the job this week.

Mr. Epstein, 44, author of the book “Good Without God,” is a seemingly unusual choice for the role. He will coordinate the activities of more than 40 university chaplains, who lead the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious communities on campus. Yet many Harvard students — some raised in families of faith, others never quite certain how to label their religious identities — attest to the influence that Mr. Epstein has had on their spiritual lives.

“There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,” said Mr. Epstein, who was raised in a Jewish household and has been Harvard’s humanist chaplain since 2005, teaching students about the progressive movement that centers people’s relationships with one another instead of with God. » | Emma Goldberg | Thursday, August 26, 2021

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Merkel spricht vor Harvard-Studierenden


Kanzlerin Merkel hat die Ehrendoktorwürde der US-Eliteuniversität Harvard erhalten. Harvard-Präsident Larry Bacow verlieh Merkel die Auszeichnung bei einer feierlichen Zeremonie in der Hochschule in Cambridge, einem Vorort von Boston. Die Universität würdigte unter anderem, Merkels bisherige Zeit im Amt sei geprägt gewesen von Pragmatismus und kluger Entschlossenheit.

Explizit lobte die Universität Merkels Slogan «Wir schaffen das» in der Flüchtlingskrise, der ihr in Deutschland viel Kritik eingebracht hatte. Merkels Entscheidung, in großer Zahl Migranten und Flüchtlinge ins Land zu lassen, habe ihren Willen gezeigt, für das einzustehen, was sie für richtig halte - auch wenn dies unpopulär sei. Das Gleiche gelte etwa auch für ihr Vorgehen in der europäischen Schuldenkrise.


Saturday, April 06, 2013


Lecture on Muhammad Kicks Off Islamic Awareness Month

THE HARVARD CRIMSON: In celebration of its annual Islamic Awareness Month, the Harvard Islamic Society kicked off a series of events this week in order to bring attention to Islamic issues and the Muslim community at Harvard.

“We want to present this sense that Islamic values are very much a part of American life,” said Hassaan Shahawy ’16, who is HIS’s Director of Islamic Learning. “We have events that show that it’s not as dual as we think. It’s not Islam versus the West, Islam versus science. The misperception is that the two are at odds with each other.”

The festivities began Monday night with a talk entitled “What Muhammad Stood for,” presented by Lesley Hazleton, author of The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad and veteran TED speaker. Hazleton spoke about Muhammad’s radical advocacy of social justice and the factors that led to Muhammad’s role as a prophet. » | Bharath Venkatesh, Contributing Writer | Friday, April 05, 2013

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Obama Protesting at Harvard in 1991

Barack Obama in a 1990 video at Harvard protests in favor of the cause of Professor Derek Bell and the hiring of more minority faculty members.


BUZZ FEED: At Harvard, Obama Dived Into Diversity Fight: In this video, not previously available online but licensed by BuzzFeed from a Boston television station, the future president speaks at a 1991 campus protest organized to demand tenure for minority and female law professors. » | Andrew Kaczynski | BuzzFeed Staff | Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Harvard Study Says “Haj Promotes Tolerance”: Fact or Dhimmitude?

ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH — A study of Hajis by Harvard Kennedy School in the US has found that the Haj promotes tolerance among pilgrims and does not lead to an increase in negative attitudes toward the West.

The study — entitled “Estimating the Impact of the Haj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam’s Global Gathering” — said that the annual pilgrimage develops a tolerant attitude among Hajis toward other religions and cultures.

Researchers, David Clingingsmith, Asim Ijaz Khwaja and Michael Kremer, based their findings, which were published last month, on data collected from a 2006 survey of more than 1,600 Pakistani pilgrims.

“Evidence suggests that the Haj increases tolerance, which seems to apply not just within the Islamic world but also beyond it,” they reported, adding, that increased unity does not lead to antipathy toward non-Muslims.

They also found that the Haj plays a significant role in the survival of Islam as a unified world religion. “Over time, religions with far-flung adherents tend to evolve separate strands which may eventually break away into different religions. Our analysis suggests that the Haj reduces dissent and splits in Islam by moving Hajis toward a common set of practices, making them more tolerant of differences among Muslims,” they said.

Pilgrims selected for the survey were also more likely to state that various Pakistani ethnic and sectarian groups are equal and that it is possible for such groups to live in harmony.

Major findings include that the Haj reduces support for political Islam, reduces superstitious beliefs and encourages Muslims to adopt a more favorable attitude toward women, including greater acceptance of women education and employment. “For example, they (Hajis) are six percentage points more likely to think women are spiritually better than men, an increase of over 50 percent. They also express greater concern about women’s quality of life in Pakistan relative to other countries and about crimes against women in Pakistan,” the report stated. Haj Promotes Tolerance, Confirms Harvard Study >>> By P K Abdul Ghafour | May 6, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Harvard Sells Its Soul for Petrodollars; Shari'ah Comes to Harvard

BOSTON HERALD: What can a 19-year-old guy in jogging shorts do at Harvard that a rich Saudi sheik who sponsors terrorism can’t?

Get banned from the building.

Six times a week, Harvard kicks all the guys out of the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center at the request of the Harvard Islamic Society. This is to accommodate those female Muslim students whose faith won’t let them work out in front of men.

In the old days, Harvard would have laughed if some Catholic or evangelical mother urged “girls-only” campus workouts in the name of modesty. Today, Harvard happily implements Sharia swim times in the name of Mohammed.

At Harvard, that’s called progress.

When I asked Harvard spokesman Bob Mitchell about this new Sharia-friendly policy, he denied that they were banning anyone.

“No, no,” he told me, “we’re permitting women to work out in an environment that accommodates their religion.”

By banning all men from the facility, right?

“It’s not ‘banning,’ ” he insisted. “We’re allowing, we’re accommodating people.”

The Harvard story, broken by the intrepid staff at Boston University’s Daily Free Press, is sadly par for the liberal campus course. U-Cal Berkeley is working on a joint program with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, which practices religious and sexual discrimination. The Archbishop (and arch-liberal) of Canterbury has called for Britain to accommodate Sharia law. An exercise in discrimination at Harvard >>> By Michael Graham

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)