Corona, Corona
- February 27, 2020
- by
- Matt
Fans of Edgar Allan Poe and Hammer horror films will recall Poe’s tale The Masque of the Red Death, and the Roger Corman remake with Vincent Price as Prince Prospero. For those who don’t, the story describes the attempts by Prospero and a bunch of panic-stricken and fairly decadent medieval nobles to escape a mysterious plague known as the Red Death, by taking refuge in an abbey.
Not one to allow the mass death of the peasants to get in the way of a good debauch, Prospero stages a masked ball to amuse his guests...
Writing and Terror: Peter Herman’s Unspeakable
- August 08, 2019
- by
- Matt
From the so-called ‘anarchist terror’ of the late 19th century to al Qaeda and Islamic State, the history of terrorism is filled with episodes in which governments have overreacted to terrorist violence. Emergency antiterrorist legislation, military tribunals, wars and quasi-militarisation, extra-legal procedures, torture, administrative detention, national security hysteria – all these responses have been repeated...
From Christchurch to the White House
- March 15, 2019
- by
- Matt
The disgusting murders of 49 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch are further evidence of a growing threat of far-right extremism that has rarely received the same level of media and political attention as its jihadist counterpart.
It’s become a cliché in far-right and conservative circles to claim that ‘Islam is not a race’, that Islamophobia is a...
Shamima Begum and the Quality of Mercy
- February 17, 2019
- by
- Matt
What is mercy? The Oxford Dictionary defines it as ‘ compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.’ This definition highlights the essential component of mercy, which is forbearance and leniency from a position of power and authority.
This concept is well-established in various religious traditions. The Quran declares:...
Peter Kosminsky’s Islamic State
- August 22, 2017
- by
- Matt
The violence that we call terrorism has always been surrounded by a curious paradox. On the one hand virtually every terrorist emergency in history has declared terrorism to be a unique threat to society, yet the societies under the threat of terrorist violence are generally not encouraged and are even actively discouraged from thinking about...
History, Peace, and Beauty: On Barcelona’s Ramblas
- August 18, 2017
- by
- Matt
Of all the massacres perpetrated in Europe in the name of Islamic State, yesterday’s slaughter in the Ramblas has a particular personal resonance for me. I spent nine years in Barcelona, living near the Ramblas for part of that time. Even when I moved further away from downtown Barcelona, hardly a week went by in...
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