Aman Ali – comedian and co-creator of the website 30 mosques in 30 days – writes at CNN’s Belief blog that Muslims should stop apologizing for 9/11. Well, that, or other folks should start apologizing for bad music…

“I was born and raised in this country and was just as shocked as everyone else to learn there were people on this earth so vile as to commit such a horrific attack – or to even think about doing it.

But I didn’t do it. Neither did 99.999999999 percent of the roughly 1.5 billion people in the world who also call themselves Muslims. So why should I or any other Muslim apologize for what happened?

Nickleback is planning on releasing another album. Should I ask white people to apologize for that?”

Speaking of 9/11, controversial Seattle-based pastor Mark Driscoll offers his own reflection on the September 11th attacks over at the Washington Post:

“I watched stunned as people jumped hundreds of stories to their death. Others stood out windows, trapped, begging desperately for saving. It was a dark day, and a surreal one. All captured on television for the world to see.

It’s been a decade since those horrible attacks. In looking back, it’s appropriate to reflect and ask, “Why is 9/11 seared into our brains? Why is it such a cultural force? What does the day tell us about ourselves and God?”

Meanwhile, folks are buzzing about last night’s Republican presidential candidate debate, especially things that Texas governor Rick Perry had to say. Sarah Posner over at Religious Dispatches took issue with Perry’s scattered

references to Galileo:

“Although, as I wrote in my earlier post, there was little overt religiosity in the debate, Perry’s comments were clearly aimed at a religious audience. Climate change denial is not just hot for energy industry lobbyists, it’s especially rampant among religious conservatives.

New social science research by sociologist Darren Sherkat of Southern Illinois University shows that sectarian Christians do poorly on basic scientific literacy questions, and therefore have difficulty engaging in scientific discussions involved in public policy debates on issues like climate change.”

Meanwhile, Presbyterian pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow had a theological bone to pick with the crowd at the event, especially attendees that applauded rather loudly following Rick Perry’s comments on the death penalty:

“I must admit I rarely comment in this manner about things that I did not see or hear firsthand, but like so many who might not have watched the GOP debate last night, my interest was piqued when I began to see tweets about the applause Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) received for his answer about Texas executions. Apparently when talking about the number of people who were executed in Texas under his watch, the audience expressed great approval in the form of applause and cheering.

Surely this could not be true.”

Entertainment Weekly notes that a group of Buddhist Geeks have started a Kickstarter fundraising page to raise money for a an upcoming conference. That’s right: there are Buddhist geeks, and they want your money.

Finally, our Tweet of the Day comes from Christian megapastor Rick Warren, who observes what congregants really want in a pastor:

@RickWarren – Saw a Church Sign: “Come hear our pastor! He’s not very good but he’s brief”

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