Various Links

So there were a number of things I found online recently that I thought I'd share.

First up, the Carnival of Homeschooling for this week is up at Dewey's Treehouse. I didn't have anything in it this week, but I did see this post, which is about methods for homeschooling when you've got ankle-biters underfoot. This is highly relevant in our household, needless to say.

Next up: Via Henry Cate at Why Homeschool, we have this post. The California Homeschooling case, In Re: Rachel L., had its rehearing on Monday, and from this eyewitness account by a homeschooling advocate, it appears that the hearing went reasonably well for our side, although it's never a good idea to try to read the tea leaves too closely in this sort of thing.

Third, on a completely different note, I found this link (hat tip to National Review's The Corner) to an essay that I found highly interesting. It has to do with the theological ramifications, within Islam, of external struggle--and with social unrest and division within the world of Islam. Islam is not merely a set of beliefs about spiritual things; it is highly prescriptive, with plenty of rules for the ordering of society--and for what kinds of relationship the world of Islam should have with the rest of the world. Because of this, social unrest and division within Islam take on ominous theological meanings that they do not necessarily have in other religions. And as regards military struggle against non-Muslims--well, if you believe that God has fated you to win, and then you actually lose, that tends to take on ominous theological meanings as well. All of this is discussed at the link above, in the context of explaining what a hudna--a truce, or cease-fire--actually is within Islam, and why so many cease-fires have come and gone in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Turns out, the hudna has an Islamic theological context in which it has to be understood, as well.