The annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America is this weekend, with the theme, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” I was glad to come across an article earlier today about Pastor and Author Rick Warren being one of the featured speakers. A couple years ago, I worked on a project as a web administrator for a think tank, “Reframing the Perceptions of Muslims in America,” that included several of the speakers involved in this conference, including the current president of the ISNA, Ingrid Mattson. Here’s a good interview from a couple years ago with her, “The Face of Islam in America.”

“If religion is not about expanding the borders of your empathy, you might as well write it off,” she says. “Religion is all about extending mercy and caring. If not, it’s just tribalism: Muhammad himself said religion should be the opposite.”

Reza Aslan is another author I worked with on that project, and he made a return guest appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week, talking about the situation in Iran.