Posted on 04/27/2008 12:30:49 PM PDT by neverdem
AYAAN HIRSI ALI and Irshad Manji are two of the most prominent and outspoken critics of what they and others see as mainstream Islam. Brilliant, dynamic women the overused word charismatic is not inappropriate for either one they have each rebelled against a Muslim upbringing to become public figures with large and devoted followings. Both are successful authors: Ms. Hirsi Alis autobiography, Infidel, was a New York Times best seller; Ms. Manjis combination memoir-polemic, The Trouble With Islam Today, has been published in almost 30 countries. They are firm and unyielding in their support for the West, feminism, reason, freedom and they have paid a price: both have been targets of death threats and have required protection; in Ms. Hirsi Alis case, around-the-clock protection.
Yet though they are allies on one level, their approaches to Islam are strikingly different, with one working outside the religion and one within. Neither one can be considered a spokeswoman for a significant Muslim constituency in the Middle East. (Indeed, their most sympathetic audiences are probably Western.) But their differences have implications for all the big issues the West grapples with in considering the Muslim world. How much popular support do terrorists have? Is a secular Middle East possible, and whats the best way to promote it? Is Islam itself an enemy of the West?
Ms. Hirsi Ali is an avowed atheist whose criticisms can be seen as attacks not only on radical Islamism but on the religion of Islam over all. George W. Bush was wrong, she says, when he announced that Islam was being held hostage by a terrorist minority: Islam is being held hostage by itself. About the 9/11 attacks, she declared: This is Islam, and not just Islam, this was the core of Islam...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I’m surprised the Slimes printed that!
btt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.