"Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that seventh-century Islam is not fit for 21st-century challenges. That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics, and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.
And yes, we, the silent Arab majority, do not believe that writers, secular or otherwise, should be killed or banned for expressing their views. Or that the rest of our creative elite - from moviemakers to playwrights, actors, painters, sculptors, and fashion models - should be vetted by Neanderthal Muslim imams who have never read a book in their dim, miserable lives.
Nor do we believe that little men with head wraps and disheveled beards can run amok in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq making decisions on our behalf, dragging us to war whenever they please, confiscating our rights to be adults, and flogging us for not praying five times a day or even for not believing in God.
More important, we are not silent any longer."
Read it all. It's well worth it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I'd say this flies a little in the face of ol' Patty Buch's assessment of the situation.
Yes, it does contradict Patty B's view. It is a very hopeful view, supported by this development: All the Arab govts besides Syria's have expressed opposition to Hezbollah's actions-- more opposition than they've expressed for Isreal's re-action. It appears that maybe the Arabian tyrants are concerned about their historical adversary the Persians becoming dominant. Also, many Lebanese have become angry by Hezbollah's actions.
What is the downside of simply accepting Isreal? All the other govts in the region pose more obsticles than does Isreal to muslims achieving success in their lives. Just consider Northern Ireland. The IRA assholes finally quit their fight; could the Irish Catholics there be doing any better had they won that fight?
Amazing commentary. It defies Nadir's apparent view that muslims have a single opinion on these matters; the author even refered to the captured Isreali soldiers as "kidnapped." And that language that he used to describe the islami-KKKers! If I had used such language (, Nadir would have interpretted it as my view of all muslims, just as he interpretted my charactorization of ghetto burglers as "ignorant, lazy jackasses" as applying to all so-called "black" people, even recent and future immigrants from Africa.
This author doesn't even criticize Isreal's reaction to the attacks. Maybe a critical mass of muslims are becoming more concerned with building their own civilizations than they are with correcting an increasingly aged wrong.
Very refreshing exposition; I hope it speaks for lots of muslims. They're not all neadrathals!
Post a Comment