There is a superb article on the HuffPo by Ali A. Rizvi, from which I want to cover a few of the issues he discusses.
It's been knocking about quite a bit on podcasts and news sites recently, so I thought I'd mention the TV debate involving outspoken atheists Bill Maher and Sam Harris, and actor/director Ben Affleck.
Apart from agreeing on the God question, I don't agree with Maher on several issues, and actually tend to disagree with Harris about quite a bit, as I talked about in a previous post. However I think they're probably mostly right here - Affleck's arguments are completely unconvincing.
Unsurprisingly, overly politically-correct sources like the Guardian have sided with Affleck on this issue,
If we are to believe Affleck, then there is simply no way to criticise the bad ideas of Islam. It's no wonder that Affleck was left floundering so badly when asked about the statistics of what Egyptian Muslims think about apostates (people who lose their Muslim faith). Many think that these apostates should be put to death. Let's not lie about this - any percentage siding with this would be bad. The figure of 90% was presented, which he unhelpfully suggested was "not representative".
WTF? It's just horrific!
The examples of "internal Muslim dissent" he gives, with moderate Muslims reforming from within, are exactly what we want of course, but all these examples do is explain exactly why we are right about Islam having inherent problems. People like Aryan Hirsi Ali and Malala Yousafzai have rebelled from the dogmatic views that were imposed on them, so of course they are going to fight the system.
They're brave to do so, of course, but some emergent recalcitrance is hardly unexpected with what they face.
Our position is definitely not aligned with right wing racists on this issue, so it annoys me when people like Affleck insinuate that it is.
The Islam apologist Reza Azlan, whose views I find somewhat annoying, also weighs in here.
Actually, here's another great article showing why Affleck and Azlan are wrong:
This article, written by former Muslims and not just a white perspective, shows just how some journalists, scholars and political commentators need to wake up to the real doctrine of Islam as stated in the Koran, and call a spade a spade. They need to admit that taking the Koran with a pinch of salt is not only reasonable, but ultimately necessary to pave the way to peace and development in the Middle East, and resist the urges of extremists.
Alternatively, if you want to take an approach from another angle (and the point is this is not a cause everyone will believe in, even if they're non-religious, and is slightly offset from but still connected to that mentioned above), Malala Yousafzai is a great example of how it is possible to fight back against much of the bigotry shown by radical Islamists while still retaining your faith. She delivered a brilliant and moving speech after becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
What a charismatic and inspiring girl. Note how her "core value"(at least she repeatedly emphasises it) of wanting to become all she can goes directly against the grain of a patriarchal society, the likes of which are perpetuated by Islam. These societies expressly try and limit the role of women, outside being wives and bearing and raising children. Malala's is the type of reinterpretation of the doctrine that we need to see more often from within Islam itself.
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