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March 04, 2007

The Secular Islam Summit : First Day Thoughts

I'm not yet sure what to make of this movement. I've seen a lot of hope and a lot of energy in these meetings, which is encouraging. There are a lot of very bright people with a lot of good ideas. I find myself wanting to believe that these folks, or someone similarly minded, could spur enlightenment within a religion that is, or at least appears to be, under the solid control of a group of men still living in the 7th century and quite content with it.

We've been hearing messages of hope from a lot of individual Muslims, which is good, but what does this mean? These men and women are not recognized Islamic scholars. I don't think anyone expects any of these folks to be given a podium at any mainstream Islamic gathering anytime soon. It's not because they're not informed and intelligent. Quite the contrary. They're shut out precisely because they have an informed and intelligent message, and the imams and mullahs do not care to deal with it.

Can the inertia of Islam be overcome? Can Islam be reformed from the bottom up? Do these reformers have any hope of reasonably countering the Islamists' message, being reinforced every Friday in mosques around the world?

I'm more than just a bit skeptical, but I really do want to believe.

Posted by: Ragnar at 11:15 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 On believing. This effort will reduce the death toll if we can help thier message get out. I think war is unavoidable, but the scale of that war may well depend on summits like this one, and we need to put wind in thier sails wherever we can. USA, all the way!

Posted by: Michael Weaver at March 05, 2007 10:24 PM (2OHpj)

2 It's putting wind in our sails Professor, don't you agree?

Posted by: wb at March 06, 2007 11:41 AM (dFKOS)

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March 04, 2007

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