Friday, August 11, 2006

A secular viewpoint.

Wafa Sultan is a secular Syrian-American psychiatrist who currently resides in California. She tells it like it is on Al Jazeera in an interview back in February. Her interview is one of the best examples I have seen of someone calling for reformation of the Islamic faith. The woman is a magnificent speaker and expresses herself rationally and is not in the least flustered by her older scholarly opponent who repeatedly calls her a heretic and tries to intimidate her. I must commend her courage but also fear for her safety. So many individuals, who write or speak out against the injustices of fundamentalist Islam wind up being hurt or killed by religious fanatics.
Listen to her words, they are truly inspiring.

15 comments:

sara said...

MAY PEACE BE UPON YOUR SOUL, HEART, MIND, AND BODY...AMEN.
I'M DYING TO LISTEN, BUT THE "YOU-TUBE" IS BLOCKED WHERE I LIVE, CAN YOU HELP ME FIND ANOTHER LINK WHERE I CAN HEAR THOSE WORDS, PLEASE?
with respect,

roman said...

sara,

The web address is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WLoasfOLpQ

Knowledge leads to wisdom.

roman said...

sara,

Sorry for the second link to "You Tube". I will try and find a different source for this video.

roman said...

sara,

Try this link to view the video:

http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1050

sonia said...

Unless people stand up and speak out against it, this religious oppression will continue. Especially with the Western Left siding with the mullahs and encouraging them.

roman said...

sonia,

Religious and cultural oppression, not just in the Islamic countries, is alive and well in many of the poorer nations of the world. Wherever women are kept from receiving an adequate education there will be prohibitions on their liberty. Expressing themselves as independent human beings will be impossible.

Pete said...

Given her value to the War on Terrorism I imagine that Wafa is protected by the FBI, by several means. Still, if she were to travel outside the US, particularly a visit to the Middle East she might be murdered.

She doess not only have terrorists to fear - I think the Saudi government, under its Sharia laws, could "legally" kill her within its borders.

Pete

sara said...

Well, I've watched it a while back... when it was live actually on TV.
I'M AGAINST MOST OF HER WORDS...
LOL!
thanx for taking time to find me this link...
thanx a lot :)

roman said...

sara,

You said "MOST" of her words. I am happy that at least some of her words were of interest. I also disagree with several of her viewpoints but the main theme of this post is to show how religious clerics (any religion) are able to intimidate individuals and as such oppress freedom of expression. This intimidation takes form in subtle ways, like blocking "You Tube" from the web.
Thank you for your comments.

Frank Partisan said...

She reminds me of my blog team member Maryam.

Boo said...

a certain righty that I love to hate said something that makes sense (unbelieveably). the fanatics won't stop until their community - the muslims who believe in peace and tolerance - stand up as a group and put a stop to them. we, the west, cant make it happen.

i think i believe that.

sara said...

"This intimidation takes form in subtle ways, like blocking "You Tube" from the web."

I can't agree more...
WELL PUT!

with much respect,

beatroot said...

I think Soniu is being over simplistic in claiming that the western Left is siding with the mullahs. There are plenty that don't. Check our the Euston Manifesto group, Harry's Place, Normblog and etc...

It's also interesting that when people say 'the Muslim community' places like the UK, or Muslim countries they seem to be saying that there is ONE muslim community/nation. Of course there are very many variations of thought within these 'communites', from secular to fundementalist to jihadist.

It's also interesting that most of the leading critics of fundementalism etc are women (interesting but perhaps not suprising).

roman said...

Thank you commenters for your views on this matter.
I know that many of my views may be construed as "rightist". It has been my fervent belief that I am not committed in either direction but remain steadfastly resolute on the side of non-partisanship. I would like to interject into this exchange of ideas the fact that it is only the variety and access to the full spectrum of ideas and viewpoints from left to right that should be considered before forming opinion. I encourage all to participate in an exchange of ideas with what may be construed as "opposing points of view". If you dislike or even "hate" what the opposition says, ask yourself why. I find that there is some element of truth and wisdom in even the most diametrically opposed opinions.

San Nakji said...

She is a brave woman. I wish her luck. Boo has the right idea. Change will only come from within. I hope it does, although the West is not a good model...