"Nomad" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Thu, 2010-06-10 18:44
#1
Sven
"Nomad" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Thu, 2010-06-10 19:16
#2
Sven
From [url=http://http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/a-wanderer-from-isla... book review[/u][/color][/url] of "Nomad":
Why are so many liberal intellectuals, social democrats and feminists so silent on the more noxious features of Islam - the fierce intolerance toward unbelievers, the repression of individual freedom, the routine abuse of children, the misogyny, the forced subservience of women? "It's the seduction of totalitarianism," she says. In her view, Western defenders of Islam are the intellectual heirs of those highly intelligent men and women who used to heap praise on Comrade Stalin. "It's a blind spot that left-wing intellectuals have always had."
[snip]
"The subjection of women within Islam is the biggest obstacle to the integration and progress of Muslim communities in the West," she writes. "It is a subjection committed by the closest kin in the most intimate place, the home, and it is sanctioned by the greatest figure in the imagination of Muslims: Allah himself."
Has anyone picked up a copy of "Nomad" yet?
Looks like I need to make a run to the bookstore this weekend...
Thu, 2010-06-10 19:43
#3
Considering that Ali fires off every imaginable cliche in the capitlaist arsenal you'll most likely be wasting your money. You've demonstrated your quite proficient at that yourself. Unless of course the unrelenting repetition of these beliefs are somehow waning in the corporate media resulting in a sense of insecurity that necessitates in further immersing yourself in these myths to ensure that a dose of reality doesn't slip inbetween the indoctirination. The way in which Ali spouts these cliches leav3es me with the impression that the American Enterprise Institute is paying her by peice work rates.
It is also pure bullshit that anyone is silent about the mysoginy and violence inherent in any of the Abrahamic or for that matter almost all religions. If feminists and the left are guilty of anything it is pointing out that vioent mysogyny and the abuse of women and children are also a fairly prominent part of Western culture. Of course this is a complexity that Ali has difficulty comprehending. She of course is an apologist for all of the violence and brutality of the empire. I'm sure she speaks for the hundreds of thousands of women in the middle east in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Palestine that the empire has conveniently liberated from their lives.
Thu, 2010-06-10 19:46
#4
I am personally not interested in wasting any time in reading what fellows of the American Entreprise Institute write or say or suggest. Islam bashing has become a well-sought after product that many imperialistic, pro-Zionist entities are interested in investing in.
If you, Sven, are interested in a career as "Muslim Reformer", do I have a proposition for you! You would enjoy the Islam-bashing hobby and the money, prominence and privileges that come with it, including unfettered access to Western media, a "pilgrinmge" to Tel Aviv etc...
http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/03/how_to_be_a_mus.php
"I've written a handy little guide for aspiring refuseniks, male or female, Muslim or non-Muslim. Hopefully it will inspire readers to lead the charge in enlightening the benighted Islamic world.
1. Keep it simple
First and foremost, don't bother actually studying the religion or recent MENA (Middle East North Africa)n history. Take a page from Pundita's book: no need for research when you're painting with a really big brush. If you absolutely must research, this site is a treasure trove of convenient black and white stereotyping.
2. Have an angle
Find or manufacture a useful "turning point" in your life that made you realize Islam was a bigoted and/or violent religion. In Irshad Manji's case, it was being kicked out of her madrasa for demanding proof of a Jewish conspiracy. For Wafa Sultan, it was watching the Muslim Brotherhood kill a professor at her university in Aleppo. Of course, it's helpful not to mention Hafez Assad's response. I recall Irshad was all for Emergency Law in Egypt because Naguib Mahfouz was roughed up by some Islamist thugs: "Excuse me, but if that's a reason to maim (and possibly kill), it's equally a reason for security forces to crack down on the thugs. Bring on the Emergency Law" (128).
Ahem, moving on...
3. Write a book
Start holding interviews just prior to (or immediately after) publishing a book that claims to spearhead a reform movement and/or turn the Islamic world on its head. Tell the NYT that the working title is The Escaped Prisoner: When God Is a Monster, because The Trouble with Islam Today is simply too namby-pamby.
4. Become a Western media darling
Be extremely provocative. Make rude statements about Islam and those who follow it. Make sure to have an itemized list of every horrible act commited by Muslims, rulers of Muslim-majority countries, Caliphs, etc. Make fun of Arabs and how childish and barbaric they are compared to Jews and Christians (or in Irshad's case, go one step further and blame everything on the "Arabization" of Islam). Don't bother to mention any similar acts carried out in the name of other Abrahamic religions or even atheist ideologies, such as Communism. This is supposed to be an indictment against Islam, not the vile predictability of human nature and perverse incentives.
5. Remind people that you are constantly under siege
Make sure the media is fully aware of every single death threat you receive as a result of the aforementioned provocative statements. If you're lucky, some wacko will release a fatwa that demands you be stoned, beheaded or strung up in some elaborate medieval way."
So-called Muslim Reformers Tarek Fatah, Irshad Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salim Mansur and others are simply propagandists for a fee.
Thu, 2010-06-10 19:50
#5
Maysie
So I'm, like, closing this because there's nothing progressive about this book and there's no reason for it to be featured here on babble.
Sven, if you're trying to press as close to the line as possible without being banned, please know that there's an expiry date on tolerance for such behaviour.