As all of you know, I have a lot of respect for Ayaan Hirsi Ali: I do not always agree with what she says, her views are, in my opinion, influenced by certain traumatizing event, but she does raise some good points, and she is a fierce defender of the freedom of speech. She has sacrificed her own safety, for our right to speak our mind, and for that, whether one agrees with what she says or not, she deserves our respect and gratitude.
As Joseph Rago wrote: “All of this is profoundly politically incorrect. But for this remarkable woman, ideas are not abstractions. She forces us back to first principles, and she punctures complacencies. These ought to be seen as virtues, even by those who find some of Ms. Hirsi Ali’s ideas disturbing or objectionable. Society, after all, sometimes needs to be roused from its slumbers by agitators who go too far so that others will go far enough.”
CWonder just finished reading Infidel - Ayaan’s autobiography - and highly recommends it. I read it months ago already and I agree: this book should be read by all interested in the immigration / integration / Islam issue.
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1 The Alter Ego of C.Wonder
May 12, 2007 @ 2:03 pm CESTINFIDEL!!!! Death to Ayaan Hirsi Ali!
I just got done reading “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
This is the Autobiography of a woman who has climbed up thru a well of Darkness and bathed herself with the sweet rays of sunshine and Freedom.
Her story is fascinating, horrifying, dep…
2 domaju
May 12, 2007 @ 5:06 pm CESTMs Ali is, indeed a lesson in courage.
It’s regrettable, though, that less confrontational Muslim women can’t grab media attention and the attention of the Muslim sisterhood.
Interesting sidelight:
A Muslim woman I met (via E-mail) never wore a head scarf in her country of birth, Turkey. A scarfless head was her declaration of freedom.
After moving to the US, she began to wear the scarf as a new declaration of the freedom to choose.
3 lthomas
May 13, 2007 @ 1:31 pm CESTI highly recommend reading this book if for no other reason then anyone who would risk death to write such a book deserves that said book be read
Even with a sense of caution.
For I caution anyone that ever reads to remember that all Authors of religious or spiritual or political books have agendas. Mostly they are trying to convince you that what they believe is the truth.
While they may not convince you of that they might sway some aspects of your beliefs with facts that may or may not be true or totally accurate. Even facts anymore are agenda driven.
So read and enjoy but do so with caution.
4 Orwell
July 6, 2007 @ 4:23 pm CESTWonderful website, but who the heck is anyone to judge whether the facts Hirsi Ali brings forward are influenced by the constantly rehearsed like a mantra ‘traumatic’ event? She has mentioned numerous times that she would have been traumatized a thousand times if she considered all that she has encountered as an abnormally devastating experience. Life in Africa was always connected with violence, desease, corruption, etc. Westerners are just spoiled, don’t have a notion of enemies or war. Besides, would her opinions be less worth now also with the additional trauma of constant, accute threat to her life?
5 Orwell
July 6, 2007 @ 5:15 pm CESTWhat facts she brings forward don’t you agree with? Or do you consider those as ‘Well, that is her opinion’?
BTW are or were the opinions of S. Rushdie, T. van Gogh or M. Bouyeri for that matter, also influenced by an early traumatic event? Would that be important to investigate, to better understand what they say or do?