The Huge Entity: A Clash of Mentalities: Al-Jazeera Intoxicates

A Clash of Mentalities: Al-Jazeera Intoxicates

Friday, March 03, 2006 → by Danieru

This video interview with Arab-American psychologist Wafa Sultan was aired on Al Jazeera last week - its emphatic message still echoes through my mind as I type this, her passion is intoxicating:

The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete...

As an advocate for a true, secularised society and a believer in the infinite power of free speech I urge you to watch it too.

Alternatively head on over to nakedwriting.com for a transcript of the broadcast.

Categories: Religion, Video, Politics, News, Links, Islam, Society, Civilisation

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posted by Danieru at 7:04 AM

Prup (aka Jim Benton) said...

If you find Wafa Sultan as admirable as I do, you should search out the recent manifesto on free speech and secularism signed by twelve intellectuals who were born Muslim. (There has been a lot of coverage of this. Agora is one place with the most.)
The list includes
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

If you only know Rushdie, you should google the others and investigate them, particularly Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- who I discussed on my website as a "New Hero" of mine, Irshad Manji, Talima Nasreen, and Ibn Warraq. (You should be particularly interested in the reference to ISIS, the Institute for the Secularization of Islamic Society which Warraq seems to be involved with, and his book on recent investigations into the Qur'an, Hadiths, and Early Islamic History.

March 04, 2006 5:08 AM

Danieru said...

Thanks for that, I look forward to investigating...

Here's what happens if religion is even mentioned in regard to politics in the UK:

Tony Blair attacked on Iraq 'God' remarks

A bit different from current fundamental resurgence in the US (and elsewhere). It takes a hell of a lot to make me feel patriotic, but secular Britain and its media rocks (most of the time)

March 04, 2006 9:54 AM

Draculich said...

This just in.

-Draculich

March 08, 2006 5:13 AM

The emotive nature of that link makes me dislike it intently. Iran may be trying to aquire Nuclear status, but the proof has still not been pinned down...

Here's an interesting site devoted to the progression of Muslim History. Its timeline and science sections are well worth a look.

March 09, 2006 1:08 AM