I was recently thanked for sharing this video in a very civil thread on whether the Quran truly calls for violence in comparison with other books. I find the title a bit too simplistic but he offers valuable insight. I believe the way forward with intercultural/religious dialog is to have these difficult discussions about the nature of ideas. Doing so does not lend support to blind prejudice. It actually combats it. It allows us to diffuse the emotional charge and deal with ideas instead of making personal attacks. At present, too many liberals are confusing the exercise of moral/ intellectual discernment with hate. People who I cannot detect any hate or malice in, such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, are being maligned as literally equivalent to Nazis because they have a strongly atheist stance. As Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz states, if we dont allow this discourse, the vacuum left by liberal relativism will be filled by genuine neo-nazis on one side and religious extremists on the other. I believe the best possible future is that we are preparing the way for a worldwide wisdom culture in which spirituality is less and less hijacked or stifled by sectarian identity politics and authoritarian ideology. To do this we must risk offense and see that being offended, or obsessed with not giving offense, is a childish and destructive habit. Nothing real can be threatened.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 17:45:17 +0000
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