If you’re not busy tonight, listen to a one-hour livestreamed video discussion at the Richmond Forum about whether Islam is dangerous or innocuous. It starts at 8 p.m. EST in the US, 5 hours earlier than British time; and it’s the first in a series of discussions of Islam that will feature, in later shows Gordon Brown, Steve Martin and George W. Bush. (Watch at the link above.)
The Richmond Times-Dispatch notes:
The kickoff November discussion is titled “Islam: A Religion of Violence or Peace?”
It will feature Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an internationally known critic of Islam; Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, a Muslim leader who argues Islam preaches tolerance; and Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamic extremist who promotes democracy in the Muslim world.
The panel is billed as the first time “any spiritual leader has taken the stage with Ali to counter her charges against Islam.”
Bill Chapman, executive director of The Richmond Forum, said the panel was set up because Islam “was our most requested program topic on our subscriber survey last fall.”
Inagist gives a bit more information:
Watch The Richmond Forum’s Richmond Forum – Islam: A Religion of Violence or Peace? on Livestream.com. One of the most compelling conversations of our age will take place on the Richmond Forum stage as we bring three noted voices together for the first time to tackle the question: Is Islam a religion of violence or peace? Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim and the author of “Infidel,” speaks and writes widely about what she believes is the inherently violent nature of Islam and its subjugation and abuse of women. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, an American Muslim spiritual leader, acclaimed author, and one of the most influential Muslim voices of moderation, holds the position that Islam is a bedrock of tolerance. Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamic extremist and the author of “Radical,” spent four years in an Egyptian prison and today works to challenge extremism and promote democracy in the Muslim world. Among the most requested topics by our subscribers, this promises to be a powerful and enlight
h/t: Diane G.
Thanks Jerry. Looks really interesting – I’ll be watching.
sub
sub
sub
I wonder what Steve Martin has to contribute to this topic?
hopefully his contribution is set to banjo music.
I wondered that too, but right now they’re playing some sort of Eastern-sounding music live on the Richmond Forum channel, so maybe he’ll play banjo before W? (That’s not meant to diss banjos – I LIKE banjo.)
That said, poking around online he may well have something interesting to say. I found one reference to his having co-written Traitor, apparently a 2008 movie that has something to do with Muslim terrorism. Who knew?
(And as a biologically-related footnote, that was before he starred in The Big Year, which most people probably thought was too absurd to be anywhere close to reality, but I thought was hysterically close. Any gonzo birders on here, pls comment.)
In any event, Steve Martin (whose SNL shtick I never cared for much) is a multi-faceted guy, and there must be a good reason for his being scheduled on this forum.
Glad to be reminded to put that movie on my queue. It is probably not unlike the mockumentary Best In Show. Martin is really talented in many ways, which of course brings on more success. I saw him back in college days, white suit, arrow headgear, clever humor, brilliant for its time.
Martin’s best joke involves a cat. I’m sure it’s on YouTube.
However, if good reason was being deployed duhbya surely wouldn’t be there.
One can only hope there is no blood shed over this.
Anybody watching the debate should have some background knowledge on Feisal Abdul Rauf, a well-known name in New York City.
Rauf became a notable personality in New York when he got involved as a spokesperson and fund raiser in the famous project to build an Islamic cultural center, initially to be called Park 51, only two blocks away from Ground Zero, the site of the destroyed Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
This project sparked off violent acrimony from New Yorkers, who considered it an affront to their memory of the victims of the 9/11 tragedy.
Rauf was to be the public and “spiritual” figurehead of the project. But he got involved in various lawsuits resulting from his mismanagement of personal real estate properties on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, and claimed mismanagement of funds donated by Islamic donors.
In Jan. 2011, the developer of Park 51, Sharif el-Gamal, a former waiter turned real estate investor, announced that Rauf was no longer part of the Park 51 project management team.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feisal_Abdul_Rauf#Park51
Ayaan seems to be on point, but the moderator in particular seems to be painfully trying to push everyone to agree that Islam is a religion of peace.
Maajid Nawaz doesn’t seem to know where he stands and the Iman is trying to obfuscate.
The “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” motif regarding the reinterpretation of canonical texts is tiresome. The bathwater is putrid and there never was a baby to begin with.
Or alternatively, if you get that sort of remark, ask for what precisely the baby is that matters.
I do say about some things that if they are sufficently turgid or confused, even if they are correct about a few matters it isn’t work combing through to find them. And instead, let the few flecks of goodness get rediscovered. (For example, I’ve said this about Heidegger’s stuff.)
A fairly interesting debate, worth a watch. A lot of re-tread but then, what debate of this type doesn’t have that? Unfortunately any debate that involves revealed truth is going to have plenty of dead ends…that’s kind of the problem. A more skilled moderator may have helped.
Anyone know who Maajid Nawaz’s tailor is?
Footnote – from a comment one of them made, this took place in The Mosque, a venerable Moorish-design theater from 1926 in Richmond that was about the closest place to see nationally-known acts when jac & I were @ Wm&Mary. I see from W’pedia that its name was officially changed to Landmark Theater in 1995. Hard to get more boring than that, but from a comment during the streaming, it sounds like everyone still knows it as The Mosque.
Footnote #2 – looking at the Times Dispatch piece now, none of the other talks in this series are on the same topic, so Steve Martin’s tangential relationship to Muslim Terrorism, noted in the comments above, is coincidental.
Correct. I thought that was obvious, but apparently not |:
In private, G.W Bush, Gordon Brown and co could probably produce a highly informative presentation on whether Islam is violent, and if so, how much, based on their access to data. To be frank, this sounds like a question which has easily-quantifiable answers, in terms of deaths, percentage of ordinary Muslims who support killing non-beievers etc etc…
However, as it’s in the public sphere, all that will happen is that they will waffle some bland platitudes about it being a noble, peaceful, tolerant religion that has been hijacked by non-representative extremists. Data will not be mentioned.
Last half conflicts with Broncos and Chiefs – tough call 🙂
I prefer to download the audio and put it on my portable mp3 player to listen to while “on the go.” I started the recording just before Ayaan Hirsi Ali was introduced and uploaded it to the link below for anyone else who prefers to do the same.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4n1OKpFGQqLSm9zendabGNfZlE/edit?usp=sharing
I hope you enjoy.
The sad thing about Ayaan Hirsi Ali is that she found no place for herself in “socially liberal” parties and organizations and thus teamed up with neoliberal parties and think tanks.