Turkey to Issue Re-Evalution of Islam

"Its supporters say the spirit of logic and reason inherent in Islam at its foundation 1,400 years ago are being rediscovered. Some believe it could represent the beginning of a reformation in the religion" - BBC

Islam, as most people know or should know, is around six hundred years behind Christianity and other western religions(Judaism ect.) in terms of its progressiveness. And so, in a partially politically motivated attempt to dispel European fears and make a bid for EU membership, Turkey will issue a new interpretation of the Hadiths. The Hadiths, the second holiest texts in Islam, are basically a guide for interpreting the Koran.



The BBC because it is a European news agency, and pre-occupied with appeasing Britiain's(and Europe's in general) unruly Muslim minorities*, is understandably blowing it all out of proportion. Keep in mind throughout the rest of the column that this is one government agency, in one country, issuing a recommended Hadith interpretation.

The new interpretations are unlikely to catch on in countries like Saudi Arabia(where it is illegal to build a church), Iran(where the government is controlled by a non-democratically elected fundamentalist ayatollah) or Sudan(where Christians and non-Muslims are in the midst of a government sponsored genocide).



Even in the less fundamentalist dominated Muslim states(fewer and farther between) these interpretations will take at least a few generations to catch any fire. Muslim culture is arguably even more dominated by reactionary fundamentalists than pre-reformation Europe. In Europe there was not much worry of outside influences corrupting the Church; Islam's fundamentalists today have been weeding out horrible progressive ideas for at least a generation.

The Hadiths supposedly were all written by Muhammad. Felix Koerner, however, claims that some "can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society." The article then skips(the BBC does this a lot) to Koerner talking about how some Hadiths justify female genital mutilation; whether these were actually written by Muhammad the BBC conveniently leaves out.

Impressively, they didn't entirely miss the target. The realized that many of the 1,400 yr old Hadiths are no longer relevant and will be removed, an important step.

But basically the article can be summed up as this. A great thing, blown one thousand times out of proportion. The BBC is doing a disservice to the original Britons by publishing this type of article. People on the left will gobble it up, and it will be easier to ignore the fact that right now extra-legal Sharia Law Courts are being set up in the country.

We have a long way to go before we see an Islam committed to progressive principles, at least fifty years until the oil money runs out and from then probably a hundred years before we see a new religion. A religion not committing genocides around the world, subjugating over 50% of its population to discriminatory laws worse than Jim Crow in the US or sponsoring terror and honor killings.


- Spero


The BBC Reports - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7264903.stm

*

Obamania

I'm going to post two articles in a row, both I believe to be quality. But don't worry, expect a post by another author tomorrow or the next day. That said:

I'm sure every six year old has grand aspirations of running Toys 'R Us, but would a six year old child really be capable of doing so? Well the average six year old would certainly have the necessary enthusiasm, creative capacity, charisma, and loads of idealistic notions of how to run a company as well; so what could go wrong if we were to simply hand them the keys?

This is the same logic that the Democratic Party and the American people are using to hand over the nomination to Obama. He's definitely charismatic, he's definitely a talented orator - but we have to stop and ask ourselves what he has done to prove himself.

Why does Obama deserve to be President? He has yet to do anything earth shattering(campaign organizational skills aside). He's an active participator in the Senate, and is very bright - but his record reveals nothing exceptional so far. Pinning the hopes of the most powerful nation in the world on the belief that he's more than what he has shown is at best extremely risky.

His supporters would point to his record in the Senate as an indicator of the man's greatness. In a short amount of time he has created a good(not fantastic) portfolio. Yet, the record of a member of the legislative branch may not serve as the best indicator of their executive branch prowess. The same way that your ability to cook steak may or may not mean that you know how to make a great cake - even though they are both food.

Obama says he'll bring change. But then he surrounds himself with a foreign policy group that is older than Stonehenge. Zbigniew Brzezinski his main guy, is over 79 years old and served in the Carter Administration. How, exciting! Changing to be like a man who had one of the most controversial and divisive foreign policies in recent history. Sounds like politics as usual, doesn't it?

He's a big idea man as opposed to Hillary's more targeted reforms. Vision is what we need right now in America, that I have no doubt - and he certainly has it.

Yet for a man aspiring to be the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military ever on earth, he has dangerously little familiarity with our army or military in general. His supporters are not exceptionally pro-military so that issue may not disturb them, but a person kids himself when he believes that the commander in Chief of a nation fighting two wars need not be more intimate with the military.

Bernie at http://plancksconstant.org/, pointed out this video of him possibly fictionalizing a story about the US military.



Captains actually do not actually command platoons. Even given the benefit of the doubt, it exposes a large hole in his abilities.

Americans need to set some more bars for Obama before we get swept away in the tide. He's inspiring and I want to believe him, but we shouldn't be so eager for change that we elect a false messiah.

- Spero