What do I want to tell you about?

What do I want to tell you about? A few days ago, I saw a PBS show on Irshad Manji who is ...

... the internationally best-selling author of The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in her Faith. Through a new lens, this questioning Muslim takes a journey to reconcile her faith in Allah with her love of freedom. Along the way, she reveals the personal risks — emotional and physical — that come with such an urgent mission. The result is FAITH WITHOUT FEAR.

I was very impressed with Irshad. I emailed her for her picture, but so far I have just gotten back an automatic reply. I plan to write her again and to get familiar with what she's saying and learn a little about Islam and her culture. Mostly, I was impressed with her clarity of thought and courage in speaking up and doing so without resentment and blame. It's not so much that she was logical (in what I've heard so far), as that she is open-minded and yet cuts through all the dogma (and superstition and judgments) with ease.

What I found amazing, was that I understood her and could relate to her easily. She seemed to be speaking for me in some instances. This part is harder to explain but I come from a southern Baptist family background and was steeped in the tradition of rigid rules and codes of behavior that go along with that, combined with just plain ole Southern mores and small town predjudices and do's and don'ts. I have spent most of my adult life challenging the narrow mindset that I grew up with. Irshad has challenged some of what her mother has taught her and (which her mother still believes) about her religion and I found myself strangely moved by Irshad's clarity and strength. To me, this kind of intelligence and courage is to be recognized and applauded. It is not clouded by political manueverings (as far as I can tell) or anything related to flattering, pleasing, persuading (except to think it through), pretending, obfuscating, or denying. It is just stating the facts and knowledge gleaned by going to the source - the Quran (Koran) and paying attention to how people interpret it and live it -- what they do in its name.

This is a high achievement for someone in our time and with this volatile an issue, but even more so for a woman, seeing how women are not given much respect or say-so in the Islamic culture. That's why I say: what a breath of fresh air!