Book review

[kerewin21 2]

What do you all think of this lady? I'm curious about your opinions. The review implies that although she claims to have come to her opinions about Islam through logic, she may be very influenced by her personal experiences and there are many inconsistencies in her arguments.

In the fall of 2002, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, then a junior researcher for the social democratic party in the Netherlands, was invited to stand for election by the rival conservative party. She thought about it, and decided that if she were to enter politics, she would embark on a “holy mission” to have the statistics of female victims of so-called honor killings around the world officially registered. Honor killings are common in (but not unique to) Muslim societies, where the shame of adultery, or even rape, is such that for some men it can be wiped out only by murdering the women involved.

Hirsi Ali’s stated aim was commendable, even if her claim that this “is the largest, most important issue that our society and our planet will face in this century” is perhaps a trifle overblown. But her choice of words is curious. Why a “holy” mission? By her own account in “Infidel” she “had left God behind years ago.” Once a devout Muslim, she was now an atheist: “I was on a psychological mission to accept living without a God, which means accepting that I give my life its own meaning.” Hence the title of this fascinating account of her life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/books/re...KbulrK6ICS/iIOw

Here's a story about Ayan Hirsi Ali from Beliefnet:

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/212/story_21294_1.html

[Bosco 1]

What do you all think of this lady? I'm curious about your opinions. The review implies that although she claims to have come to her opinions about Islam through logic, she may be very influenced by her personal experiences and there are many inconsistencies in her arguments.

In the fall of 2002, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, then a junior researcher for the social democratic party in the Netherlands, was invited to stand for election by the rival conservative party. She thought about it, and decided that if she were to enter politics, she would embark on a “holy mission” to have the statistics of female victims of so-called honor killings around the world officially registered. Honor killings are common in (but not unique to) Muslim societies, where the shame of adultery, or even rape, is such that for some men it can be wiped out only by murdering the women involved.

Hirsi Ali’s stated aim was commendable, even if her claim that this “is the largest, most important issue that our society and our planet will face in this century” is perhaps a trifle overblown. But her choice of words is curious. Why a “holy” mission? By her own account in “Infidel” she “had left God behind years ago.” Once a devout Muslim, she was now an atheist: “I was on a psychological mission to accept living without a God, which means accepting that I give my life its own meaning.” Hence the title of this fascinating account of her life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/books/re...KbulrK6ICS/iIOw

Here's a story about Ayan Hirsi Ali from Beliefnet:

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/212/story_21294_1.html

I feel she is trying to make a name for herself riding on the anti-Islam train.

[doodlebug 3]

I never knew she called herself an athiest. I thought she considered herself a muslim but thought that the Quran should be rewritten. That's what I got out of an interview I heard on NPR a while back. In any event she turned me off so much by that interview that I just have no desire to really look into who she is.

[peezey 0]

She calls herself a non-believer. She says that although she doesn't believe in God or Islam, she is still the best person to speak for "oppressed muslim women." I think she's a self-promoter and seemingly will do anything to make Islam and muslims look bad in order to gain favor with the US and "pay back" for her lovely little position at the American Enterprise Institute.

[peezey 0]

Another reason to question her motives and her knowledge is the fact she promotes Irshad Manjani as a "great muslim feminist" but really she's just another anti-Isam hack.

[Kakya vstrecha! 0]

ugh. those wenches and the tripe they peddle are like the literary equivalent of an especially nasty bout of cholera.

[kerewin21 2]

Well, she does turn me off, but I think she has some valid points. Though maybe they get lost underneath her personality.

[Kakya vstrecha! 0]

personally i couldn't care less about her personality. abrasiveness, bluntness, even snottiness can all be overlooked as far as i'm concerned, provided someone can make a valid, truthful and sincere point. i don't need candy-coating all the time. it's the fact that she's so completely disingenuous and consistently manipulates and exploits so many misconceptions that are commonly held in the west to further points that aren't universal. her misleading is not accidental, but very calculated and intentional. she had a wretched childhood. for that, i am sincerely sympathetic. but it's completely ridiculous to maintain that her awful experiences have anything to do with islam, or islam and its practitioners are in any way responsible for things that happened to her.

(her being guilty of immigration fraud doesn't exactly endear me to her other points either. i can't stomach liars, especially someone who lies about something as sacred and important as seeking refuge from persecution-in her case completely made up. )