Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The kind of dialogue we need . . .

However the health care fiasco plays out, there remain other issues. Here's an example of the kind of conversation we should be having.

Part I:


Part II:

1 comment:

ignatius said...

It's refreshing to see a TV discussion in which the speakers don't constantly interrupt and outshout one another. And I thought the moderator did a great job. He hit some core issues.

I distrust Tarek Fatah's depiction of Wafa Sultan's viewpoint. I read an article which claims he distorted what she said, and the way he formulated her argument here makes her look like a strawman to be knocked down.

I am inclined to agree with Ms. Sultan's assessment of Islam. That doesn't mean I think all Moslems are terrorists or even potential terrorists. it only means that moderate Moslems, who want to get along with people and contribute to society in a constructive way, have to live with some strong tensions and contradictions between their way of life and the teachings of their religion.

How can serious Moslems prefer a democracy over a caliphate? How can they justify choosing parliamentary laws over shariah? How can a good Moslem condemn the "lesser jihad" against unbelievers when it played such an important role in the origins and development of their faith?

Maybe there are satisfactory answers to these and other questions, but I haven't seen them.

Moslems need Christ's salvation like everybody else. Instead of waiting and looking for the moderate Islam to appear, the best thing we can do for them is to share the Gospel message.