I Don’t See Much Action With Reference To Chapter 63 Either
Sure seems to me that the arguments put here against Ayaan Hirsi Ali sound a lot like those of the addressees of the Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
One Response to “I Don’t See Much Action With Reference To Chapter 63 Either”
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June 25th, 2007 at 6:41 am
While not making a direct comparison, but comparing the quality of criticism received by Ali to that of MLK Jr. comes close.
Does Ayaan Hirsi Ali fill MLK Jr.’s most ample shoes?
Consider three measurements:
(1) On the score of challenging existing power dynamics within a faith or tradition, I think she’s there. King challenged almost all southern white ministers and some negro, that the time for the white Christian seeing the African American community as being outside the body of Christ somehow and that it was ok for African American ministers to tacitly condone segregation was over and Ali throws out a challenge of similar magnitude and dynamic.
(2) The mechanics of her rhetoric are fine but the message’s essential melody is no where near King’s. But that is to compare her with perhaps the 20th century rhetorical master in the English language. She isn’t as good as King but she is certainly good enough.
(3) My big question is does she have the essential constituency to provide the challenge traction and to amplify the message? By April 1963, while King was not at his apogee, he did have a critical mass of followers. Does Ali have the same? Is there a critical mass of Muslims in the right spots for her message to have a significant impact? Is she on her way to that moment. Does the internet change the equation to the point where this comparison is moot? Does Ali “merely” have the right message but does that message need to be presented by another messenger in order to flourish?
King attempted to steer the broader Christian community back to its roots by an appeal to its roots:
But Ayaan Hirsi Ali is attempting to reform her faith by getting rid of, the faith, by pulling the supranatural rug out from under the misogynist fundamentalism which counts on uncritical faith for its negative power. She wants to replace faith-based Islam with some sort of secular Islam, which parallels American civil Christianity. Something that sounds sexy to the American Enterprise Institute and Tom Friedman but probably not to most moderate Muslims.
Or that’s how I see it.
I just don’t see her as a transformative figure but I’ll happily readjust with new information.