Modernize Islam

Senator Obama: You Can Help Modernize Islam

Thomas Friedman’s March 2^nd New York Times article, The Silence That Kills, was particularly interesting because Senator Obama remains silent regarding his Muslim ancestry and its impact on his policy positions. Senator Obama has yet to publish position papers on Israel, dealing with Hamas and Hizbollaha, Iran and other topics.

Friedman’s article described how a suicide bomber killed 150 people gathered to open an emergency ward in Afghanistan and a female suicide bomber killed 40 students in Baghdad. He says: “Stop and think for a moment how sick this is. Then stop for another moment and listen to the silence. The Bush team is mute…Europeans are mute…But worst of all, Muslims, the very people whose future is being killed, are also mute…the Arab-Muslim village is largely silent. The best are indifferent or intimidated; the worst quietly applaud the Sunnis who kill Shiites.” He quotes Mamoun Fandy, director of the Middle East program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies: The world worries about highly enriched uranium, but “the real danger is highly enriched Islam.”

According to Friedman: “One result: there’s no legitimate, decent, accepted source of Arab-Muslim authority today, no center of gravity “for people to anchor their souls in.” In this welter of confusion, the suicide bombers go uncondemned or subtly extolled.”

So, here is your chance Senator Obama to provide real leadership to moderate and modernize Islam: Please help create an authoritative institution of progressive thinkers that provides a peaceful interpretation of Quran based on its many benign verses and condemns the acts of violence as dictated by Quran’s 7^th-century dogma. Such an institution created under your leadership can become a source of global peace.