Robert Spencer Oct 27, 2014 – Jihad Watch
“If Muslims do not critique their own atrocities, then people on the outside will and their message will not be listened to simply because of who they are.” “An open letter to Ben Affleck,” by Eiynah, Pakistan Today, October 25, 2014 (thanks to Anne Crockett):
Your heart was in the right place, but…
Dear Ben,
I am writing to you today as a woman who was born and raised in Islam. I saw your discussion with Bill Maher and Sam Harris, and I must say you did me a great disservice that day. Your heart was in the right place, of course, and it was lovely of you to step up and defend ‘my people’.
What you really did though, perhaps inadvertently, was silence a conversation that never gets started. Two people attempted to begin a dialogue and you wouldn’t even listen. Why should any set of ideas be above criticism, Ben?
Why are Muslims being ‘preserved’ in some time capsule of centuries gone by? Why is it okay that we continue to live in a world where our women are compared to candy waiting to be consumed? Why is it okay for women of the rest of the world to fight for freedom and equality while we are told to cover our shameful bodies? Can’t you see that we are being held back from joining this elite club known as the 21st century?
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