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Subject: Mahmoud writes to George
iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a notorious Holocaust denier, has written a long, rambling 18-page letter to US President George W. Bush on subjects including Islam, Islamic theology, and Islamic history, and lots of polemics. Not mentioned, it appears, are Iran's ambitions for nuclear weapons. The Bush Administration seems to have no idea how to respond to the letter. It doesn't fit the Western mould. It doesn't get to the point. It raises all kinds of un-related stuff, instead.
Wrong. It raises the points that Ahmadinejad and the mullahs ruling Iran consider to be crucial, points which must be discussed before we can talk about weapons. Points which must be discussed because failing to discuss them shows unawareness of and disrespect for Islam, in their worldview.
I think Bush should convene a team of scholars of Islamic history, theology and philosophy, and have them draft a reply to the letter, point by point, indicating where we both agree and disagree with Ahmadinejad, and where we think his interpretations of Islam are blasphemous and wrong. Where we think his actions are evil, according to our best understanding of Islamic tradition.
The radical Islamists have long been using the Qur'an as their greatest weapon, more powerful than atomic bombs. Let's throw it right back at them.
Wrong. It raises the points that Ahmadinejad and the mullahs ruling Iran consider to be crucial, points which must be discussed before we can talk about weapons. Points which must be discussed because failing to discuss them shows unawareness of and disrespect for Islam, in their worldview.
I think Bush should convene a team of scholars of Islamic history, theology and philosophy, and have them draft a reply to the letter, point by point, indicating where we both agree and disagree with Ahmadinejad, and where we think his interpretations of Islam are blasphemous and wrong. Where we think his actions are evil, according to our best understanding of Islamic tradition.
The radical Islamists have long been using the Qur'an as their greatest weapon, more powerful than atomic bombs. Let's throw it right back at them.
Because there is more to Religion than pleasing your Imaginary Friend.