Reformist Muslims Gather

A lot of what we read in the news isn’t very important. Here is something that is: the effort by moderate, secular and former Muslims to reform their religion. Today, the Secular Islam Summit wrapped up its three-day conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Summit featured participants like Walid Phares, Ibn Warraq, Irshad Manji, Nonie Darwish, Tawfik Hamid and Wafa Sultan, all of whom are committed to reforming the Muslim religion. They displayed a number of signs and slogans, among them, “Separation of Mosque and State.” I can’t remember ever seeing that phrase before.
Our friend Andrew Marcus was there on behalf of Pajamas Media. He interviewed some of the event’s participants; the resulting video is fascinating. If there is a single group of people in the world today whose efforts should be cheered and supported, it is these Muslims who are risking their lives to oppose the evil influences that have penetrated their religion. They are few; they are unarmed; and they have no money. They are important only to the extent that one believes in the power of ideas.
Andrew has graciously shared his video with us. Here it is:

Feel free to copy the embed code if you have a web site and would like to share the video with your readers. To see more, go to www.secularislam.org. One of the participants, Walid Phares, has an account here. And there’s lots more video at Power Line Video.
UPDATE: Don’t miss the excellent letter to the Minneapolis Star Tribune by a participant at the Forum, here.
To comment on the video or the Summit, go here.

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