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Tammy Bruce Interviews Dr. Wafa Sultan
You may have been one of over 1,000,000 people who have already seen the MEMRI TV video of Syrian-born Dr. Wafa Sultan, taking on two Islamic Imams on Al-Jazeera TV. Last night, Dr. Sultan appeared in Los Angeles at an event organized by Janet Levy for the Center for the Study of Popular Culture.
Update 5-5-06: For those who haven't seen the clip, Dr. Sultan does what is unthinkable in Sharia culture -- she stands up to the Imams and questions them on the subject of religion. This is unimaginable for anyone there to do, and even more so for a woman. If you haven't yet seen the video, check it out.
In introducing Dr. Sultan, Levy noted that Sultan was born in Syria and raised in the Islamic tradition. In school, she saw one of her teachers murdered in cold blood in the name of Islam. This changed her life. She eventually renounced Islam, and in 1989 was able to immigrate to the U.S. Last week Time magazine named Dr. Sultan one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Dr. Sultan delivered some prepared remarks, was interviewed by Tammy Bruce, and took questions from the crowd.
A few highlights (from my handwritten notes -- not expected to be verbatim: )
Dr. Wafa Sultan: I have lost hope for Islam and I think it is the duty of all free speakers to help in the effort to enlighten the Muslims.
...Islam should not be considered a religion, but a political ideology that applies its policy violently.
...Sometimes when I talk to American friends, I get so upset that they don't know anything. A friend [...] said, Islam is a religion of peace. The President of the United States said, Islam is a religion of peace. Do you read anything about Islam? Do you know anything about Islam? When I heard that I just wanted to close my eyes.
...Islam shouldn't be classified as a religion because as a Muslim you have to believe in Islam as a religion and as a state.
...As long as you are allowing the Koran to be read in your schools, you are in grave danger.
...You should force Imams to answer your questions publicly about Islam. Just have them open their book and read it. Many Muslims are embarrassed because the world is starting to ask questions about Islam, and the Muslims know they don't have good answers.
...Muslims at my house say, "wait a few years -- we will replace the U.S. constitution with sharia law, here in the U.S." They are working for that. They don't say it to your face, but they are working for that.
...The Internet is the beginning of the end of Islam. It is the beginning.
...You would be surprised if you knew how many people in Syria believe what I believe. Using fake names, and behind the scenes, they are supporting me. Because you are risking your life and the life of your family. Everyone is looking to the free world to get them out of their prison.
When Muslims say, there are 1.3 billion of them, it makes it sound like they are the whole world. But the rest of the world is 5 billion. Muslims are a minority and they have to act like it. Those Muslims have no choice of religion, they are forced to be Muslim. Give those 1.3 billion Muslims freedom of religion, and then see how many Muslims there are in the world!
...In our country we have one source of information: religion. We are not allowed to get information out of our religious source.
Tammy Bruce: Have you seen a Koran which was accurately translated into English?
Dr. Wafa Sultan: No! Whenever I read the Koran in English, they say, for example, "fight," when the correct translation is "kill." For example, "Life is fighting."
Audience Member (me): How important is it to stop Iran from getting the nuclear bomb?
Dr. Wafa Sultan: It is very important. Iran is in the hands of lunatic people!
Audience Member (not me this time): What is your view of the withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza strip, and the planned withdrawal of Israel from much of the West Bank?
Dr. Wafa Sultan: To solve it, you have to go to the root of the problem, which is deeply rooted in Islamic teaching. Do you think if you solve the Palestinian situation, it will stop people from teaching that Jewish people are not human? We are taught that Jewish people are there to be killed.
Update 5-5-06: Welcome, Tammy Bruce readers!
#1
#2No one asked her that. Maybe she's lightening up on her anti-religious message; she didn't talk about that at this event. I agree with you -- religion is very important.
david, by "she backlashes against all religions" do you mean by implication? If so, I think Wafa Sultan focuses on Islam because she (rightfully) condemns its violent nature, but I see no implication in her views that such condemnation extends to "religion in general," nor that she claims religion is responsible for all "the world['s] problems." If indeed you recognize the courage and rightfulness of this heroic woman in speaking against the evils of Islam -- if individual rights is a moral and intellectual value for you -- then I see no reason to withold support for Wafa Sultan. In fact, there is every reason to sing her praises.
With that said, I personally would take up some of the arguments that concern you, insofar as I consider faith -- the basis of religion -- to be as much a destroyer of humanity as its counterpart in the physical realm -- force. But, that would be another argument, voiced by me, not Wafa Sultan.
#4Stephen, this is a very interesting question you raise about religion. I take a different point of view than you do; I think religion has been very helpful to humanity. It would be interesting to discuss this, especially if we could find a way to do it in a very civil, polite manner. I see you list the 4AynRandFan forum as your home page, and I agree with the opinions of the Rand followers on most subjects.
No doubt we will disagree on this subject, so the question is, how can we keep a discussion on this topic civil and polite and friendly?
vik, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Wafa Sultan, and I would not want to detract from a commentary subject devoted to her, by discussion of a different subject entirely.
If you would like to discuss this subject publicly on your forum, under a different subject heading, I would participate. Note, however, that my time away from my prime focus is rather limited, so I could not guarantee timely responses. Alternatively, we could disuss this at the 4aynrandfans.com forum, which would insure a more timely interchange on my part. The philosophical context of that forum is Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.
In either case, "civil polite and friendly" certainly should be the tone. However, since I recognize reason as the only proper epistemological tool, and reject faith as a means to knowledge, I would therefore require logic and fact rather than faith or assertion to be the only means of argument and source of evidence.
#6In reply to both Stephen and Vik what I have seen in video of Wafa Sultan states by her own words that she supports and accepts no religion. Her sentiment toward each religion obviously has varying degrees (as with each of us) with the most stated being her definite hatred of Islam and the implicit Sharia Law.
Only in light of her own words has she given me the distinct impression that she has a dislike for all religions whether that is expounded upon publicly or not.
Even with that said I am not against what she says, but I personally disagree with the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" psychosis that dragged the United States into the Middle East to begin with so I choose not to support her either.
I am also providing a third motion to discuss the implication of world problems vs. religion under a different thread. Respectfully however my participation will not be on the Rand board so that I do not offend anyone in their own home.
#7Excellent. A new subject heading has been started here, for this discussion. I am sure good points will be made on both sides, and I look forward to a polite, friendly discussion.
[This post has been deleted from this thread at the request of the author. A duplicate of this post is here.]
#9"Brother, you can believe in stones, just don't cast them at me." Religion is the root of all evil.
#10hi is this correct
#11Hello, aka. Could you be more specific?
#12If I were you I would be very alarmed by Wafa Sultan's almost violent denunciation of Islam. Though she claims she is a psychologist, she seems to me ignorant of her own internal psyche. Her reaction to being raised demonizing Israelis and idealizing Islam is to simply flip in the other direction completely thereby reproducing the very psycho dynamics she wants to renounce. Now she idealizes Israelis and demonizes Islam. In pyschology, Ms Sultan, I am sure knows, this is called the defense mechanism of "Splitting" defined as a " Primitive defense mechanism-when a person sees external objects or people as either "all good" or "all bad"." The extremeness of the reversal, the good becomes the bad and the bad becomes the good, reveals a very disturbed personality. I would not trust her just because, untreated, she is very likely to reverse back again renouncing everything she said and creating herself an opposite position.
What she engages in is not political discourse, but the discourse of the mentally ill. I think we are all advised to not take her seriously.
#13Lama, what you say is contradicted by Sultan's own statements included in the post:
...You would be surprised if you knew how many people in Syria believe what I believe. Using fake names, and behind the scenes, they are supporting me. Because you are risking your life and the life of your family. Everyone is looking to the free world to get them out of their prison.
When Muslims say, there are 1.3 billion of them, it makes it sound like they are the whole world. But the rest of the world is 5 billion. Muslims are a minority and they have to act like it. Those Muslims have no choice of religion, they are forced to be Muslim. Give those 1.3 billion Muslims freedom of religion, and then see how many Muslims there are in the world!
So much for your statement that she's saying Muslims are "all bad."
Now let me ask you a couple of questions:
Do you agree that anyone who intentionally kills civilians in a restaurant or other public place in the name of Islam, is lost to Islam and no longer deserves the name of Muslim? Or do you believe that such people are rewarded with virgins in heaven?
#14There is not any religion in the world which teaches violence. All religions give some way or path to its follower. This concept about Islam is also wrong that it favours violance. It teaches that to kill a man is like killing a whole mankind.
There is need to respect all religions. The violance in the world is due to us, not due to religions.
Religion is an important part of life. We cant ignore it.
everyone in the world should try for peace and humanity on individual level. We should not wait for some revolution at country level or world level. We need to change ourselves. Look beside you, dont ignore poors which are near by you, speak well to your servents, be honest in your duties, try for the betterment of yourself and the people around you, stick to a path which u think is right..
Be a good man, everything in the world will be alright.
#15Welcome to the site, Eagle. I have quoted your comment, and replied to it, in a new post, here.
I've seen video clips of Wafa Sultan in debate with an Islamic cleric and she is really tough on them. Tough like they deserve for the abuse of human rights in those countries where it is the primary religion.
The only difficulty that I have in supporting her directly is the fact that she backlashes against all religions to some extent with a mentality that blames religion in general for the world problems. That view I cannot accept.
Did anyone ask her to speak about the influence of other religions during this presentation?