Another Sudan Rant

Although the Sudanese decision to jail a British schoolteacher might not be the most, I dunno, sexy thing to write about, I'm going to give my take on it.

Something like a thousand Sudanese Muslims protested, of all things, the Sudanese tribunal's not to kill this schoolteacher. Imagine that, a thousand strong mad that a woman wasn't KILLED for mistakenly naming a freakin' teddy bear Mohammed at the urging of her students. And she's the one who's being accused of polluting the childrens' minds. Huh? Shouldn't the mob be after the kids for naming the damned bear Mohammed? Wait, I probably shouldn't write that, that might be next on the mob's agenda.

I like to consider myself both liberal and religious, which, for some on both the left and the right, might seem like socio-political anathema, but I digress. My religious values inform my thoughts on policy decisions, but I think that it's limited to the extent that it comports with, say, my economic thoughts and my understand of the American legal system at large. The reason, if you have to know it, is that I believe God gave me a freakin' brain for a (or, to) reason. Ignoring what makes sense, for me, is akin to ignoring something that Jesus guy said, you know?

The reason that I went into that discussion is this: I feel very frustrated by the Sudanese situation. Muslims and Muslim countries gave us great things like algebra, our numbering system, and great advances in mathematics. Like everyone else, Arab and Muslims generally are very bright, thinking people, contrary to what the popular conservative media would tell you. So, this insanity blows my mind. I've been told by some servicemen and women who've come back from abroad that Muslim extremism is more about cultural hegemony that religious ferver: there are powerful Muslim clerics out there who demand that you believe as they do. Poor people, some of whom, if given the choice would not be Muslim, are forced to comply and aid, even to the point of violence.

I wonder if that's the case here. If it is, I sincerely hope that there is a counter-extremism revolution, one that can comprehend both faith and reason.

With all that said, I worry about the United States falling into a comparable Christian-extremism. That, my friends, will be discussed sometime later.

Discussion in the comments thread, as usual.