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Submit Your Reflection about "Reflections of a British Muslim Extremist."

Islamic Fanaticism (February 11, 2008)
I just want to say millions of thank yous. In a time of separation and untruths this program was so on time. Some of the statements brought me to tears. I am a Muslim covert of over 40 years. I was Methodist and converted during the 60's when their was so much hope and promise that the USA was going to finally include everyone. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Your programs are one of my favorite. Hopefully we will all sit at the table as one where God has provided enough for us all.

Aliyah Kareem
Odum, GA (WABR, 91.1 FM)

Double Standard (February 10, 2008)
After listening to this show, I went to your archives and listened to "Religion In a Time of War" from 2003. The premise Krista takes with a Westerner who justifies war (Jean Bethke Elshtain), and her interview today with a former Muslim radical, is revealing. When interviewing pro-war Americans, the discussion is always an intellectual struggle over the pros and cons of dropping bombs on people. But with fundamentalist Muslims, the discussion always begins with the premise that their acts of war are immoral, and ends with a narrative of how they grew to reject their violent past.

These two interviews reveal a bias that is understandable, given that SOF is a Western show with a Western audience. But it gets old. To mix things up, I would appreciate hearing more religious Muslims on the show speaking eloquently in defense of the insurgency in Iraq, for example, and more Westerners who disavow their prior service in the military as immoral. In other words, turn the tables.

Jim Winkle
Minneapolis, MN (KNOW, 91.1 FM)

A Daughter Too (February 10, 2008)
I want to give my thanks for Krista Tippett's interview with Ed Husain. I am not Muslim, but my husband's family is, so I have long had a very personal interest in the Islamic world. Hearing about Ed Husain's spiritual and political journey was most inspiring and I was riveted to the interview throughout, but I was most profoundly touched when he began speaking of his new daughter. I, too, have a wonderful daughter we named Kamilla, for much the same reason Ed talked about. She is currently a university student and has been very active in an organization promoting understanding between people across all kinds of barriers — religion, race, gender. Congratulations to Ed for his new little Kamilla and thank you for the tears of appreciation and connection this interview brought to me.

Ingrid Hassen
Takoma Park, MD (WAMU, 88.1 FM)

Islamist Antisemitism Comes from the West (February 10, 2008)
I wonder if Ed Husain realizes that the whole idea of Jewish/Zionist conspiracies comes from Medieval Christian Europe. It does not come from Islam at all. Islamists quote from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forgery created by the czar's secret police force in the early 1900s, but do they know or care where the ideas in it come from? That is just one example.

There is also much more antisemitism in the Christian population of the UK than in America. I'm not sure why. I have never had a decent answer to why secular Britain has much more antisemitism than religious America. It was America and Europe that saved Muslims in the Balkans. It took us a while to wake and do something, but in the end it was the West that saved them. Ed Husain has no knowledge of Jewish history or the development of Zionism. Therefore, he has no way to understand what Zionism is or how it developed. He is very wrong to compare Zionism to Islamism.

Susan Stein
Philadelphia, PA (WHYY, 91.0 FM)

Take to Class (February 10, 2008)
An excellent interview that I will take to my Intercultural class where we are studying world views. Beyond that, the show was informative in a positive and revealing manner that more Americans need to hear.

Alyce Grover
Eubank, KY (WEKF, 90.9 FM)

Ed Husain Psyche (February 10, 2008)
Did you even hear what your interviewee, Ed Husain, was saying? It's apparently ok for people to murder others — just not within his "moderate" idea of "Islam" that he so wishes for. How can anyone let statements like that pass without acknowledging the unreasonable quality of it? His interview was full of outright lies and you, unfortunately, aren't capable of understanding when it happens. Incidentally, most people understand the Islamic "psyche" very well. It is dogmatic, uncompromising, and extremely dangerous. Please start having the only intellectually involved people regarding so-called "faith" involved with your program. Namely, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. Create some credibility for your program.

Shawn Ristvedt
Hawley, MN (KCCM, 90.9 FM)

Unedited Interview (February 9, 2008)
Thank you so much for this remarkable and deeply illuminating interview. Since you asked, I am letting you know that it is particularly remarkable for me to hear the unedited version. It is a very intimate and "down to earth" feeling to "listen in" on your conversation as opposed to hearing the edited presentation. I am grateful for this opportunity. I do also go back and check out the full clips of the music that I would have heard if I had listened to the edited version. : -)

George Kormendi
New York, NY (WNYC, 93.9 FM)

Old Movie Has New Meaning (February 9, 2008)
A thread of the impact of 9/11 runs through SOF. Many shows seemed to have their genesis in the deep mysteries that arose from that day. I just watched the movie Godspell that came out in 1973 fully expecting it to be a trip down memory lane to a younger day, for I graduated high school in 1973. Our church is showing several movies as part of a "gospel" project. Little did I know I would be moved in a powerful way with many questions about the what ifs — the deep spiritual what ifs when faith becomes real in the lives of individuals, people of faith, and nations.

The movie is set in NYC. The twin towers are only briefly seen in the beginning, but later they provide a very powerful backdrop to particular songs and teachings in the movie. A director of today could not have timed it more prophetically to talk to us today about the place of God in the challenges of life and what we are called for. There was a song added to the movie that is not in the album and it too seems to have a message, not as powerful as the actual Bible lessons, but eerily foreshadowing of possibilities of something greater than the tragedy arising from 9/11 if we had the courage. In an ironic way, a movie that has silly, joyful costumes and dancing urges the viewer today, unbeknownst to the producers and actors of yesterday to transform the adolescence of faith into a mature, deep faith that dares us to make it real, and the light it reflects real, in places and times where it may not seem possible. It's worth watching it again and gathering people for reactions, particularly those involved in its creation or others who may be able to make sense of it all.

Jane Merrithew
Rumney, NH (WNYC, 93.9 FM)

Outlying Questions Need to be Answered First (February 9, 2008)
I think the interview with Ed Husain was as interesting for what it left out, as for what it put in. For instance, when approaching the issue of his baby daughter, and the world in which she will be raised, he focused upon the issue of Islam vs England. However, it seems to me the two will never be reconciled as indeed the Islamic world can never be reconciled with the West, until the underlying misogyny inherent in islamic culture is addressed. Some of the more horrific traditions from which the West recoils are those directed against women, which are not directed against men. The very parable of the man burying his daughter, about which Mr. Husain speaks, touches upon this sensibility. He of course then goes on to say that God will forgive such brutality. But if this is so, then where is the justice that Islam proclaims, not to mention the justice required of democratic societies? He is obviously very courageous, with the book and the interview. But I would hope that as a father of a daughter whose future is at least in some part in his hands, he will help her to be appreciated for her femininity, rather than in spite of it.

Carole Bahou
New York, NY (WNYC, 93.9 FM)

Neuroscience and Fundamentalism (February 8, 2008)
Please consider doing a show with the authors of a recent article about neuroscience and fundamentalism. The article's gist: the evolving and growing complexity of the human brain allowed our ancestors the ability to question, wonder, and consider new possibilities — to be creative. Life-altering advances were the result. Is unconditional adherence to religious belief at odds with this evolved capability and our full potential as creative beings?

Russ Donda
Gainesville, FL (Listens to SOF OnDemand)