Who Is Irshad Manji?

I've know about and read Irshad Manji for a few years now. On October 12 she wrote a blog post on her site titled: Why I love Prague — and Elie Wiesel

Here are a few excerpts from her post:


You see, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum had just opened, and as the original chair of the project, Professor Wiesel joined President Clinton on stage. The professor used this platform to compel the president into action, arguing that something — anything — must be done about the slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia.

Some of his fellow Jews criticized Elie Wiesel for capitalizing on this hallowed forum to raise the Bosnia problem. But Elie Wiesel wielded moral courage as his personal compass. He told his detractors that the museum itself is not a sacred site, and that “Jews do not have the right to be silent” when “men are dying, when innocent people are subjected to rape and torture, when cities are being transformed into cemeteries.”

Jews do not have the right to be silent. Wow. Instructive words for a Muslim woman who would, less than a decade later, have a similar message for her tribe.

Gandhi, a Hindu, taught Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian, about the virtues of soul force and non-violent resistance.

Another teacher of Reverend King was Lillian Smith, a white, Southern woman whom fellow liberals smeared as an extremist for her outspoken opposition to segregation. She embraced that smear, arguing that in times of moral crisis, moderation is cop-out. You must be an extremist — of love.

pluralists — people who appreciate multiple perspectives and truths

relativists --people who will fall for anything because they stand for nothing

Irshad is Director of the Moral Courage Project at New York University. It aims to develop leaders who will challenge political correctness, intellectual conformity and self-censorship. In the best spirit of liberal education, the Moral Courage Project teaches that rights come with responsibilities, that we are citizens rather than members of mere tribes, and that meaningful diversity embraces different ideas and not just identities.

(I disagree with only ONE statement she makes in the video I am posting: her use of the term "occupied territories" However, I feel this woman champions for peaceful coexistance and shares my strong values for the same. Please give her some of your time.)