America The Secure?

Back in 2007, presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a promise that as President of the United States he would never "turn a blind eye on slaughter." Indeed, this is the one promise no leader of the free world should ever fail to make and should never ever break. Candidate Obama clearly made it, then, as President, he repeatedly broke it. History will judge. This is not simply a stain on his legacy, this is a stain on his sense of humanity and honor. It is also a stain on ours for our failure to get him to act. History will not be kind to us as well. History cares little for our intentions.
Back in 2007, presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a promise that as President of the United States he would never “turn a blind eye on slaughter.” Indeed, this is the one promise no leader of the free world should ever fail to make and should never ever break. Candidate Obama clearly made it, then, as President, he repeatedly broke it. History will judge. This is not simply a stain on his legacy, this is a stain on his sense of humanity and honor. It is also a stain on ours for our failure to get him to act. History will not be kind to us as well. History cares little for our intentions.

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]any of the supporters of the Obama Doctrine are appalled by what is clearly a cynical policy of fear-mongering by the right, one that is more concerned with galvanizing the power-base than it is with explain the facts of the world we live into them. But, the supporters argue, while the world might indeed be going through a turbulent and violent phase right now, America is actually quite safe.

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سيرورة وصيرورة

إن كان ثمة إله، فلا يمكن له أن يتجلّى لنا، نحن الكائنات الناقصة والعاجزة عن استيعاب الكمال، إلا كسيرورة وصيرورة، فردية وجمعية. أما ما يعبد معظم الناس فلا يعدو عن كونه صنماً يمثّل أهوائهم ونرجسياتهم، وحجاباً يمنعهم عن رؤية حقيقة الله الكامنة فيهم والمنتشرة في كل ما حولهم، وقيداً يمسكهم عن السعي وراء الكمال، من خلال مراجعة التراث وتصحيح المسار، بحجّة أن الكمال قد أُعطي لهم، بل ولآبائهم من قبلهم، وأنه موجود بالفعل بين أيديهم، مع أن واقعهم لايشي إلا بالضياع والجهل والحاجة. لكنّ وهم الكمال عند الناس كوهم اليقين تماماً فما هو إلا سمّ زعاف يقتل العقل والمنطق فينعش المخاوف والأهواء.

سيرورة وصيرورة
سيرورة وصيرورة

 

Modernization & Perfectibility

Have-No-Fear

The Qur’an and other traditional religious texts may indeed contain verses that are objectionable by modern standards, but that does not mean that we can reduce all these texts to these verses. Beyond the arcane mythology and certain specific objectionable rulings, there is also much wisdom contained in these texts, wisdom that allows them to keep their followers inspired and capable of coping with the requirements of modern life provided that they can understand the true nature of the relationship between the specific and the general in these texts.

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