Following up on that woman with balls:
Dr. Wafa Sultan is in hiding, fearful for her life and the safety of her family, after she lambasted the roots of radical Islam during a debate televised on Al-Jazeera last month.
Dr. Sultan is leading a struggle to create a new reality in the Islamic world, which she believes should be led by none other than the women it has oppressed for so long. Born in Syria and now a Los Angeles-based psychiatrist, Dr. Sultan has taken upon herself the mission of trying to change the way the Islamic world operates.
[...] My people are in the middle of nowhere lost and confused. Humanity’s caravan has passed them by and they are too far from catching it. By changing their way of thinking, I am changing their behavior and eventually their future.”
[...]
Dr. Sultan is determined to see her task through to fruition, despite its dangerous and difficult nature. “Most of the reactions from my readers and audience from all over the Islamic world to my writings and debates have been very positive and encouraging,” she explained passionately. “My task is absolutely not easy, but it is not impossible; it is a million-mile journey and I proudly believe that I have walked the very first and hardest ten miles. It may seem to others that it is too hard and too long but believe me, I can assure you that the point I have reached does not allow me to make any u-turns. I have opened the door for advancement. Everyone was asking himself who is going to do it, and I told myself it is me.”
Not just balls. BRASS balls. On the source of her safety worries, the NYT reports that:
In response, clerics throughout the Muslim world have condemned her, and her telephone answering machine has filled with dark threats. But Islamic reformers have praised her for saying out loud, in Arabic and on the most widely seen television network in the Arab world, what few Muslims dare to say even in private.
Dr. Sultan says she is
“working on a book that — if it is published — it’s going to turn the Islamic world upside down.”
“I have reached the point that doesn’t allow any U-turn. I have no choice. I am questioning every single teaching of our holy book.”
The working title is, “The Escaped Prisoner: When God Is a Monster.”
Did I say brass? I meant titanium.
(video of the al Jazeera interview that shamed editorial boards across the West can be seen here, and the transcript read here)
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[...] Induction-hardened titanium balls, the mere sight of which would make any editor at the Boston Phoenix curl up under a bed, clutching a Raggedy Ann doll. [...]