Saturday, May 19, 2007
For once one of those spammy emails from The New Republic has me wanting to read:
Can you keep a secret? OK, there are no secrets on the Internet. But I am excited to divulge to you the first word of an intellectual explosion that The New Republic will case in our June 4 issue. Paul Berman has written a 28,000 word essay--an incendiary pamphlet, really--about the extraordinary -though exemplary- case of the Islamicist thinker Tariq Ramadan, who has become the darling of liberal commentators in Europe and increasingly also in the United States. Berman's essay is a detailed examination of not only of Ramadan's thought, but more generally of Islamicist thought since the 1920s--and more, of the bizarrely cordial reception that certain strands of Islamicist thought have recently found in the West. Berman's essay is erudite and vivid, a model of the history of contemporary ideas. And a model also of the battle of ideas: Berman has written a stirring defense of the liberal ideal against its enemies (and even against some of its friends)--an unforgettable call to intellectual responsibility. People will be arguing about it for a very long time. Do not miss it...
...PS: In his research for this essay, Berman unearthed a fascinating exchange on the stoning of women in Islam between Ramadan and Nicolas Sarkozy. You will certainly want to read this.
I'm actually looking forward to reading this.
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I share your anticipation. SignandSight.com availed its pages to a fascinating debate concerning Multiculturalism and its discontents, in which participated first-class European intellectuals, here: (http://www.signandsight.com/features/1167.html)
I think it is a good preparation for Berman's upcoming essay, for anyone interested in this subject. Especially notable in this regard is Pascal Bruckner's opinion piece in which Tariq Ramadan gets scrutinized:
"This is why I continue to prefer the position of Ayaan Hirsi Ali over that of Tariq Ramadan, even now that he has become a friend of tolerance and a prophet of anti-capitalism. In his laudatory portrait of Ramadan - that borders on hagiography despite minor reservations - Ian Buruma still manages to reveal some worrying traits in his new champion. I will refer to only one. While propagating the feminine sense of shame and recommending that Muslim women should abstain from shaking men's hands and using mixed swimming pools if they wish, Tariq Ramadan states that for his part, he does shake women's hands. Yes, you read it right: in 2007, a self-styled "progressive" Muslim preacher who has received the support of the entire French extreme Left for his anti-liberalism, pushes audaciousness to the point of admitting that he shakes women's hands. He should be named secretary of state for the condition of women!"
http://www.signandsight.com/features/1263.html
Sound, intellectually vital and rigorous critiques of Tariq Ramadan have great potential. In part, I'll have Benedict's Regensburg address in mind while reading Berman.
So am I Sol! This ought to be great. NOW, if only the book gets wide distribution in England : )
now available