Tariq Ahmad, a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston wrote an OpEd in the NY Times giving what he thinks is the solution to solving the problem of radical Islam.

He states: “The reality is that many Muslims are secular. We do not pray five times a day, do not read the Koran and have not spent much time inside a mosque. We only turn to Islam when a child is born, someone gets married or someone dies. To defeat the threat of radical Islam, I suggest that the answer lies among the people who are the least Muslim.”

Dr Zhudi Jasser the narrator of the film The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America, who unlike Tariq Ahmad considers himself a devout Muslim, believes that the answer lies with those members of the Muslim faith who believe that religion and state should be kept separate.

What do you think the answer is?

Yesterday it was announced that Rifqa Bary is to be sent back to Ohio. But not so fast. There will be another hearing when/if her immigration documents are found. This story of a girl who at the age of 17 ran away from home for fear of an honor killing because she converted to Christianity is getting more and more complicated.

No doubt, Rifqa has become a poster child. Rifqa represents freedom of religion- the right to choose your faith. She also represents a clash of cultures within the immigrant population.

It is a very touchy case. On one hand in general we should be able to put our trust in parents and assume they are not out to hurt their daughter. It could be that Rifqa is an anguished teen, perhaps on the dramatic end of the scale. On the other hand, Rifqa is living in the United States and feels that she will be under direct threat if returned home to her parents. Plus she is almost 18. There is a general consensus amongst those who feel she should be kept in Florida as her parents would ship her off to Sri Lanka at the first available opportunity, which would very likely result in her death.

If you were the judge what would you do? Do her parents have the right to at least prove themselves to be good parents or does her fear of being killed trump all else? Let’s exercise our free speech and get the conversation going.

In Saudi Arabia, a man is entitled to slap his wife if he feels that she has spent too much money.

Associated Press reports:

“A Saudi judge told a conference on domestic violence that a man has the right to slap a wife who spends money wastefully and said women were as much to blame as men for increased spousal abuse, a Saudi newspaper reported. Read more…