Islamarama

... and no, I would not hesitate to title a parallel post "Jumpin' Jehova-phat!" God and I are very down with spiffy nicknames for each other. His nickname for me is "Sinner in the Hands of an Angry Me", which I must admit is a conversation stopper.

Anyway, Tapped has a nice article on Irshad Manji's PBS special about Islam, and her relationship with her faith as public believer and critic. Ms. Manji was a light-subject TV journalist who began to explore her faith -- and the ramifications of what it's become and how it's perceived -- a few years back. I read The Trouble with Islam when it came out and found it informative and fresh. Ms. Manji didn't start out as an Islamic scholar, but most of us struggling with faith aren't religious scholars (don't even get me started on people who believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God but never read the bloody thing ...). She tackles the issue like a layman, in the way most of us deal with our own faiths. The Trouble with Islam is a distinctly Canadian book, and for the life of me I can't explain why I say that. Is there a similar book in which a devout Christian woman tackles the second-class status of women in American Evangelical Faith? I'm genuinely interested if there is.

Tying the above with this recommendation allows me the pretense of a theme and therefor an excuse for the above post title: the best "Hey, I'm an Irish Catholic Who Knows Nothing about Islam But I Should Be a-Learnin'" book I've read: No god but God by Reza Aslan. Simultaneously respectful and dryly honest about the history and evolution of Islam, I cannot recommend it highly enough. At the very least, I can now tell the difference between Shia and Sunni.

Be smart! Know stuff! The world depends on you!