Gateway Pundit Reports from Secular Islam Summit (UPDATE)

UPDATE1:** No surprise really- Sharp attacks against this Secular Islam Summit are now hitting the internet.** I just heard that there was another Muslim organization that is holding their own summit across town after hearing about this secular Islam Summit.
CAIR may be the organizers for this "opposition" summit.
There were also rumors that CAIR may be protesteing this secular Islam conference. (why am I not surprised!!!)

Jim from Gateway Pundit:

Day 1: Sunday March 4, 2007
Author Ibn Warraq led off the summit today.
Senior Research Fellow

His prepared speech is titled:Enlightenment Rather than Reformation
The root cause fallacy:Islamic Terrorism is not caused by:
- Povery
- The War in Iraq
- Colonialism
- Slavery

Ibn Warraq - a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry specializing in Koranic criticism.How to bring about enlightenment:
-Defend universal human rights
-Defend out values, Western values: maintain seperation of church and state

What Western Nations can do:
-Iran's influence has been enormous
- the present regime must be toppled
- help students, trade unionists, and dissidents

Universal Human RightsCreation of Human Rights Centers
-Push for the resturcturing of the UN Human Rights Commission:* it is far too political* unable to criticise Sudan in the south* Commerorate genocide of Christians in Turkey
Defend the rights of non-Muslims, Apostates, and Atheists
Defend the rights of Women

Criticism of Islamic States, Statesmen and mullahs:
-Fatwas: In the west we must be able to take mullahs to court
-More assertiveness in taking Muslim leaders to task
-Demand the rewriting of Saudi testbooks preaching hatred of the West
-Fund exhibitions in Museums of Pre-Islamic Civilizations of Iran, Iraq, and North Africa

Why do they hate us? ...Because they are taught to hate us!
We Must Defend our Values
Defend Western Civilizationa

What we can do:
Trade union must suppory their counterparts in Islamic countries, as well as:
- Womens groups- Homosexuals- Humanists must support Human Rights workers in jail in Islamic countries

What the State can do:
-Fund Ex-Pat Secular groups (eg: Iranian groups such as not to political Islam)
- Defend rights of women
- No to female genital mutilation
- No to segregation of Muslim girls from school activities
- No to segregation of Muslim girls in public swimming pools
- No to forced marriages against girl's wishes
- All women must be protected of the state

More on "Faith Without Fear" from Irshad's website- Muslim Refusnik:

Irshad Manji is the internationally best-selling author of The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in her Faith.

Through a new lens, this questioning Muslim takes a journey to reconcile her faith in Allah with her love of freedom. Along the way, she reveals the personal risks — emotional and physical — that come with such an urgent mission. The result is FAITH WITHOUT FEAR.

Trekking through the Arabian peninsula, Manji speaks with Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, who explains why he’s willing to turn his young son into a martyr. She also engages a California convert to Islam who now lives in Yemen and says that by covering her body and face, she’s exercising American-style freedom of religion. But is it really freedom if you’ll be punished for not covering? Manji meets one Yemeni woman who faces a steep price for rejecting the rules. Through them, Manji discovers what she thinks has corrupted a religion of justice to become an ideology of fear. She can relate: Her own home has bullet-proof windows.

Why Irshad does what she does?Because...Courage is not the absence of fear...Courage is the recognition that some things are more important than fear."I have a call to head my conscience no matter who is affected."