I met Abdul at a conference on Muslim thought. I've only attended the one talk on Muslim criticism of Christianity. The 90 minute monologue gave me a headache. He thinks it's "very interesting" that it gave me a headache. He says it in this hungry way that makes me think "He's like these evangelicals that think you're getting convicted whenever they've managed to annoy the hell out of you."

But he wants to talk, so we stop for a little coffee and chat. He's very down on the decadence of the West.

"If we were to adopt your American ideals in our countries, what would the total erosion of our culture?"

"Our country wasn't founded to secularize us or take away our religion. It was founded to keep the cultural traditions of our religion and our families from being dictated by government."

"But your Constitution is not protecting you from that now. It is used to allow your government to secularize your culture, to teach the children a different morality, to teach the government's truth."

"Yes, that's true."

"Your country's pluralism is just an excuse to rob you of your culture and your morality."

"I know. But it doesn't have to be that way."

"If you want the Muslim world to believe that, you'll have to show them. You are the experiment, and it is failing."

fairness and citizenship

Beware when a politician sells a policy with "fairness" or "citizenship" or "infrastructure."

When you hear these words, put one hand over your wallet and one hand over your butt, because he's going after both.