Secular Islam Summit
Secular Islam Summit was an international forum for secularists of Islamic societies, held in March 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida, organized and sponsored by the Center for Inquiry, a global federation committed to science, reason, free inquiry and secularism, in partnership with the International Intelligence Summit, a non-partisan and neutral forum that brings together members of the international intelligence community to discuss issues of terrorism.[1]
The summit was broadcast live on CNN's Glenn Beck program.[2]
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[edit] St. Petersburg Declaration
On March 5 delegates to the summit released a public manifesto calling for reform within Islam. The text, known as the St. Petersburg Declaration, urged Islamic societies to reject sharia law and fatwa courts, and to accept freedom of religion and the equality of all citizens under the law.
Those who signed the declaration included Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan, and Ibn Warraq, among others
[edit] Criticism
The summit was criticised by the Muslim group Council on American-Islamic Relations for being organized and attended by non-Muslims instead of by secular Muslims. CAIR also pointed out that the speakers were far-right neoconservatives, who were hostile to Islam and claimed that there was no such thing as moderate Islam rather than proposing reform.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Kuwait News Agency Feb 2007 First "Secular Islam Summit" to convene early next month in Florida
- ^ Washington Post March 17 2007
- ^ Fighting for the Soul of Islam, U.S. News & World Report
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Newsweek article coverage of Secular Islam Summit
- Kuwait News Agency
- Washington Post A more Islamic Islam Article by Cair keynote speaker
- Cnn Glenn Beck Video interview of Wafa Sultan on Secular Islam Summit
- Toronto Sun:Pulling Muslims from Dark Age
- US News and Word report: Fighting for the soul of Islam
- Wall Street Journal: Islam's other radicals
