Tag, You're It!

It's Sunday morning, and I am running around the living room in my jogging suit, playing a game I don't know if it's called "tiger eat" or "tag you it"! When I ask my little girl, she tells me it's called "tagit." I like to know what game I am playing, just as I like to know about everything else, from poetry and sports to philosophy and history, and especially religion. Emphasizing religion, as completing a trinity of religions alongside Judaism and Christianity, Islam, being the youngest, is experiencing similar obstacles that are inevitable for progress and reform. Personally, my primary concern is the human rights abuses in Iran. The compatibility of Islam with democracy and human rights is a hotly debated topic within religious circles, and Islamic theologians are welcome to spend years debating it. Abuses in the name of Islam are unforgivable, and it is essential to question the morality of such actions. I believe that Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, needs reform. Since Muslims believe that the Quran cannot be reformed, perhaps it is the political influence of this religion and intervention in the personal lives of people by Islam's self-declared guardians that needs to be restricted. History has shown that only through the separation of religion and state can religion gain the dignity it deserves, and society can gain the freedom it needs to foster and safeguard the so-called "marketplace of ideas." Muslims can and should learn to channel their outrage and anger in more appropriate ways and respect the lives of people before considerations of religion, race, ideology, and sexual orientation.