[Dean's World] Dean: Ali Eteraz

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Posted by Dean:
Ali Eteraz
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1160364847.shtml


   A few months ago I declared a moratorium on adding any further Dean's
   World contributors. In two cases I was persuaded by friends to make an
   exception. I plan to make no further exceptions for at least six
   months, but the exceptions I made were as follows:

   Kevin Dombrowski: I was persuaded that I had not allowed enough
   evangelical Christian voices. I listened, and I invited Kevin on
   board.

   Ali Eteraz: I became persuaded that I had only allowed one
   terrorist-hating Muslim voice to be heard (Aziz Poonawalla), and that
   by so doing I had only made him a token--which was far from my intent.
   So invited Ali.

   And by the way, Ali is not here to be "Muslim Boy" or to answer every
   criticism you have of Islam. Rather, he is someone whom I have known
   for almost a year, who is a scintillating writer and a clear thinker.
   You may not always like him or agree with him. But he is no terrorist
   or terrorist apologist, and I hope you will treat him with respect.

   Indeed, I am humbled that he said "yes" when I asked him.

   Oh, and just in case anyone is asking for "balance" here? So far, when
   I look on the Dean's World contributor's list, I see:

   2 devout Muslims
   1 devout pagan
   1 devout Roman Catholic
   1 ex-Roman Catholic
   1 Evengelical/Bible Fundamentalist
   2 devout Atheists
   2 Orthodox Jews
   2 deists
   1 devout Secularist
   2-3 others non-specific

   You pagans may feel under-represented. But I otherwise challenge you
   to find a top-prated blog with this many different views represented
   without condescending to anyone.

   Welcome, Ali. I'm sure you're gonna shake things up.