Missionary positions

My email to Irshad Manji, author of The Trouble With Islam.

Irshad,

In Bette Davis’ words: Love! You!

I’m about halfway through The Trouble With Islam and, if I really wanted to start gushing I wouldn’t be able to say enough good things about it or the good work you’re doing. But gushing gets old for the gushee, so just realize there’s the potential for it, and we’ll leave it at that.

I’m writing because I made my way to your website and to a response you wrote to a letter from a fellow named Muhammad and was stopped in my tracks by the term "missionary atheists." Hey wait, what? I suppose the peremptory aspect I sensed in your response could be entirely the result of the mountain of emails you receive and answer, and you were simply processing one and quickly moving on to the next. But this use of the sort-of pejorative "missionary" comes from a person who is trying to bring together Muslims, Jews and Christians, who protested the Taliban’s toppling of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan, who is unquestionably inclusive and tolerant. But when it comes to atheists, she’s just "I don’t think so"? I anticipate your response to be that it’s not the atheism but the atheists who never let up on the proselytizing. Okay, but you yourself are a missionary, pushing an Islam in which every Muslim is encouraged to think responsibly for himself. And you yourself never let up. (Just ask the person nearest your desk. Their answer will probably involve some rolling of the eyes.) The missionary response is normal for a person who believes he has seen an important light. He automatically wants to share it with others. Please enlarge your tolerance to include the over-eager atheist. He is to you what you are to the mainstream Muslim.