European Children Are Educated In A Narrative

I'd Love To Go And Visit The Mosque In Mecca Again, Just For The Sheer Beauty Of It, Not For God - Much The Way A Non-catholic Might Go To Vatican City Because Of The Beauty Of The Buildings And The Artifacts.

It Was Friday, July 24, 1992, When I Stepped On The Train. Every Year I Think Of It. I See It As My Real Birthday: The Birth Of Me As A Person, Making Decisions About My Life On My Own. I Was Not Running Away From Islam, Or To Democracy. I Didn't Have Any Big Ideas Then. I Was Just A Young Girl And Wanted Some Way To Be Me; So I Bolted Into The Unknown.

In A Well-functioning Democracy, The State Constitution Is Considered More Important Than God's Holy Book, Whichever Holy Book That May Be, And God Matters Only In Your Private Life.

What I Find Daunting Always Is To Stand On A Stage And Talk To People, Whether They Agree With Me Or Not.

It Is Easy To Be Disgruntled If You Are Denied Rights And Freedoms To Which You Feel Entitled. But If You Are Not Coherent, If You Cannot Put Into Words What It Is That Displeases You And Why It Is Unfair And Should Change, Then You Are Dismissed As An Unreasonable Whiner. You May Be Lectured About Perseverance And Patience, Life As A Test, The Need To Accept The Higher Wisdom Of Others.