As I sat down at on my couch the other night, I watched the inspiring story of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. If you don’t know her story it is an inspiring one. Hirsi Ali, a Muslim, was raised in Somalia, and moved to Saudi Arabia at the age of 8. She then moved to Ethiopia before settling in Kenya.
Her father was a progressive man, and insisted that she be fully educated. It was this education that led to her first feelings of freedom, individualism and joy. She learned to read and speak English at a young age, and speaks it VERY beautifully today (along with 6 other languages). Hirsi Ali became enamored with the Nancy Drew series of books, and longed to be like Nancy… to have adventure, to have freedoms, to speak her mind and to choose her love.
Hirsi Alli was on her way to marry her distant cousin, in an arranged marriage she did NOT look forward to, when she stopped in the Netherlands and applied for political asylum in 1992. She wanted to be a ’Westerner’. She worked various jobs, including one role as an interpreter. Hirsi Ali, for the next 10 years, came into contact with all sorts of people, young and old, male and female, happy and sad, religious and atheist, Christian and Agnostic. And many other muslims. Her faith in Islam began to decline, and her disenfranchisement from her former life became complete when she read the Atheist Manifesto in 2002, after recently listening to Osama Bin Laden justify the murder of 3,000 humans on September 11, 2001.
Today, Hirsi Ali travels under armed-guard. She is afraid for her life because of her out-spoken political stances against Islam, Mohammed, Alla and faith in general. In 2004, Hirsi Ali wrote a movie called, “Submission”, which was directed by Theo Van Gogh. Van Gogh was murdered by a militant muslim, Mohammed Bouyeri, who also threatened to kill Hirsi Ali.
Her life is in danger, and yet she does not back down. She does not quiet herself. She boldy moves forward, with absolute clarity that her actions will CREATE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE among the believers in Islam, and believers in general. And she knows in her heart that this is done in the name of liberty, justice, and most importantly, reason.
I was so impressed by her speech (which you can find at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuaMHiMsRuY) that I decided I HAD to reach out. I had to rock the boat. I had to create a little cognitive dissonance of my own. It is in the name of Ayaan Hirsi Ali that we dedicate this site. And hopefully we’ll be able to use it to help you create a little cognitive dissonance in YOUR life and the lives of those around you.
Stay Tuned!
Ben Barnett
