User talk:Prekladator: Difference between revisions

Good morning [[User:Prekladator|Prekladator]]. First off I want to take the time to acknowledge your contributions to the site and to the debunking of Islamic apologetics in general. You are completely correct that Islamic apologetic arguments need to be answered and where false debunked. This is important work, and I once again thank you for it. And I understand your frustration with the opaqueness of the process. It is a problem we recognize and are working right now to fix. We do need to be transparent with the community with what we are doing, and I thank you for underlining the urgency of this. Finally I also want to answer your objection to the "WikiExIslam" site idea. I want to reiterate that this is a working title, and it will be changed. I myself am not an ExMuslim and have spent years of my life studying Islam and yes arguing with its proponents. The name of the site is in no way to imply that never-Muslims like you and I have no place in the criticism of Islam.

As for our process, I want to offer some transparency here. The issue is NOT that we are bowing to political correctness in seeking to reform the language and content here. Rather the issue is that we are seeking a degree of academic validity. We want WikiIslam to be a place where specialists - news media, fact checkers and academics who study Islam - will participate, offer expertise and take advantage of the resources here on offer. Although we understand (and perhaps even sympathize with) the reason for the existence of articles such as "The Tragedy of Aisha" or "The Non-Miracle of Solar Flares in the Qur'an" it must be understood that no credible academic will put their name to a project with material such as this, nor would academics consult an encyclopedia with such material. We understand the moral revulsion and incredulity sparked by Islamic scriptures, dogma, doctrine, and claims of revelation and miracles, however, we here at ExMNA believe that the problems inherent Islamic history, scripture, doctrines and beliefs are sufficient to speak for themselves. Invective and inflammatory rhetoric are not necessary to deal with them, but rather make it easier for those seeking to dismiss a critical understanding of Islam to do so. Where polemic or rhetoric might be called for, we will have a site (which will not be WikiExIslam, despite the tentative internal name) which will provide a home to this material. Let me be clear: although we wish to be even in tone, our site will be hosting and making public the devastating historical critiques of the Islamic origin narrative by such luminaries as Patricia Crone, Michael Cook, Gabriel Said Reynolds, and Stephen Shoemaker as well as highlighting original work by various writers, all while continuing to emphasize Islam’s traditional, Arabic sources.