Islam has a long tradition of liberal thought, including Ibn Khaldun.
Today, we only really hear of the extremists and militants, the state sponsored violence in the Middle East and the extremist terrorists who use Islam as an excuse get all the press.
I was heartened to read an article by Michael Totten on TCS about a liberal Shia cleric in Lebanon - Sayyed Mohammad Ali El Husseini.
Here is a cleric who talks of peace and tolerance, who opposes dictatorship on the most liberal of grounds - it is simply a form of violence.
He has been threatened by Hezbollah and Iran, local journalists will not interview him because of the threat to their safety, but he keeps on preaching peace and tolerance.
