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2015 MIDWINTER MEETING HIGHLIGHTS COGNOTES • 3

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Calls for Questioning, Enlightenment

By Kacee Anderson, Harmony Science Academy

The Arthur Curley Lecture Series featured Ayaan Hirsi Ali on January 31, focusing on the universal need for individual freedom and questioning. As a well-known politician, activist, and advocate for women's rights, Hirsi Ali opened by reading from her novel Infidel, in which she recalled her reaction to 9/11 as she watched on CNN in Holland (see video at right). “I remember praying in Somali, ‘Oh, Allah, please, please let it not be Muslims who did this. I knew this could ignite a major conflict.'”

After talking about the attacks with others, Hirsi Ali described her intellectual awakening. She began to question herself: “Which side was I on? Was this really Islam? Did Islam permit, even call for, this kind of slaughter? Did I as a Muslim approve of this attack? And if I did not, where did I stand on Islam?” Such difficult questions were not easily answered.

Hirsi Ali noted that the need for this type of questioning started early with her first experiences in libraries. She talked about going to libraries in Somalia, reading whatever books were available. Books were rare. Libraries were rare. Good schools were rare. Ethical and moral training on some level came from those books. “Had I not had that seeding of my intellectual life, I don't know if I would have been capable of questioning that day.”

Hirsi Ali called for people to begin addressing moral dilemmas from a non-religious standpoint, stating that all people need to consciously start to promote the ideas of the enlightenment important to Western civilization.

After receiving a wide range of responses to Infidel, Hirsi Ali learned that the “collective” inhibits individuals and individual expression by varying degrees. She discussed her experiences with the “collective” growing up and her own evolution as an individual. In her own writing, she cares about the message and expressing herself in the best way possible in her fourth language [English]. “I should be able to express myself without fear that I am going to be punished for it.”

Hirsi Ali believes that everything begins with open discussion. Through the exchange of ideas we can make this world a better place without resorting to the military.

In Hirsi Ali's forthcoming book Heretic (March 2015), she calls for a Muslim Reformation, identifying five key amendments to Islamic doctrine that must be made in order to break from seventh-century traditions and fully engage with the 21st century.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF9dv5BnpUc&feature=youtu.be


Segel: Nightmares Simply Gatekeepers to Dreams

By Brad Martin, LAC Group

How does someone who suffered from night terrors as a child overcome his fears and grow up to be well-known as an actor, comedian, and screenwriter?

The answer has informed Jason Segel for much of his life and served as the inspiration for his 2014 book Nightmares! The first in a trilogy, Nightmares! helps young readers understand that what frightens them can also be seen as the key to overcoming. “Nightmares are the gatekeepers to our dreams,” he said.

Segel's mother enrolled him in an acting class, and that helped him face his fears of being shy and feeling different. This class exposed Segel to a group of kids who were like him, and it wasn't long before his nightmares subsided. “Nightmares are telling us that we are afraid of something and we need to face it,” he said.

Segel, the first to appear in the Auditorium Speaker Series January 31, chatted onstage with Angela Carstensen, head librarian and an upper school librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. He revealed his early influences, which include Roald Dahl and Tim Burton. They addressed “a part of the human condition I really relate to: that there's been a mistake and we are meant for much more.”

Drawing distinction between reading books and watching television and movies, Segel said that reading books forces the reader to be creative and to use the imagination, whereas watching TV and movies encourages a much more passive response, and to believe that “what you are really good at is to sit and watch. We are meant for more than just sitting and receiving. Kids are smart.”

Segel was asked to talk a little about Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic, the forthcoming book in the trilogy. It was inspired by the way people are encouraged to deal with their problems through things like drugs and entertainment. “There are a lot of influences out there telling you to numb your nightmares, but what happens is that it also numbs your dreams,” he said.


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