"changing the face of Islam"

From around the blogsphere:

Living Tradition writes:

Anyone who doesn't believe that the gov't is pouring tons of money and time into the so-called "reformist" movement "within" Islam is naive or blind or both. Anyone who thinks the Rand report was a nice piece of reading, but that it has nothing to do with current so-called "reformist" movements or gov't spending and activity is naive, blind, or a liar.

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From the Ninetnine Network: Who's Amina Wadud?

Yes, I agree with Dr. Wadud about issues of separation overkill between brothers and sisters. Some brothers do seem to make a display of their piety for the sake of other brothers, yet probably manage quite well mixing it up on their jobs or in university classrooms. And, as an African American, I'm as sick as she is about the racism among Muslims.

Yet, why does this groundswell of attention and focus on Dr. Wadud seem so manufactured? She is a learned Muslim, granted, and I do get the feeling that she sees this as a kind of calling. However, I believe Amina Wadud's campaign is a divisive diversion. It seems as calculated as what I imagine takes place in the newsroom at CNN when they're deciding what will be news and what will get barely a mention. The Schiavo woman is a huge story, Iraq gets the backburner coverage. Understandably, CNN's goal is to keep the attention off the fact that two years down the road things are not turning out as the architects of the invasion of Iraq had planned.
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I clearly don't get why Amina Wadud and The Progressive Muslim Union of North America have chosen these issues but I do see what they have in common. None of these issues serves nor brings together the Muslim community. To the glee of the American power structure, they do just the opposite.

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