I am a Nizari Ismaili, and hold that the Aga Khan is the direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through his daughter Fatima (PBUH) and his cousin/son-in-law Ali (PBUH). The New York Times ran a decent story yesterday on the Aga Khan and his humanitarian efforts. I don’t call it philanthropy, because according to the Imam: I am fascinated and somewhat frustrated when representatives of the western world — especially the western media — try to describe the work of our Aga Khan Development Network in fields like education, health, the economy, media, and the building of social infrastructure.…
That’s a great article, and it brings up something I have said often in the past–the sadism that brings people to commit violent acts is prior to any religious or theological concept created to justify it. It’s not that religious people are violent, it’s that violent people have learned to hide behind religion.
I’ve elaborated a bit on my own blog. Incidentally, have you been invited to the Progressive Faith Blog Con?