Tariq Ramadan Discovers His Inner Flower Child

Tariq Ramadan

Stanford University senior Jonathan Gelbart, writing for Campus Watch, reports on a recent lecture there by Tariq Ramadan. His article appears at American Thinker:

Tariq Ramadan -- a member of the world’s most famous Islamist family, as the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan el-Banna -- spoke at Stanford University on April 12, 2011, in a lecture entitled, “The Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism.”

. . . Ramadan is a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University and despite his extensive writings on that subject, he adhered closely to the title of his talk, rarely mentioning religion until the question and answer session.

In the first of what would become a series of open-ended, philosophical questions, Ramadan began by asking the audience how to find meaning in the relatively short time they are given on earth. “What is the meaning [of all this]?” he asked rhetorically. After pausing for a moment, he added an unexpectedly blunt and morbid caveat: “One day you will not be able to pose that question -- because you are all going to die.” The audience responded with nervous laughter.

To read the entire article, please click here.

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Stanford University

Cinnamon Stillwell

Cinnamon Stillwell analyzes Middle East studies academia in West Coast colleges and universities for Campus Watch. A San Francisco Bay Area native and graduate of San Francisco State University, she is a columnist, blogger, and social media analyst. Ms. Stillwell, a former contributing political columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, has written on a wide variety of topics, including the political atmosphere in American higher education, and has appeared as a guest on television and talk radio.