A really fantastic start

Some days you hear something and, rather than just rolling your eyes and then having to go off to 'ventblog', you can smile and whoop for joy about progress. It doesn't happen very often, as if I thought the world was just going swimmingly and I could leave the people in charge to get on with it, I wouldn't actually be involved in politics at all.

The last time I felt such optimism was when I heard about the sensible effort of Ram FM in Israel; but now it is Turkey and it's efforts to produce a progressive Islam by having another look at the Hadiths.

This is fantastic, because it is in the Hadiths that the majority (although not all0 of the more misogynistic rules that blight the lives of so many women. In fact a blight on many men's lives as well.

This is a great start and I commend the brave people who have got the government of Turkey to take this move. Maybe there are cynical reasons behind Turkey doing this but, hey, on balance I think it is a good thing. Islam gets a lot of bad press that it doesn't deserve but not all the practices that we condemn countries like Saudi Arabia for are just cultural, some of them can be found in holy texts.

It's just the start and like the reformation will take many years to truly percolate through society. There will be battles ahead but it is a start!!! A start!!!

One of the commenters (is that a word?) in the BBC Have Your Say web site, says this:

"When will the world's people stop believing in fairly tales that were dreamt up thousands of years ago to control the masses and start thinking for themselves?"

Of course, I don't believe in god and religions either but I rather suspect it will be a while yet before I am joined in that belief by the majority. In the meantime I will find great hope in the fact the we are at the start of a very long journey that will make millions of men and women free from the misogyny and cruelty that can be found in so many of the Hadiths.

Hooray; what a day!!