In Monday’s RNS report, Katherine Boyle talks to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has been called an “infidel,” and doesn’t mind a bit: Controversial author and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not afraid to say what she thinks. But, after receiving a number of death threats, the slender, soft-spoken Somali native decided to travel with two bodyguards, just in case. The men stand outside the door as Hirsi Ali discusses her recently released book, “Infidel,” which details her escape from an arranged marriage in Somalia, election to the Dutch Parliament and her women’s rights advocacy. Hirsi Ali’s criticism of Islam in public statements and in the autobiography has caused many devout Muslims to condemn her, making the bodyguards a necessity. “People kept telling me, `You’re an infidel, you’re an infidel, you’re an infidel,”‘ Hirsi Ali says. “Yes, I’m an infidel, and I’m proud of it.”
Boyle also reviews a new book that explores sports, Sabbath and shopping on Sunday: Sunday celebrations vary greatly across America-although, for some, church services and sporting events are observed with nearly equal fervor. Author and Brigham Young University professor Craig Harline explores the origins and current state of the first day of the week in his new book, “Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Superbowl,” which will be released in March. “The topic resonated with me right away,” Harline says. “There’s a constant debate, implicit and explicit, on whether (people are) to rest (on Sunday) or whether that rest includes play.”
Nancy Haught looks at groups that are using a new film about Wilberforce to combat modern slavery: Slavery is not dead, and neither is the campaign to kill it. A new generation of abolitionists hopes that a sweeping historical epic now in theaters will help boost their ranks. The movie “Amazing Grace” has inspired The Amazing Change (http://www.theamazingchange.com), a global campaign that unites several abolitionist groups, including the International Justice Mission (http://www.ijm.org) and Free the Slaves (http://www.freetheslaves.net). One of their biggest hurdles, abolitionists say, is overcoming the general notion that slavery no longer exists.
