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A review by kevin_shepherd
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
5.0
I don't think Malala Yousafzai is going to have a long life, and the sadness of that probability is overwhelming. She is a remarkable, lovable human being who had the courage, instilled by her equally remarkable father, to speak out for decency and educational equality. But the same faith that sustained her spawned the degenerates that tried to kill her. This isn't intended as an indictment of Islam, but rather a condemnation of totalitarian fundamentalism, no matter what guise it assumes.
The idealist in me wants to believe that Malala's love of physics and history and journalism will continue to inspire new and progressive ideologies in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world. But the realist in me, the part of me living under a demagogue who uses faith to control and manipulate his supporters, knows that religious states favor blind obediance over education, and Malala Yousafzai (thankfully) is anything but obedient.
The idealist in me wants to believe that Malala's love of physics and history and journalism will continue to inspire new and progressive ideologies in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world. But the realist in me, the part of me living under a demagogue who uses faith to control and manipulate his supporters, knows that religious states favor blind obediance over education, and Malala Yousafzai (thankfully) is anything but obedient.