ARTICLE: "The New Face of Islam: A critique of radicalism is building within the heart of the Muslim world," by Christopher Dickey and Own Matthews, Newsweek, 9 June 2008, p. 30.

Cool and big effort by Turkish scholars to contextualize, historically, the 170k known statements by the Prophet, known as the Hadith.

The goal? To stop the literal readings by fundamentalists to justify violence and separatism and resistance to the outside world.

Just like with Christ, you have to understand that the Bible's main books were all written for contemporary audiences, not today's world, so interpret or become captive to yesterday's logic, slowly twisted by history's advance.

We have judges do this with the Constitution. Same basic purpose and goal.

The literalists are dangerous in any religion. To me, it's pure escapism—a failure to communicate and a resistance to adaptation. Both are worth avoiding as we evolve.

So kudos to the Turks, who impress more and more even as Europe finds them still too weird to incorporate in the EU.

They should join the US instead.