TRIFECTA: MEET HEROIC MALALA YOUSAFZAI

The U.N. declared July 12 to be "Malala Yousafzai Day."  You can read about Malala's background here.

Addressing an assembly at the United Nations was an amazing way to celebrate her 16th birthday.  Sadly, many of her own countrymen and fellow Muslims were not impressed and, in fact, were highly cynical in their assumption that she is being exploited by the West.  Of course, it wasn't white men from the West who shot her in the head.  And it wasn't white men from the West who have forced an actress slated to portray Malala in a biopic to fear for her own life.

A member of the Taliban published a letter to Malala, ostensibly to explain why she deserved what happened to her.

The letter sent by a senior figure in the Pakistan Taliban to Malala Yousafzai setting out the case against her is an extraordinary document by any standards. It is an attempt to defend the indefensible – the attempted assassination of a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

In it, Adnan Rasheed deploys all the arguments he can think of, referencing Henry Kissinger (a Jew, he helpfully points out) and quoting Bertrand Russell on the way modern science might be manipulated – via diet and injections – to control populations. His letter complains that she is pushing UN propaganda, of promoting an education system that has no place for Islam and it wonders whether there would have been such an outcry if she had been injured in a US drone strike.

He knows his audience.

Apparently he does know his audience. Nevertheless, she has her defenders and admirers.  I certainly am one of those.  It's so easy to take an education for granted when it's not a matter of life or death.  I started watching the video out of curiosity but found I couldn't stop watching because it was such a well-done and inspiring speech.  I encourage everybody to watch the full speech below and pray for her continued safety.  God bless you, Malala!