Progress within Islam?

Andrew Sullivan posts an email from Ishad Manji, the Canadian writer who has made it her duty to take on Islamic intolerance.

Some of you haven't heard from me in a while. Please forgive the silence. I'm barely keeping up now that I don't have an assistant. But this isn't a personal update -- not exactly. It's a note of hope. At a time when disasters from the natural to the man-made are on our minds, good news seems sparse. Key word: "seems".

In the last couple of weeks, I've tried to catch up on emails received through my site (www.muslim-refusenik.com). I'm happy to report that I'm hearing far more support than hostility from Muslims around the world. Even disagreement -- of which there is plenty -- tends to be more introspective than it was a year ago.

Manji sends along two emails from fellow Muslims that she says are indicative of many she has received. They're two rays of hope from the darkness. Her website is here.