There's an interesting op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about some apparent contradictions in how some Muslims choose to celebrate Eid al-Adha:

Both in Mecca and Erbil, Eid al-Adha was marked by an inversion of traditional intent: to celebrate the sanctity of life. The bitter irony of this year's holiday speaks to an erosion in respect for human life in large parts of the Muslim world.

The thread that connects the recurring stampedes in Mecca, the suicide bombings in Iraq, and the lopsided exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah is the deficit of respect for the individual in the Arab world. This erosion has occurred in a political context, where too many governments in the region deny their citizens basic individual rights in order to maintain a tight grip on society. When societies trample over the individual, human life is debased.

Eid al-Adha offers a message of redemption, that a near child-sacrifice can be transformed into an appreciation of human life.

Amen.

Read the whole thing here.