9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 [Sarah Haider: Islam and [br]the Necessity of Liberal Critique] 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Moderator) Hi everybody and welcome [br]to this next presentation entitled 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Islam and the Necessity of Liberal Critique". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I'd like to welcome Sarah Haider, [br]who is one of the co-founders 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the Ex Muslims of North America group. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, please join me in welcoming Sarah. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Sarah Haider) Hi, everyone. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I'm Sarah, and for the last two years,[br]I have worked for an organization about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 non theist ex-Muslims, those who once[br]identified themselves with Islam, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and now call themselves Atheists, [br]Agnostics or Deists. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the organization is called Ex-Muslims [br]of North America. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We are a relatively new organization but[br]we are growing quickly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we now have communities of ex-Muslims[br]in over 15 cities. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As you can imagine, it is [br]notoriously difficult for ex-Muslims 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to find others like ourselves, [br]trying to build friendships among people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who are often under siege and deep in[br]the closet is incredibly difficult. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In the first place, how do you even find[br]people who are often deliberately 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 doing their best to stay under cover? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As an organization, we work to provide[br]ex-Muslims with much needed support, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 support to free themselves [br]from the shackles of religion 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and to be themselves; to learn about[br]each other's suffering 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and, above all else, endure. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We are in a peculiar situation, [br]my colleagues and I, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we are intimately connected with more[br]godless ex-Muslims 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than likely anyone else in the world. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I have heard thousands of stories[br]from hundreds of people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about their experiences with Islam. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Some luck few were able to leave the faith[br]with little consequence. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Their relationships with their families [br]and friends and communities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 remained intact. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But for most, this was not the case. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our journeys have seen [br]tremendous struggles. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For some, the cost was only social:[br]loss of friends and families. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For others, they risk their health and[br]mental well-being 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from being locked into psychiatric wards[br]to enduring physical violence 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from all family members. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Ex-Muslims, arguably [br]more than any other group, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are deeply familiar with the problems[br]entrenched within Muslim communities 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and inherent within Islamic scriptures. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As most of us happen to be both [br]people of color 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and first- or second-generation [br]immigrants, we are doubly affected 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 both by hatred and violence from Muslims,[br]but also bigotry and xenophobia 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from the broader American public. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Despite all this, my experience [br]over the last two years 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 has made me wary of speaking up,[br]even to an audience such as this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I always expected feeling unwelcome[br]from Muslim audiences, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but I didn't anticipate [br]an equal amount of hostility 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from my allies on the Left. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For example, when I first published a piece,[br]Fact-checking Reza Haslan, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who is a prominent Muslim scholar, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on his dismissal of [br]female genital mutilation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as only an African problem, [br]not a Muslim one, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I got many responses from people[br]unhappy with what I wrote, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 almost all of whom questioned my motives,[br]rather than addressing my claims. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To my surprise, most of my critics [br]were not Muslims. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Rather, they identified as Liberals, [br]and even sometimes as Atheists. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Some darkly alluded to my agenda and [br]others claimed that, as a former Muslim, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there was no way I could be trusted [br]with "fair criticism". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now remember: I published a fact check. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It seems to me that it would be easy [br]to verify my claims: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fact-check the fact-check, so to speak. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But instead, Muslims [br]and some people on the Left 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 preferred to throw all-round suspicions[br]about my character and my intelligence. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Those who oppose [br]Christian authoritarianism 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will find that the broad majority [br]of Liberals, religious or non-religious, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 side with them [br]and will offer their support 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the fight to push religious morals[br]out of our politics and public life. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even religious Liberals [br]sometimes look upon 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the politically-charged religious right[br]with distaste 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and some work with secularists[br]to keep them out of our politics. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The executive director of Americans United[br]for Church and State, for instance, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is an ordained minister. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Atheists and Secularists [br]can feel secure in the knowledge 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that their allies in the Liberal Left[br]will stand with them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when their target is the Far-right[br]Christians. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It makes sense: Liberals don't share [br]much -- many common values 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with the religious Right. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But when the same scrutiny [br]is applied to Islam 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you find that, inexplicably, some people [br]on the Left will start to align instead 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with the Islamic religious Right. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The consistent exceptions have been[br]the secular and Atheist communities. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When luminaries of disbelief movement,[br]like Harris and Dawkins, speak about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the horrors of Christianity and write[br]books condemning it, they are cheered, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their works lionized, their presence [br]sought at events and conferences. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But when they turn the same critical gaze[br]towards the religion of my family, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they are told to cease [br]such offensive talk, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to refrain from criticizing [br]the same oppressive forces 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that they criticized in the past. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is an instinct to pigeon-hole[br]anyone who says something negative 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 about Islam, to broadly label them [br]in such a way that nearly guarantees 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that most on the Left will ignore[br]what they have to say. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The first method, I found, of people[br]dismissing my claims has been that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 since I as a brown person, I can easily[br]be painted as bigot, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is that I must be pro-war or broadly[br]support the Far-right agenda in some way. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is not true. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sometimes, I'm called an Uncle Tom[br]or a House Arab. 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