0:00:00.000,0:00:04.000 [Sarah Haider: Islam and[br]the Necessity of Liberal Critique] 0:00:04.020,0:00:07.262 (Moderator) Hi everybody and welcome[br]to this next presentation entitled 0:00:07.262,0:00:10.437 "Islam and the Necessity of Liberal Critique". 0:00:10.729,0:00:15.406 I'd like to welcome Sarah Haider,[br]who is one of the co-founders 0:00:15.406,0:00:18.007 of the Ex Muslims of North America group. 0:00:18.007,0:00:20.034 So, please join me in welcoming Sarah. 0:00:20.034,0:00:26.424 (Applause) 0:00:29.304,0:00:30.547 (Sarah Haider) Hi Everyone, 0:00:32.414,0:00:37.672 I'm Sarah, and for the last two years [br]I have worked to build an organization 0:00:37.672,0:00:39.911 for non-theist ex-Muslims, 0:00:40.263,0:00:43.706 those who once [br]identified themselves with Islam. 0:00:43.706,0:00:47.486 and now call themselves atheists, [br]agnostics or deists; 0:00:48.138,0:00:50.702 and the organization is called [br]Ex-Muslims of North America. 0:00:50.702,0:00:54.666 We are a relatively new organization, [br]but we are growing quickly 0:00:54.666,0:00:57.111 and we now have communities [br]of ex-Muslims 0:00:57.111,0:00:59.271 in over fifteen cities. 0:00:59.621,0:01:03.689 As you can imagine, it is notoriously [br]difficult for ex-Muslims 0:01:03.689,0:01:07.819 to find others like ourselves. [br]Trying to build friendships among people 0:01:07.830,0:01:12.618 who are often under siege and deep [br]in the closet is incredibly difficult. 0:01:13.322,0:01:16.759 In the first place, how do you even find [br]people who are often deliberately 0:01:16.759,0:01:18.683 doing their best to stay undercover? 0:01:19.322,0:01:23.344 As an organization we work to provide [br]ex-Muslims with much needed support, 0:01:23.355,0:01:25.996 support to free themselves [br]from the shackles of religion 0:01:25.996,0:01:28.897 and to be themselves, to learn about [br]each other's suffering, 0:01:28.897,0:01:30.858 and above all else, endure. 0:01:32.599,0:01:35.894 We are in a peculiar situation, [br]my colleagues and I, 0:01:36.221,0:01:39.785 we are intimately connected with more [br]godless ex-Muslims 0:01:39.785,0:01:41.850 than likely anyone else in the world. 0:01:42.341,0:01:45.818 I have heard thousands of stories [br]from hundreds of people, 0:01:45.818,0:01:48.418 about their experiences with Islam. 0:01:48.814,0:01:52.464 Some lucky few were able to leave [br]the faith with little consequence, 0:01:52.464,0:01:56.543 the relationships with their families [br]and friends and communities 0:01:56.543,0:01:57.740 remained intact. 0:01:58.113,0:02:00.388 But for most, this was not the case. 0:02:01.104,0:02:03.208 Our journeys have seen [br]tremendous struggles. 0:02:03.208,0:02:08.544 For some the cost was only social, [br]loss of friends and families. 0:02:08.544,0:02:12.065 For others, they risked their health and [br]mental well-being 0:02:12.075,0:02:16.620 from being locked into psychiatric wards [br]to enduring physical violence 0:02:16.620,0:02:18.200 from all family members. 0:02:18.809,0:02:22.088 Ex-Muslims, arguably [br]more than any other group, 0:02:22.088,0:02:25.698 are deeply familiar with the problems [br]entrenched within Muslim communities 0:02:25.698,0:02:28.084 and inherent within Islamic scriptures. 0:02:28.732,0:02:32.407 As most of us happen to be both [br]people of color 0:02:32.407,0:02:34.984 and first- or second- generation [br]immigrants, 0:02:34.984,0:02:36.593 we are doubly affected, 0:02:36.593,0:02:39.439 both by hatred and violence [br]from Muslims, 0:02:39.439,0:02:43.435 but also bigotry and xenophobia[br]from the broader American public. 0:02:44.639,0:02:47.989 Despite all this, my experience [br]over the last two years 0:02:47.989,0:02:52.412 has made me wary of speaking up, [br]even to an audience such as this. 0:02:53.313,0:02:56.783 I always expected feeling unwelcome [br]from Muslim audiences, 0:02:56.783,0:03:00.177 but I did not anticipate [br]an equal amount of hostility 0:03:00.177,0:03:01.835 from my allies on the Left. 0:03:02.927,0:03:05.231 For example, [br]when I first published a piece, 0:03:05.231,0:03:09.411 fact-checking Reza Aslan,[br]who is a prominent Muslim scholar, 0:03:09.677,0:03:12.236 on his dismissal of [br]female genital mutilation 0:03:12.236,0:03:15.820 as only an African problem, [br]not a Muslim one, 0:03:16.089,0:03:19.123 I got many responses from people [br]unhappy with what I wrote, 0:03:19.758,0:03:22.443 almost all of whom [br]questioned my motives 0:03:22.443,0:03:24.576 rather than addressing my claims. 0:03:24.576,0:03:27.953 To my surprise, most of my critics [br]were not Muslims. 0:03:28.323,0:03:31.655 Rather they identified as liberals [br]and sometimes even atheists. 0:03:31.655,0:03:38.307 Some darkly alluded to my "agenda" and [br]others claimed that as a former Muslim, 0:03:38.628,0:03:42.008 there was no way I could be trusted [br]with fair criticism. 0:03:42.620,0:03:44.864 Now remember, I published a fact-check. 0:03:45.205,0:03:48.633 It seems to me that it would be easy [br]to verify my claims, 0:03:48.633,0:03:51.386 fact-check the fact-check, so to speak. 0:03:52.149,0:03:56.115 But instead, Muslims and some people [br]on the Left preferred instead 0:03:56.115,0:04:00.218 to throw around suspicions [br]about my character and my intentions. 0:04:01.024,0:04:03.350 Those who oppose [br]Christian authoritarianism 0:04:03.350,0:04:07.732 will find that the broad majority [br]of liberals, religious or non-religious, 0:04:07.917,0:04:10.061 side with them [br]and will ofter their support 0:04:10.061,0:04:13.687 in the fight to push religious morals [br]out of our politics and public life. 0:04:14.344,0:04:17.033 Even religious liberals [br]sometimes look upon 0:04:17.033,0:04:20.150 the politically-charged religious right [br]with distaste 0:04:20.150,0:04:24.167 and some work with secularists [br]to keep them out of our politics. 0:04:24.470,0:04:25.508 The executive director for 0:04:25.508,0:04:27.683 the Americans United for {Separation of} [br]Church and State, for example, 0:04:27.683,0:04:28.875 is an ordained minister. 0:04:30.006,0:04:33.432 Atheists and secularists [br]can feel secure in the knowledge 0:04:33.432,0:04:35.770 that their allies on the liberal Left [br]will stand with them 0:04:35.770,0:04:39.060 when their target is [br]the far-right Christians. 0:04:39.548,0:04:42.958 It makes sense: liberals don't share [br]much, many common values 0:04:42.958,0:04:44.490 with the religious right. 0:04:44.490,0:04:46.753 But when the same scrutiny [br]is applied to Islam, 0:04:46.753,0:04:52.066 you find that inexplicably some people [br]on the Left begin to align instead 0:04:52.066,0:04:54.338 with the Islamic religious right. 0:04:54.923,0:04:58.452 The consistent exception has been [br]the secular and atheist communities. 0:04:59.814,0:05:05.624 When luminaries of disbelief movement [br]like Harris and Dawkins speak about 0:05:05.624,0:05:10.736 the horrors of Christianity and write [br]books condemning it, they are cheered, 0:05:10.736,0:05:14.629 their works lionized, their presence [br]sought at events and conferences. 0:05:15.017,0:05:17.153 But when they turn [br]the same critical gaze 0:05:17.153,0:05:18.913 towards the religion of my family, 0:05:18.913,0:05:21.034 they are told to cease [br]such offensive talk, 0:05:21.034,0:05:24.968 to refrain from criticizing [br]the same oppressive forces 0:05:24.968,0:05:26.384 that they criticized in the past. 0:05:27.301,0:05:29.563 There is an instinct to pigeon-hole [br]anyone 0:05:29.563,0:05:32.850 who says something negative about [br]Islam, to broadly label them 0:05:32.850,0:05:34.586 in such a way that nearly guarantees 0:05:34.586,0:05:37.375 that most on the Left will ignore [br]what they have to say. 0:05:38.060,0:05:42.222 The first method, I found, of people dismissing my claims, has been that 0:05:42.222,0:05:45.455 since as a brown person I can't easily [br]be painted as a bigot, 0:05:45.455,0:05:48.149 is that I must be pro-war 0:05:48.149,0:05:51.503 or broadly support the far-right agenda [br]in some way. 0:05:51.785,0:05:53.393 This is not true. 0:05:53.710,0:05:58.145 Sometimes I am called an Uncle Tom [br]or a house Arab. 0:05:59.177,0:06:00.935 Another term thrown around [br]at ex-Muslims 0:06:00.935,0:06:03.442 and other brown critics of Islam 0:06:03.442,0:06:05.766 is "native informants". 0:06:05.766,0:06:07.472 This was my first time hearing this. 0:06:07.850,0:06:11.552 I won't go into the many reasons why [br]this is an impressively disgusting thing 0:06:11.552,0:06:14.784 to call someone, [br]with the vague implication 0:06:14.784,0:06:18.307 that we are brainwashed in some way, [br]or are betraying our own kind. 0:06:19.412,0:06:23.034 While it is somewhat understandable, [br]why someone like Myriam Francois, 0:06:23.034,0:06:28.222 who is a white convert to Islam, why she [br]would refer to us as native informants, 0:06:28.222,0:06:32.688 it is beyond my comprehension how [br]such a transparently racist term 0:06:32.688,0:06:34.706 was used by the journalist [br]Max Blumenthal 0:06:34.706,0:06:37.247 in his article condemning Ayaan Hirsi Ali 0:06:37.247,0:06:40.272 to cast a shadow over [br]her role in this debate. 0:06:40.827,0:06:42.686 I wonder if Blumenthal [br]would feel comfortable 0:06:42.686,0:06:46.259 using similarly racist terms[br]against anti-clerical dissidents 0:06:46.259,0:06:49.164 from African-American [br]or other minority communities. 0:06:50.034,0:06:52.196 Bill Maher is someone [br]who has been painted 0:06:52.196,0:06:54.292 by the Left and the Right as a bigot. 0:06:55.040,0:06:58.034 Once on his show though, Maher [br]mentioned the high rates of support 0:06:58.034,0:07:01.048 for the death penalty for the crime of [br]atheism in Muslim communities. 0:07:01.646,0:07:04.156 In response, Dean Obeidallah, 0:07:04.156,0:07:07.276 who is a comedian and author [br]and liberal Muslim, 0:07:07.746,0:07:12.162 attempted to defend the Muslim [br]countries by pointing out errors 0:07:12.162,0:07:13.878 in the statistics Maher used. 0:07:14.482,0:07:16.427 Let me quote his piece on CNN. 0:07:17.210,0:07:21.015 He says - "a 2013 Pew poll [br]actually found 0:07:21.015,0:07:25.064 that only 64% of Egyptians supported this" 0:07:25.064,0:07:30.890 - by this he means the death penalty - [br]"still alarmingly high, but not 90%" 0:07:30.890,0:07:36.992 and only thirteen Muslim nations have [br]penalties for apostasy, while 34 do not". 0:07:38.551,0:07:41.761 Can we realistically imagine something [br]like that being published 0:07:41.761,0:07:48.195 if it was about any other minority, in [br]an honest effort to downplay the horror? 0:07:48.952,0:07:51.719 What if it was "only 64% of Americans 0:07:51.719,0:07:54.330 support the death penalty [br]for converts to Islam" 0:07:54.693,0:07:56.592 - Muslims don't have it that bad - 0:07:56.855,0:08:01.387 "only 64% of French citizens support the [br]death penalty for Algerian immigrants" 0:08:01.716,0:08:05.691 or "only 64% of Americans support [br]the death penalty for homosexuality"? 0:08:06.748,0:08:11.020 How bad is the situation, [br]how terrible the human rights abuses 0:08:11.020,0:08:14.337 and how little the worth [br]of the life of a human being, 0:08:14.337,0:08:19.173 when 64% is viewed [br]as a defensive statistic? 0:08:20.645,0:08:23.175 It is a situation as if fully [br]one-third of western nations 0:08:23.175,0:08:26.084 had legalized the murder of Muslims, [br]how appalled would we be? 0:08:26.506,0:08:28.785 What would the Left's reaction be? 0:08:29.480,0:08:33.178 As an ex-Muslim I am horrified that [br]something like this would be published 0:08:33.178,0:08:35.392 on the web-site [br]of a major news organization 0:08:35.392,0:08:38.222 and not a single voice [br]was raised in outrage. 0:08:38.592,0:08:40.726 Why is my life worth less? 0:08:41.047,0:08:44.017 Does my simply being raised [br]in an Islamic tradition 0:08:44.017,0:08:48.957 grant the Islamic religious right [br]overt ownership over me and my body, 0:08:48.957,0:08:52.426 grant them license to murder me [br]and my fellow atheists? 0:08:53.096,0:08:57.208 The claim actually being made [br]by citing this statistic was that Maher 0:08:57.208,0:09:02.314 was supposedly making too much of [br]a fuss of atheist persecution by Muslims. 0:09:04.044,0:09:07.412 Now I do not wish to denigrate [br]the author, Dean Obeidallah, 0:09:07.412,0:09:10.164 but to illustrate [br]the depth of the problem, 0:09:10.164,0:09:13.296 that in trying to defend what he [br]perceived to be an injustice to Muslims, 0:09:13.296,0:09:16.072 he did not even notice [br]the depravity of what he wrote. 0:09:17.510,0:09:21.483 As a consequence an audience [br]on the Left now frightens me 0:09:21.483,0:09:24.514 nearly as much as [br]an audience of Islamists does. 0:09:25.082,0:09:28.634 I have had to think long and hard about [br]whether I want to give this talk today, 0:09:28.634,0:09:31.704 to what extent I should mince my words, 0:09:31.704,0:09:34.058 and what consequence [br]it would have on my work. 0:09:34.598,0:09:37.894 It's not my intention to cause offense [br]but I firmly believe 0:09:37.894,0:09:40.759 that there are things that need to be [br]said, elephants in the room 0:09:40.759,0:09:45.192 that no one but some bigots on the [br]far right are willing to acknowledge. 0:09:45.741,0:09:48.250 [br]We are all, I hope, familiar with what happened 0:09:48.250,0:09:50.768 on January 7th at the offices [br]of Charlie Hebdo. 0:09:51.553,0:09:55.045 Masked gunmen killed twelve people, [br]shouting Allahu Akbar!, 0:09:55.045,0:09:59.533 later revealed to be two brothers, [br]French nationals of Algerian origin. 0:09:59.988,0:10:05.047 There was global outrage and a large [br]show of solidarity for the cartoonists, 0:10:05.047,0:10:08.080 which appeared to be the obviously [br]righteous things to do. 0:10:08.080,0:10:10.268 Until of course the religious [br]began to speak up 0:10:10.268,0:10:14.180 with claims of "provocation" [br]and hurt feelings. 0:10:15.055,0:10:17.947 But that was to be expected, Islamists [br]have been saying that for years, 0:10:17.947,0:10:21.425 and indeed, no religion really accepts [br]any form of ridicule 0:10:23.494,0:10:25.990 - if they have a choice in the matter, that is say. 0:10:25.990,0:10:28.068 However, what was more distressing to me, 0:10:28.068,0:10:31.001 was the response from many [br]of my allies on the Left. 0:10:31.001,0:10:33.800 Over and over I heard the claim that [br]Charlie Hebdo was somehow 0:10:33.800,0:10:38.046 a racist publication, and while, [br]of course, of course, 0:10:38.046,0:10:40.504 murder is always wrong [br]and should be condemned, 0:10:40.504,0:10:42.874 it is nonetheless "understandable" 0:10:42.874,0:10:45.276 that the gunmen would feel [br]provoked by the cartoons. 0:10:46.095,0:10:48.624 Now, I don't know about you, but I don't [br]want to meet the man 0:10:48.624,0:10:52.178 who "understands" why someone would [br]feel compelled to murder another man 0:10:52.178,0:11:02.396 because he didn't like a cartoon [br]that he drew. (applause). 0:11:02.396,0:11:05.975 It's important to realize that mocking [br]and critique are not that different 0:11:05.975,0:11:08.585 in the eyes of the most religious people. 0:11:08.821,0:11:12.501 There is no fair amount [br]of fair and friendly criticism 0:11:12.501,0:11:16.097 that the very religious will accept if [br]they have the power to shut it down, 0:11:16.097,0:11:19.582 as evidenced by the prohibition [br]on heretical speech 0:11:19.582,0:11:21.662 in theocratic states throughout history. 0:11:22.276,0:11:25.184 There is a curious [br]double-standard at play. 0:11:25.574,0:11:29.585 When Muslim clerics and activists [br]that are known to be 0:11:29.585,0:11:33.465 anti-Semites and homophobes [br]are welcomed on campuses, 0:11:33.465,0:11:38.606 touring nationally, invited to give [br]lectures by Muslim student associations, 0:11:38.606,0:11:42.148 while feminists like Asra Nomani, [br]who has been fighting 0:11:42.148,0:11:45.177 for the equality of the sexes, [br]for the right of female entry 0:11:45.177,0:11:47.731 to the priestly class, [br]is branded as a bigot 0:11:47.731,0:11:50.112 by the same Muslim student organizations 0:11:50.112,0:11:52.655 and the authorities [br]at universities like Duke 0:11:52.655,0:11:55.092 succumb to this brazen attempt [br]to silence her. 0:11:55.747,0:11:58.438 Similar patterns are repeated [br]across the Western world. 0:11:59.228,0:12:01.919 Maryam Namazie, [br]who is an ex-Muslim activist, 0:12:01.919,0:12:06.510 was dis-invited to speak at Trinity, [br]Ayaan Hirsi Ali at Brandeis. 0:12:06.510,0:12:09.986 The British Students Union [br]now allies itself broadly 0:12:09.986,0:12:13.254 with Islamist organizations such as CAGE. 0:12:14.114,0:12:16.952 To quote Nick Cohen from his article [br]from the Guardian, 0:12:17.632,0:12:20.956 "University managers are no better than [br]their teenage heresy hunters. 0:12:21.378,0:12:24.695 They say they want to oppose [br]radical Islam in argument. 0:12:25.207,0:12:28.385 The Lawyers' Secular Society [br]took them at their word. 0:12:28.739,0:12:32.764 It tried to present an investigation [br]at the University of West London 0:12:32.764,0:12:36.028 into Islamist groups that were [br]all over campuses, 0:12:36.028,0:12:40.731 despite their record of advocating [br]Jew hatred, homophobia and misogyny. 0:12:41.114,0:12:44.863 The university authorities [br]banned the secularists." 0:12:46.069,0:12:49.038 Let me be clear. I don't think anyone, 0:12:49.038,0:12:52.325 even bigots emerging from Muslim [br]communities or anywhere else, 0:12:52.325,0:12:53.511 should be silenced. 0:12:53.511,0:12:57.205 What I ask is that we stand up [br]for the right to speak of all, 0:12:57.205,0:12:59.981 including those both [br]those who stand with us 0:12:59.981,0:13:02.645 and those who call for the death [br]of our fellow dis-believers. 0:13:03.584,0:13:07.097 Our society functions because [br]we believe that hurt feelings 0:13:07.097,0:13:10.354 mean essentially nothing [br]in the eyes of our justice system. 0:13:10.354,0:13:14.067 But of course it is claimed that [br]this is a special case, 0:13:14.067,0:13:16.679 because these aren't just [br]personal hurt feelings, 0:13:16.679,0:13:20.231 these are religious hurt feelings, [br]and not just any religion, 0:13:20.231,0:13:23.367 but the religion of the underdog, [br]of the brown man. 0:13:24.067,0:13:26.591 And the Left decided long ago [br]that the hurt feelings 0:13:26.591,0:13:30.114 of the Christian religion mattered little, [br]and it was imperative 0:13:30.114,0:13:32.529 that we disabuse the notion [br]that Christianity 0:13:32.529,0:13:35.569 would ever feel safe from criticism [br]or even outright mockery. 0:13:35.894,0:13:40.201 Indeed many of our greatest thinkers [br]have delighted in exercising this right. 0:13:40.889,0:13:46.170 I want to quote Thomas Paine, from his [br]book, The Age of Reason: 0:13:47.217,0:13:50.371 "Whenever we read the obscene stories, [br]the voluptuous debaucheries, 0:13:50.371,0:13:54.871 the cruel and torturous executions, [br]the unrelenting vindictiveness, 0:13:54.871,0:13:57.025 with which more than half [br]the Bible is filled, 0:13:57.025,0:13:59.878 it would be more consistent that [br]we called it the word of a demon, 0:13:59.878,0:14:01.308 than the word of God. 0:14:01.308,0:14:05.795 It is a history of wickedness, that has [br]served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; 0:14:05.795,0:14:11.210 and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, [br]as I detest everything that is cruel" 0:14:12.775,0:14:17.338 I wonder if Paine had been murdered [br]for his outright contempt of Christianity, 0:14:17.338,0:14:20.386 how different would the West look today? 0:14:21.006,0:14:24.135 what message such a gruesome deed [br]would have sent? 0:14:24.135,0:14:26.420 how many people would it have silenced 0:14:26.420,0:14:28.412 with its promise of [br]more bloodshed to come 0:14:28.412,0:14:31.289 if they had the audacity [br]to repeat his crime? 0:14:32.277,0:14:37.144 Would that fear have silenced those who [br]insisted on the freedom of speech? 0:14:37.618,0:14:40.492 How would that have affected [br]the face of our nation? 0:14:40.492,0:14:44.279 Now I hope that you will reflect with me, [br]on the fact that 0:14:44.279,0:14:46.447 not only was he not murdered, 0:14:46.447,0:14:49.470 neither were his contemporaries [br]who mocked religion, 0:14:49.470,0:14:54.281 also even then three centuries ago,[br]I don't believe he contemplated the idea 0:14:54.281,0:14:56.441 that writing would actually [br]lead to his death. 0:14:56.935,0:14:59.046 And yet, in the twenty-first century, 0:14:59.046,0:15:02.566 this is the reality of those who speak out[br]against Islam in Muslim countries 0:15:02.566,0:15:04.703 and increasingly in Western ones. 0:15:05.962,0:15:09.228 It is not uncommon to hear from [br]commentators in various media outlets 0:15:09.228,0:15:12.746 that the victims of Charlie Hebdo had [br]somehow provoked others 0:15:12.746,0:15:16.117 with their offensive cartoons [br]into taking their lives. 0:15:16.689,0:15:22.051 The sentiment seems to be that [br]the cartoonists must to some degree 0:15:22.051,0:15:24.681 be held accountable for their own murders, 0:15:24.681,0:15:28.007 even as dozens of cartoonists [br]from the East drew panels 0:15:28.007,0:15:30.717 in support of their counterparts [br]in the West, 0:15:30.717,0:15:32.966 risking their own lives [br]for freedom of speech. 0:15:35.095,0:15:38.458 Two months ago, PEN, an organization [br]that has stood for free speech 0:15:38.458,0:15:42.620 for nearly a century, announced their [br]decision to honor 0:15:42.620,0:15:44.066 the magazine Charlie Hebdo 0:15:44.066,0:15:46.449 with the PEN [br]Freedom of Expression Courage Award. 0:15:46.908,0:15:49.980 Yet amongst those that were [br]members of PEN, 0:15:49.980,0:15:52.494 there were some that refused to stand [br]with Charlie Hebdo, 0:15:52.494,0:15:56.383 initially six table heads [br]and as of now, 204 writers. 0:15:57.533,0:16:00.441 I would like to remind everyone [br]that we've been here before. 0:16:00.952,0:16:04.040 When Salman Rushdie had a fatwa [br]calling for his death, 0:16:04.411,0:16:08.806 PEN America under Susan Sontag's [br]stewardship stood for him, 0:16:08.806,0:16:13.291 even while a significant percentage [br]of the intelligentsia cast him aside. 0:16:13.487,0:16:16.602 Figures as diverse as [br]the Archbishop of Canterbury 0:16:16.602,0:16:19.249 to multiple members [br]of the British Parliament, 0:16:19.249,0:16:25.144 one of whom condemned Rushdie as, [br]quote, an outstanding villain, 0:16:25.144,0:16:29.833 whose, quote, public life has been [br]a record of despicable acts of betrayal 0:16:29.833,0:16:33.702 of his upbringing, religion, [br]adopted home and nationality. 0:16:34.606,0:16:37.226 As there were eastern cartoonists [br]standing with Charlie Hebdo, 0:16:37.226,0:16:40.464 there were Irani writers from the Muslim [br]world that stood in defiance 0:16:40.464,0:16:44.108 and defended Rushdie, some of whom [br]were subsequently attacked. 0:16:44.917,0:16:48.432 In light of the recent attack [br]in Garland, Texas, 0:16:48.432,0:16:51.375 I'd like to share the prophetic words [br]of Norman Mailer, 0:16:51.375,0:16:53.501 from over two decades ago: 0:16:53.501,0:16:56.732 "In this week of turmoil we can now [br]envision a fearful time in the future 0:16:56.732,0:16:59.046 when fundamentalist groups in America, 0:16:59.046,0:17:02.521 stealing their page [br]from this international episode 0:17:02.521,0:17:05.366 will know how to apply the same methods 0:17:05.366,0:17:07.618 to American writers and bookstores. 0:17:07.618,0:17:10.796 If they succeed it will be due to the fact [br]that we never found 0:17:10.796,0:17:14.839 an honest resistance to the terrorization [br]of Salman Rushdie." 0:17:16.369,0:17:20.857 Where in 1989 and 2005 authors [br]and cartoonists considered 0:17:20.857,0:17:22.876 a vague possibility of retaliation, 0:17:22.876,0:17:25.876 it has now metastatized [br]to an ever present threat; 0:17:25.876,0:17:29.774 like clockwork the violence [br]intensifies and repeats. 0:17:30.509,0:17:33.188 The cowardly response [br]in the intervening decade 0:17:33.188,0:17:37.852 has also been repeated time and time [br]again, everytime emboldening the voices 0:17:37.852,0:17:40.129 calling for the curtailment of free speech. 0:17:40.700,0:17:44.466 The Rushdie fatwa was the first battle, [br]a battle in which we surrendered, 0:17:44.466,0:17:47.802 and continue to pay the price [br]for that appeasement today. 0:17:49.242,0:17:54.177 So why is it so difficult for many [br]on the Left to criticize Islam? 0:17:54.182,0:17:55.768 Why do they shy away from it? 0:17:56.236,0:18:00.527 I believe that the primary reason is that [br]many are simply incapable of separating 0:18:00.527,0:18:03.644 the criticism of an idea with the hate [br]directed towards a people, 0:18:03.644,0:18:05.860 and immediately call the first "racism". 0:18:06.890,0:18:09.596 That idea should not [br]be entertained for very long, 0:18:09.596,0:18:12.823 as if there can be no valid reasons [br]to critique an ideology 0:18:12.823,0:18:15.495 rooted in seventh-century [br]patriarchal norms 0:18:15.495,0:18:20.137 except for hatred toward the very people [br]imprisoned by those ideologies. 0:18:21.609,0:18:24.604 There are people who use the phrase "Islamophobia" 0:18:24.604,0:18:28.496 both to mean criticism of the people [br]and of the religion. 0:18:28.972,0:18:30.545 I know that many Muslims do this, 0:18:30.545,0:18:33.255 it is an easy way of stopping others [br]from criticizing their religion, 0:18:33.255,0:18:36.558 but I believe that many in the West [br]use this word 0:18:36.558,0:18:39.194 because they haven't quite thought [br]of why it might be harmful. 0:18:39.487,0:18:41.788 Islamophobia is a meaningless term. 0:18:41.788,0:18:46.801 It serves to confuse and to muddle two [br]very different forms of intolerance, 0:18:46.801,0:18:48.666 based on two very different reasons, 0:18:48.666,0:18:51.766 towards which there should be [br]two very different reactions. 0:18:52.532,0:18:54.919 Sometimes it is claimed [br]that the critique of religion 0:18:54.919,0:18:57.513 is critique of the identity [br]of the believer, 0:18:57.513,0:18:58.732 and is therefore bigotry. 0:18:59.339,0:19:02.710 This person's identity happens [br]to be based on ideology, 0:19:02.710,0:19:04.753 so if you criticize their ideology, 0:19:04.753,0:19:07.811 you are necessarily generating [br]hate towards that person. 0:19:08.279,0:19:10.066 But I wonder what would happen 0:19:10.066,0:19:12.273 if we applied this type of thinking [br]to everything? 0:19:12.726,0:19:16.537 What if New Agers decided that criticism [br]of New Age spiritual healing 0:19:16.537,0:19:20.050 was a form of hate against people [br]who chose to identify that way? 0:19:20.050,0:19:23.037 What if Hindus decided [br]criticism of the caste system 0:19:23.037,0:19:26.824 was a deeply offensive form of racism [br]against Hindu people? 0:19:27.243,0:19:29.677 How much of that would that retard reform? 0:19:31.143,0:19:32.571 There is another version [br]of this argument 0:19:32.571,0:19:35.236 which claims that criticism [br]or ridicule of Islam 0:19:35.236,0:19:38.524 feeds into the bigotry [br]by the far-right 0:19:38.524,0:19:40.335 and therefore causes harm, 0:19:41.122,0:19:43.810 and I want everyone to know that [br]the argument is almost never 0:19:43.810,0:19:47.391 that Islam doesn't deserve the critique [br]or ridicule as a religion, 0:19:47.391,0:19:52.400 but that it is harmful to voice this [br]for the damage it would do. 0:19:53.143,0:19:56.913 Now one of the writers that opposed the [br]award for Charlie Hebdo claimed that, 0:19:56.913,0:20:00.657 quote, the narrative [br]of the Charlie Hebdo murders 0:20:00.660,0:20:03.804 -- the narrative of the [br]Charlie Hebdo murders -- 0:20:03.804,0:20:07.497 white Europeans killed in their offices [br]by Muslim extremists 0:20:07.497,0:20:10.644 is one that feeds neatly [br]into the cultural prejudices 0:20:10.644,0:20:12.135 that have allowed our governments 0:20:12.135,0:20:15.217 to make so many disastrous [br]mistakes in the Middle East 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 -- the narrative of the Charlie Hebdo murders! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I read that statement and I realized that [br]for some writers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the problem wasn't just [br]that the cartoons were offensive, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it was that the reaction of Muslims [br]to the cartoons fed into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a stereotypical Muslim trope, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a reaction that was very [br]inconvenient for a group 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 trying to paint a picture [br]of a peaceful Islam, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 despite mounting evidence to the contrary. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is quite clear that allegiances here [br]aren't to the truth, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 instead the aim is to selectively hide [br]inconvenient truths, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 truths that are deemed to be harmful, [br]should they ever be acknowledged. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I assume the fear is that we do not want[br]to give support to actual bigoted people. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Anyone who watches Fox knows [br]how they use fear-mongering tactics 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to promote xenophobia. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But the liberation of a billion and a half[br]Muslims in the world, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Muslims who are suffering under the yoke[br]of an ever-present theological authority, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should be at the forefront of our minds. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As has been repeated hundreds of times [br]by critics like myself, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the primary victims of Islamism [br]are Muslims, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 be it in terms of terrorism, violence, [br]misogyny, freedom of expression, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 religion, and economic decline. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yet bizarrely, these concerns are [br]secondary still to not presenting offense. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Still there are others that believe [br]that people in the West 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have no right to speak about [br]problems of "brown cultures" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 due to the legacy of colonialism [br]and other forms of violence 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the West has cast upon the East. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is a strange argument because [br]it ignores the history of the world, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a history in which various nations, Muslims and non-Muslims, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have succumbed to the ebb-and-flow [br]of conquest, repeatedly, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for all of recorded history. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Many Islamic countries in fact had [br]horrific laws before colonialism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Two of the epicenters of Islamic thought, [br]Iran for Shia Islam, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and Saudi Arabia for Sunni Islam, [br]resisted colonialism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In fact, Saudi Arabia was founded in 1744 [br]as an extremist state, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the first iteration of which was [br]destroyed by the Ottomans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 due to their religious fanaticism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The first Saudis in fact attacked [br]and desecrated 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some of the most holy Muslim sites [br]and were stopped 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not by intervention of the West [br]but by other Muslims 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that viewed them as dangerous fanatics. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There was then no American imperialism, [br]no frame of wars against other Muslims, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and yet, fundamentalist Wahabbis existed,[br]and were attacking other Muslims 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 very much the same way [br]that ISIS attacks them today. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Reform is impossible when you constantly [br]shift the conversation away 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from Islamic fundamentalism, and back [br]to western violence and imperialism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But don't get me wrong. [br]It is important to discuss this, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it is important to discuss imperialism [br]and the harm that it caused. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But violence in the name of Islam [br]has terrorized the Middle East 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 ever since its inception, [br]and it is important 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that we don't derail this conversation. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The moral paralysis out of fear of the [br]right, out of fear of furthering bigotry, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by shame of prior crimes committed [br]by other white people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should not trump all considerations. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When I read articles of why Muslims [br]should not be ridiculed 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I get a sense of condescension, a sense [br]that there are those who believe 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the most essential trait of [br]brown people is their religion, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a defining feature in fact, [br]and due to this 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they presume that we won't reform [br]or we can't, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that religion is something [br]inherent to who we are 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and that it won't respond [br]to pressure, to change 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the way Christianity responded [br]to pressure by secularists. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 While they believe themselves [br]to be supporting tolerance, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what they are really supporting is [br]the religious right of the East, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and not just any religious right, not the [br]religious right that we have here, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's a religious right the West [br]hasn't seen for centuries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To me, someone who opposes the most [br]foundational liberal principle, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the freedom of expression, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in order to protect the sensibilities [br]of this Islamist religious right 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is a liberal only in name. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In fact, what kind of person holds two [br]different groups of people accountable 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to two different standards of [br]acceptable behavior but a bigot? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Islam, like all patriarchal religions, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is a tool used to justify abuse [br]of women and minorities. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Does our concept of tolerance extend [br]towards tolerance 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of systematic subjugation [br]of women and minorities? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What else can excusing abuse made [br]in the name of tolerance be called 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other than a benevolent, [br]self-serving form of bigotry? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 No matter how seemingly [br]compassionate the motivations, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we must not hesitate in being honest 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in calling out our allies for their [br]hypocrisy and their illiberal mores. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sometimes I feel as though people [br]view secularism and free-thinking 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be concepts owned by the West, [br]something inherently Western. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To push secularism and free thought [br]to Muslims then 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is to push a Western identity onto them. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is no more than ignorance of history 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to feel that Enlightenment ideals can [br]only be shared by this civilization, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rather than a progression [br]of all of humanity. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Indeed throughout history 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there have been champions [br]of these very same ideals, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there have been free-thinkers [br]in every culture in the world 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that have bled for these ideals. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There have been countless free-thinkers [br]that challenged faith, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that tried but sadly failed to interpret [br]scripture in a less misogynist way, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 even in patriarchal Islamic societies. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For example, the seventeenth century had 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the crown prince of the Mughal dynasty, [br]Dara Shikoh, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who was committed to rights of all [br]religions, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim alike, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 working to bridge the gaps between [br]the leading lights of all faiths. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 As you may anticipate, [br]this was not to last, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Dara was murdered by his own brother, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 claiming that Dara's tolerance [br]was a sign of his apostasy, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a brother that is now revered in Muslim [br]circles as being a guardian of the faith. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Similarly, there have been women 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that have led the charge [br]for their own rights. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Exactly two hundred years ago, [br]Fatima Baraghani was born in Iran, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 an extremely intelligent woman, who as [br]per custom was married young, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and wasn't allowed to further [br]pursue her education. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She was attracted to a radical movement [br]brewing in the country, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which espoused equality of the genders. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She joined and rose to be one [br]of the leading lights of that movement. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To symbolize a break from Shariah, [br]in one gathering, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 she took off her traditional veil [br]in front of an assemblage of men 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and brandished instead a sword. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now this sight caused such a shock [br]among the crowd, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that many grown men screamed aloud. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 One man cut his own throat in horror, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fleeing the scene as blood poured [br]from his neck. {Laughter} 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But she did not enjoy freedom or live [br]long after this incident. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The tragedy of the Eastern past isn't [br]that we haven't given birth to reformers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but that the violence of our oppressors [br]has eliminated us, time and again. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even in modern times, one Somali author, [br]Abdisaid Abdi Ismail, wrote a book 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where he audaciously argued 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Islam doesn't actually call [br]for a death penalty for apostasy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was rewarded for his efforts by [br]having his life threatened, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and calls for his book to be burned. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A British reformist, Maajid Nawaz, has had[br]fatwas issued calling for his death 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for simply saying on a tweet 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that a cartoon of Muhammad [br]doesn't personally offend him. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The religious right has been murdering [br]reformers for centuries, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but we are still here, [br]fighting for our future, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the same fight that the West has had [br]much greater success in. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is strange that the very same people, [br]who should (?) tamp down on the power 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the Christian right and use the advances [br]that the West has had, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to insist that we must be defined [br]by our religious right. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Let us assume, for the sake of argument, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that we can all concede the idea that [br]Islam, as a religion, needs reform, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or at the very least, Muslim communities [br]do, both in the West and abroad, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and in the way they choose [br]to practice their faith. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I happen to believe this. [br]All the data we have corroborates this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There's a large amount of evidence 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which clearly demonstrates [br]rampant misogyny, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 bad attitudes towards homosexuals [br]and apostasy within the Muslim world, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 supported by the law and widely [br]accepted by the people. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In an effort to draw attention away [br]from the role of religion in all this, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some have chosen to instead use [br]excuses by a variety of reasons, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 none of which make sense, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because Muslim countries share [br]almost nothing between them all, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 except the predominant religion - 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not socio-economic status, [br]not education or literacy levels, not GDP, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not cultural background or history, [br]not race or ethnicity, not language, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not political system, [br]not the history of Western colonization. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What they do share is theology. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Obviously Islam isn't the root of [br]all evil, but it is an important factor. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What we have here is a right wing [br]in the West who believes 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Islam personifies evil 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and a Left which refuses to even [br]look into it as a source of harm. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The question then becomes, [br]how do we achieve reform 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 without actually mentioning [br]any problems in Islam? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 How do we achieve progress [br]while shying away 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 from one of the foundational aspects [br]of how harmful practices are justified? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Most cultures are responsive to selective pressure, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and by insisting that no pressure [br]be applied, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we are acting as a brake on any progress. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have plenty of evidence [br]that a push for secularism 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or a presence within secular cultures [br]can change behavior, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and even the beliefs of Muslims. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For example, if you compare [br]Muslims in the US 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with Muslims in the Middle East, [br]you will find across all metrics, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that their opinions are less extreme[br]and more in line with liberal values, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than those of the population [br]of their origin countries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Many Muslims believe that [br]their religion is immutable, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that every word of which is true, [br]and reformers insult them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when they demand change. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yet profound changes in the way [br]Muslims practice their religion 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have occurred in the past. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Many Muslim countries practiced [br]slavery up until the twentieth century, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with some countries abolishing slavery [br]as recently as 1981, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 citing religious sanction of the practice [br]as a justification. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Saudi Arabia's slave population [br]was estimated at 300,000 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a scant 50 years ago, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and it was international pressure [br]that forced abolition. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Under pressure from the [br]British Empire to abolish slavery 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a little over a century ago, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Sultan of Morocco cited [br]the inerrancy of the Quran 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to make the case for the divine [br]sanction of slavery. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Later the chief minister of Morocco, [br]Muhammad Idris, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 wrote in response to anti-slavery [br]efforts, that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "we do not interfere in religious [br]principles which you profess, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 likewise you should not interfere [br]in our religion". 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In the face of Ottoman unwillingness [br]to condemn the status of slaves 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as enshrined in Shariah, [br]a British statesman sarcastically stated, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 one might well ask the Sultan [br]to become a Christian. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yet today, most if not all Muslims [br]are repulsed by the idea of slaves. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Did they abandon the Quran which [br]seemed to clearly condone slavery 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a mere century ago? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Or were we able to shift [br]mainstream consensus 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by standing up for our moral principles? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I wonder what would have happened 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if the benevolent bigots of the West, [br]of the Left today, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who feel that it is more important [br]to respect a culture 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for the sake of respecting a culture [br]had existed back then. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 How many millions would be [br]living in chains today? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is another common narrative, [br]of the West as oppressors, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 how racism here feeds [br]into the oppression of a minority. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Champions of Islam have gone [br]on record using it as a cudgel 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to beat against the back of progress. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need to be aware that [br]the victim versus the oppressor dynamic 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 isn't set in stone the way some people [br]would have you believe. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 One can be a victim in one context [br]and an oppressor in another. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A Muslim man may deal with racism [br]at work, real racism, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 may see career setbacks, [br]and goes home and beats his hijabi wife 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because he was raised [br]in a misogynistic tradition, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 using Quran's verse as justification. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Should we not criticize his behavior 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because of his victimization [br]in one aspect? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 An imam may be an anti-Semite, [br]a homophobe, he may be indoctrinating 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a generation of impressionable minds [br]into his harmful ideas. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yet the same imam might also [br]be a victim of bigotry 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when he aims to launch a new mosque. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He may be the target of [br]local xenophobic attitudes. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In lieu of his sufferings, [br]should we pretend 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 his other despicable behaviors [br]do not exist? or do not matter? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Are we to sacrifice one for the other? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Instead, can we not stand [br]against all oppressions, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 stand for the equal rights of others, [br]while simultaneously working 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 against bigoted narratives in religion? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 One of my ex-Muslim colleagues 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 beautifully summed up [br]the same sentiments, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when she was talking about [br]the misogynistic nature of the hijab, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 quote, feminism is defending [br]women, Muslim women, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who wear the hijab for whatever reason,[br]against shaming or attack. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Feminism is not categorically [br]denying that the hijab can be coercive, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 body-shaming, slut-shaming, restrictive [br]or psychologically crippling. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We cannot avoid reality [br]because we are afraid 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the consequences [br]of acknowledging facts. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Is it ethical to avoid educating our [br]children about Darwinian evolution 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 simply because it has fed [br]into Social Darwinism in the past? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our silence about uncomfortable truths [br]simply underscores 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the cost of our inaction and [br]the consequences loom ever larger. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We are paralyzed by our own insecurities, [br]by our fear 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that the truth will empower [br]the worst of us, rather than set us free. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have those on the Islamic far right 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who say that there is no room [br]for reform in Islam, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 because Islam is, [br]and always has been perfect. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have their counterparts [br]from the far right in the West, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who coincidentally also view Islam [br]as beyond reform, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but for different reasons, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as something that is irredeemably [br]and permanently evil. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Between those two extremes, [br]we have the average Muslim, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who is forced to choose [br]between the devil he knows, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Islamic dominance and supremacy, over [br]the devil he doesn't, Western bigotry. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The liberal Left needs to present [br]a different path, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not acquiesce to either form [br]of religious dominance. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We must remember that there is [br]no inevitable march of progress, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 no guarantee that tomorrow's world [br]will be more just, more equal, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 more rational, more tolerant [br]or reasonable. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Liberal rights without liberals [br]to champion them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 are values without influence, [br]with no defense. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Let's not let our empathy [br]for oppression of one group 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 excuse their oppression of another. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Thank you! 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 {Standing applause}