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[Sarah Haider: Islam and
the Necessity of Liberal Critique]

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(Moderator) Hi everybody and welcome
to this next presentation entitled

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"Islam and the Necessity of Liberal Critique".

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I'd like to welcome Sarah Haider,
who is one of the co-founders

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of the Ex Muslims of North America group.

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So, please join me in welcoming Sarah.

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(Applause)

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(Sarah Haider) Hi Everyone,

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I'm Sarah, and for the last two years 
I have worked to build an organization

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for non-theist ex-Muslims,

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those who once 
identified themselves with Islam.

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and now call themselves atheists, 
agnostics or deists;

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and the organization is called 
Ex-Muslims of North America.

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We are a relatively new organization, 
but we are growing quickly

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and we now have communities 
of ex-Muslims

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in over fifteen cities.

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As you can imagine, it is notoriously 
difficult for ex-Muslims

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to find others like ourselves. 
Trying to build friendships among people

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who are often under siege and deep 
in the closet is incredibly difficult.

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In the first place, how do you even find 
people who are often deliberately

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doing their best to stay undercover?

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As an organization we work to provide 
ex-Muslims with much needed support,

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support to free themselves 
from the shackles of religion

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and to be themselves, to learn about 
each other's suffering,

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and above all else, endure.

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We are in a peculiar situation, 
my colleagues and I,

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we are intimately connected with more 
godless ex-Muslims

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than likely anyone else in the world.

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I have heard thousands of stories 
from hundreds of people,

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about their experiences with Islam.

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Some lucky few were able to leave 
the faith with little consequence,

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the relationships with their families 
and friends and communities

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remained intact.

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But for most, this was not the case.

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Our journeys have seen 
tremendous struggles.

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For some the cost was only social, 
loss of friends and families.

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For others, they risked their health and 
mental well-being

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from being locked into psychiatric wards 
to enduring physical violence

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from all family members.

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Ex-Muslims, arguably 
more than any other group,

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are deeply familiar with the problems 
entrenched within Muslim communities

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and inherent within Islamic scriptures.

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As most of us happen to be both 
people of color

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and first- or second- generation 
immigrants,

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we are doubly affected,

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both by hatred and violence 
from Muslims,

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but also bigotry and xenophobia
from the broader American public.

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Despite all this, my experience 
over the last two years

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has made me wary of speaking up, 
even to an audience such as this.

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I always expected feeling unwelcome 
from Muslim audiences,

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but I did not anticipate 
an equal amount of hostility

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from my allies on the Left.

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For example, 
when I first published a piece,

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fact-checking Reza Aslan,
who is a prominent Muslim scholar,

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on his dismissal of 
female genital mutilation

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as only an African problem, 
not a Muslim one,

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I got many responses from people 
unhappy with what I wrote,

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almost all of whom 
questioned my motives

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rather than addressing my claims.

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To my surprise, most of my critics 
were not Muslims.

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Rather they identified as liberals 
and sometimes even atheists.

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Some darkly alluded to my "agenda" and 
others claimed that as a former Muslim,

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there was no way I could be trusted 
with fair criticism.

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Now remember, I published a fact-check.

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It seems to me that it would be easy 
to verify my claims,

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fact-check the fact-check, so to speak.

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But instead, Muslims and some people 
on the Left preferred instead

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to throw around suspicions 
about my character and my intentions.

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Those who oppose 
Christian authoritarianism

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will find that the broad majority 
of liberals, religious or non-religious,

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side with them 
and will ofter their support

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in the fight to push religious morals 
out of our politics and public life.

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Even religious liberals 
sometimes look upon

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the politically-charged religious right 
with distaste

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and some work with secularists 
to keep them out of our politics.

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The executive director for

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the Americans United for {Separation of} 
Church and State, for example,

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is an ordained minister.

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Atheists and secularists 
can feel secure in the knowledge

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that their allies on the liberal Left 
will stand with them

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when their target is 
the far-right Christians.

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It makes sense: liberals don't share 
much, many common values

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with the religious right.

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But when the same scrutiny 
is applied to Islam,

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you find that inexplicably some people 
on the Left begin to align instead

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with the Islamic religious right.

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The consistent exception has been 
the secular and atheist communities.

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When luminaries of disbelief movement 
like Harris and Dawkins speak about

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the horrors of Christianity and write 
books condemning it, they are cheered,

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their works lionized, their presence 
sought at events and conferences.

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But when they turn 
the same critical gaze

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towards the religion of my family,

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they are told to cease 
such offensive talk,

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to refrain from criticizing 
the same oppressive forces

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that they criticized in the past.

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There is an instinct to pigeon-hole 
anyone

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who says something negative about 
Islam, to broadly label them

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in such a way that nearly guarantees

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that most on the Left will ignore 
what they have to say.

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The first method, I found, of people dismissing my claims, has been that

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since as a brown person I can't easily 
be painted as a bigot,

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is that I must be pro-war

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or broadly support the far-right agenda 
in some way.

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This is not true.

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Sometimes I am called an Uncle Tom 
or a house Arab.

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Another term thrown around 
at ex-Muslims

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and other brown critics of Islam

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is "native informants".

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This was my first time hearing this.

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I won't go into the many reasons why 
this is an impressively disgusting thing

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to call someone, 
with the vague implication

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that we are brainwashed in some way, 
or are betraying our own kind.

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While it is somewhat understandable, 
why someone like Myriam Francois,

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who is a white convert to Islam, why she 
would refer to us as native informants,

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it is beyond my comprehension how 
such a transparently racist term

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was used by the journalist 
Max Blumenthal

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in his article condemning Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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to cast a shadow over 
her role in this debate.

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I wonder if Blumenthal 
would feel comfortable

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using similarly racist terms
against anti-clerical dissidents

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from African-American 
or other minority communities.

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Bill Maher is someone 
who has been painted

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by the Left and the Right as a bigot.

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Once on his show though, Maher 
mentioned the high rates of support

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for the death penalty for the crime of 
atheism in Muslim communities.

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In response, Dean Obeidallah,

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who is a comedian and author 
and liberal Muslim,

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attempted to defend the Muslim 
countries by pointing out errors

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in the statistics Maher used.

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Let me quote his piece on CNN.

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He says - "a 2013 Pew poll 
actually found

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that only 64% of Egyptians supported this"

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- by this he means the death penalty - 
"still alarmingly high, but not 90%"

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and only thirteen Muslim nations have 
penalties for apostasy, while 34 do not".

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Can we realistically imagine something 
like that being published

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if it was about any other minority, in 
an honest effort to downplay the horror?

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What if it was "only 64% of Americans

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support the death penalty 
for converts to Islam"

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- Muslims don't have it that bad -

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"only 64% of French citizens support the 
death penalty for Algerian immigrants"

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or "only 64% of Americans support 
the death penalty for homosexuality"?

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How bad is the situation, 
how terrible the human rights abuses

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and how little the worth 
of the life of a human being,

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when 64% is viewed 
as a defensive statistic?

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It is a situation as if fully 
one-third of western nations

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had legalized the murder of Muslims, 
how appalled would we be?

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What would the Left's reaction be?

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As an ex-Muslim I am horrified that 
something like this would be published

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on the web-site 
of a major news organization

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and not a single voice 
was raised in outrage.

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Why is my life worth less?

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Does my simply being raised 
in an Islamic tradition

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grant the Islamic religious right 
overt ownership over me and my body,

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grant them license to murder me 
and my fellow atheists?

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The claim actually being made 
by citing this statistic was that Maher

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was supposedly making too much of 
a fuss of atheist persecution by Muslims.

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Now I do not wish to denigrate 
the author, Dean Obeidallah,

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but to illustrate 
the depth of the problem,

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that in trying to defend what he 
perceived to be an injustice to Muslims,

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he did not even notice 
the depravity of what he wrote.

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As a consequence an audience 
on the Left now frightens me

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nearly as much as 
an audience of Islamists does.

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I have had to think long and hard about 
whether I want to give this talk today,

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to what extent I should mince my words,

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and what consequence 
it would have on my work.

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It's not my intention to cause offense 
but I firmly believe

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that there are things that need to be 
said, elephants in the room

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that no one but some bigots on the 
far right are willing to acknowledge.

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We are all, I hope, familiar with what happened

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on January 7th at the offices 
of Charlie Hebdo.

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Masked gunmen killed twelve people, 
shouting Allahu Akbar!,

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later revealed to be two brothers, 
French nationals of Algerian origin.

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There was global outrage and a large 
show of solidarity for the cartoonists,

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which appeared to be the obviously 
righteous things to do.

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Until of course the religious 
began to speak up

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with claims of "provocation" 
and hurt feelings.

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But that was to be expected, Islamists 
have been saying that for years,

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and indeed, no religion really accepts 
any form of ridicule

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- if they have a choice in the matter, that is say.

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However, what was more distressing to me,

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was the response from many 
of my allies on the Left.

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Over and over I heard the claim that 
Charlie Hebdo was somehow

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a racist publication, and while, 
of course, of course,

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murder is always wrong 
and should be condemned,

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it is nonetheless "understandable"

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that the gunmen would feel 
provoked by the cartoons.

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Now, I don't know about you, but I don't 
want to meet the man

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who "understands" why someone would 
feel compelled to murder another man

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because he didn't like a cartoon 
that he drew. (applause).

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It's important to realize that mocking 
and critique are not that different

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in the eyes of the most religious people.

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There is no fair amount 
of fair and friendly criticism

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that the very religious will accept if 
they have the power to shut it down,

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as evidenced by the prohibition 
on heretical speech

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in theocratic states throughout history.

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There is a curious 
double-standard at play.

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When Muslim clerics and activists 
that are known to be

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anti-Semites and homophobes 
are welcomed on campuses,

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touring nationally, invited to give 
lectures by Muslim student associations,

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while feminists like Asra Nomani, 
who has been fighting

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for the equality of the sexes, 
for the right of female entry

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to the priestly class, 
is branded as a bigot

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by the same Muslim student organizations

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and the authorities 
at universities like Duke

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succumb to this brazen attempt 
to silence her.

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Similar patterns are repeated 
across the Western world.

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Maryam Namazie, 
who is an ex-Muslim activist,

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was dis-invited to speak at Trinity, 
Ayaan Hirsi Ali at Brandeis.

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The British Students Union 
now allies itself broadly

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with Islamist organizations such as CAGE.

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To quote Nick Cohen from his article 
from the Guardian,

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"University managers are no better than 
their teenage heresy hunters.

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They say they want to oppose 
radical Islam in argument.

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The Lawyers' Secular Society 
took them at their word.

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It tried to present an investigation 
at the University of West London

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into Islamist groups that were 
all over campuses,

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despite their record of advocating 
Jew hatred, homophobia and misogyny.

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The university authorities 
banned the secularists."

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Let me be clear. I don't think anyone,

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even bigots emerging from Muslim 
communities or anywhere else,

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should be silenced.

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What I ask is that we stand up 
for the right to speak of all,

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including those both 
those who stand with us

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and those who call for the death 
of our fellow dis-believers.

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Our society functions because 
we believe that hurt feelings

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mean essentially nothing 
in the eyes of our justice system.

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But of course it is claimed that 
this is a special case,

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because these aren't just 
personal hurt feelings,

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these are religious hurt feelings, 
and not just any religion,

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but the religion of the underdog, 
of the brown man.

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And the Left decided long ago 
that the hurt feelings

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of the Christian religion mattered little, 
and it was imperative

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that we disabuse the notion 
that Christianity

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would ever feel safe from criticism 
or even outright mockery.

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Indeed many of our greatest thinkers 
have delighted in exercising this right.

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I want to quote Thomas Paine, from his 
book, The Age of Reason:

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"Whenever we read the obscene stories, 
the voluptuous debaucheries,

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the cruel and torturous executions, 
the unrelenting vindictiveness,

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00:13:54,871 --> 00:13:57,025
with which more than half 
the Bible is filled,

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00:13:57,025 --> 00:13:59,878
it would be more consistent that 
we called it the word of a demon,

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than the word of God.

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00:14:01,308 --> 00:14:05,795
It is a history of wickedness, that has 
served to corrupt and brutalize mankind;

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00:14:05,795 --> 00:14:11,210
and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, 
as I detest everything that is cruel"

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00:14:12,775 --> 00:14:17,338
I wonder if Paine had been murdered 
for his outright contempt of Christianity,

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00:14:17,338 --> 00:14:20,386
how different would the West look today?

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00:14:21,006 --> 00:14:24,135
what message such a gruesome deed 
would have sent?

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00:14:24,135 --> 00:14:26,420
how many people would it have silenced

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00:14:26,420 --> 00:14:28,412
with its promise of 
more bloodshed to come

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00:14:28,412 --> 00:14:31,289
if they had the audacity 
to repeat his crime?

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00:14:32,277 --> 00:14:37,144
Would that fear have silenced those who 
insisted on the freedom of speech?

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00:14:37,618 --> 00:14:40,492
How would that have affected 
the face of our nation?

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00:14:40,492 --> 00:14:44,279
Now I hope that you will reflect with me, 
on the fact that

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not only was he not murdered,

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00:14:46,447 --> 00:14:49,470
neither were his contemporaries 
who mocked religion,

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00:14:49,470 --> 00:14:54,281
also even then three centuries ago,
I don't believe he contemplated the idea

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00:14:54,281 --> 00:14:56,441
that writing would actually 
lead to his death.

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00:14:56,935 --> 00:14:59,046
And yet, in the twenty-first century,

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00:14:59,046 --> 00:15:02,566
this is the reality of those who speak out
against Islam in Muslim countries

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00:15:02,566 --> 00:15:04,703
and increasingly in Western ones.

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00:15:05,962 --> 00:15:09,228
It is not uncommon to hear from 
commentators in various media outlets

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00:15:09,228 --> 00:15:12,746
that the victims of Charlie Hebdo had 
somehow provoked others

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00:15:12,746 --> 00:15:16,117
with their offensive cartoons 
into taking their lives.

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00:15:16,689 --> 00:15:22,051
The sentiment seems to be that 
the cartoonists must to some degree

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00:15:22,051 --> 00:15:24,681
be held accountable for their own murders,

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00:15:24,681 --> 00:15:28,007
even as dozens of cartoonists 
from the East drew panels

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00:15:28,007 --> 00:15:30,717
in support of their counterparts 
in the West,

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00:15:30,717 --> 00:15:32,966
risking their own lives 
for freedom of speech.

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00:15:35,095 --> 00:15:38,458
Two months ago, PEN, an organization 
that has stood for free speech

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00:15:38,458 --> 00:15:42,620
for nearly a century, announced their 
decision to honor

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00:15:42,620 --> 00:15:44,066
the magazine Charlie Hebdo

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00:15:44,066 --> 00:15:46,449
with the PEN 
Freedom of Expression Courage Award.

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00:15:46,908 --> 00:15:49,980
Yet amongst those that were 
members of PEN,

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00:15:49,980 --> 00:15:52,494
there were some that refused to stand 
with Charlie Hebdo,

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00:15:52,494 --> 00:15:56,383
initially six table heads 
and as of now, 204 writers.

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00:15:57,533 --> 00:16:00,441
I would like to remind everyone 
that we've been here before.

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When Salman Rushdie had a fatwa 
calling for his death,

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00:16:04,411 --> 00:16:08,806
PEN America under Susan Sontag's 
stewardship stood for him,

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00:16:08,806 --> 00:16:13,291
even while a significant percentage 
of the intelligentsia cast him aside.

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00:16:13,487 --> 00:16:16,602
Figures as diverse as 
the Archbishop of Canterbury

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00:16:16,602 --> 00:16:19,249
to multiple members 
of the British Parliament,

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00:16:19,249 --> 00:16:25,144
one of whom condemned Rushdie as, 
quote, an outstanding villain,

282
00:16:25,144 --> 00:16:29,833
whose, quote, public life has been 
a record of despicable acts of betrayal

283
00:16:29,833 --> 00:16:33,702
of his upbringing, religion, 
adopted home and nationality.

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00:16:34,606 --> 00:16:37,226
As there were eastern cartoonists 
standing with Charlie Hebdo,

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00:16:37,226 --> 00:16:40,464
there were Irani writers from the Muslim 
world that stood in defiance

286
00:16:40,464 --> 00:16:44,108
and defended Rushdie, some of whom 
were subsequently attacked.

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00:16:44,917 --> 00:16:48,432
In light of the recent attack 
in Garland, Texas,

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00:16:48,432 --> 00:16:51,375
I'd like to share the prophetic words 
of Norman Mailer,

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00:16:51,375 --> 00:16:53,501
from over two decades ago:

290
00:16:53,501 --> 00:16:56,732
"In this week of turmoil we can now 
envision a fearful time in the future

291
00:16:56,732 --> 00:16:59,046
when fundamentalist groups in America,

292
00:16:59,046 --> 00:17:02,521
stealing their page 
from this international episode

293
00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:05,366
will know how to apply the same methods

294
00:17:05,366 --> 00:17:07,618
to American writers and bookstores.

295
00:17:07,618 --> 00:17:10,796
If they succeed it will be due to the fact 
that we never found

296
00:17:10,796 --> 00:17:14,839
an honest resistance to the terrorization 
of Salman Rushdie."

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00:17:16,369 --> 00:17:20,857
Where in 1989 and 2005 authors 
and cartoonists considered

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00:17:20,857 --> 00:17:22,876
a vague possibility of retaliation,

299
00:17:22,876 --> 00:17:25,876
it has now metastatized 
to an ever present threat;

300
00:17:25,876 --> 00:17:29,774
like clockwork the violence 
intensifies and repeats.

301
00:17:30,509 --> 00:17:33,188
The cowardly response 
in the intervening decade

302
00:17:33,188 --> 00:17:37,852
has also been repeated time and time 
again, everytime emboldening the voices

303
00:17:37,852 --> 00:17:40,129
calling for the curtailment of free speech.

304
00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:44,466
The Rushdie fatwa was the first battle, 
a battle in which we surrendered,

305
00:17:44,466 --> 00:17:47,802
and continue to pay the price 
for that appeasement today.

306
00:17:49,242 --> 00:17:54,177
So why is it so difficult for many 
on the Left to criticize Islam?

307
00:17:54,182 --> 00:17:55,768
Why do they shy away from it?

308
00:17:56,236 --> 00:18:00,527
I believe that the primary reason is that 
many are simply incapable of separating

309
00:18:00,527 --> 00:18:03,644
the criticism of an idea with the hate 
directed towards a people,

310
00:18:03,644 --> 00:18:05,860
and immediately call the first "racism".

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00:18:06,890 --> 00:18:09,596
That idea should not 
be entertained for very long,

312
00:18:09,596 --> 00:18:12,823
as if there can be no valid reasons 
to critique an ideology

313
00:18:12,823 --> 00:18:15,495
rooted in seventh-century 
patriarchal norms

314
00:18:15,495 --> 00:18:20,137
except for hatred toward the very people 
imprisoned by those ideologies.

315
00:18:21,609 --> 00:18:24,604
There are people who use the phrase "Islamophobia"

316
00:18:24,604 --> 00:18:28,496
both to mean criticism of the people 
and of the religion.

317
00:18:28,972 --> 00:18:30,545
I know that many Muslims do this,

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00:18:30,545 --> 00:18:33,255
it is an easy way of stopping others 
from criticizing their religion,

319
00:18:33,255 --> 00:18:36,558
but I believe that many in the West 
use this word

320
00:18:36,558 --> 00:18:39,194
because they haven't quite thought 
of why it might be harmful.

321
00:18:39,487 --> 00:18:41,788
Islamophobia is a meaningless term.

322
00:18:41,788 --> 00:18:46,801
It serves to confuse and to muddle two 
very different forms of intolerance,

323
00:18:46,801 --> 00:18:48,666
based on two very different reasons,

324
00:18:48,666 --> 00:18:51,766
towards which there should be 
two very different reactions.

325
00:18:52,532 --> 00:18:54,919
Sometimes it is claimed 
that the critique of religion

326
00:18:54,919 --> 00:18:57,513
is critique of the identity 
of the believer,

327
00:18:57,513 --> 00:18:58,732
and is therefore bigotry.

328
00:18:59,339 --> 00:19:02,710
This person's identity happens 
to be based on ideology,

329
00:19:02,710 --> 00:19:04,753
so if you criticize their ideology,

330
00:19:04,753 --> 00:19:07,811
you are necessarily generating 
hate towards that person.

331
00:19:08,279 --> 00:19:10,066
But I wonder what would happen

332
00:19:10,066 --> 00:19:12,273
if we applied this type of thinking 
to everything?

333
00:19:12,726 --> 00:19:16,537
What if New Agers decided that criticism 
of New Age spiritual healing

334
00:19:16,537 --> 00:19:20,050
was a form of hate against people 
who chose to identify that way?

335
00:19:20,050 --> 00:19:23,037
What if Hindus decided 
criticism of the caste system

336
00:19:23,037 --> 00:19:26,824
was a deeply offensive form of racism 
against Hindu people?

337
00:19:27,243 --> 00:19:29,677
How much of that would that retard reform?

338
00:19:31,143 --> 00:19:32,571
There is another version 
of this argument

339
00:19:32,571 --> 00:19:35,236
which claims that criticism 
or ridicule of Islam

340
00:19:35,236 --> 00:19:38,524
feeds into the bigotry 
by the far-right

341
00:19:38,524 --> 00:19:40,335
and therefore causes harm,

342
00:19:41,122 --> 00:19:43,810
and I want everyone to know that 
the argument is almost never

343
00:19:43,810 --> 00:19:47,391
that Islam doesn't deserve the critique 
or ridicule as a religion,

344
00:19:47,391 --> 00:19:52,400
but that it is harmful to voice this 
for the damage it would do.

345
00:19:53,143 --> 00:19:56,913
Now one of the writers that opposed the 
award for Charlie Hebdo claimed that,

346
00:19:56,913 --> 00:20:00,657
quote, the narrative 
of the Charlie Hebdo murders

347
00:20:00,660 --> 00:20:03,804
-- the narrative of the 
Charlie Hebdo murders --

348
00:20:03,804 --> 00:20:07,497
white Europeans killed in their offices 
by Muslim extremists

349
00:20:07,497 --> 00:20:10,644
is one that feeds neatly 
into the cultural prejudices

350
00:20:10,644 --> 00:20:12,135
that have allowed our governments

351
00:20:12,135 --> 00:20:15,217
to make so many disastrous 
mistakes in the Middle East

352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
-- the narrative of the Charlie Hebdo murders!

353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I read that statement and I realized that 
for some writers

354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the problem wasn't just 
that the cartoons were offensive,

355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it was that the reaction of Muslims 
to the cartoons fed into

356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a stereotypical Muslim trope,

357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a reaction that was very 
inconvenient for a group

358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
trying to paint a picture 
of a peaceful Islam,

359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is quite clear that allegiances here 
aren't to the truth,

361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
instead the aim is to selectively hide 
inconvenient truths,

362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
truths that are deemed to be harmful, 
should they ever be acknowledged.

363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I assume the fear is that we do not want
to give support to actual bigoted people.

364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Anyone who watches Fox knows 
how they use fear-mongering tactics

365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to promote xenophobia.

366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But the liberation of a billion and a half
Muslims in the world,

367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Muslims who are suffering under the yoke
of an ever-present theological authority,

368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
should be at the forefront of our minds.

369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
As has been repeated hundreds of times 
by critics like myself,

370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the primary victims of Islamism 
are Muslims,

371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
be it in terms of terrorism, violence, 
misogyny, freedom of expression,

372
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
religion, and economic decline.

373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yet bizarrely, these concerns are 
secondary still to not presenting offense.

374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Still there are others that believe 
that people in the West

375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have no right to speak about 
problems of "brown cultures"

376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
due to the legacy of colonialism 
and other forms of violence

377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the West has cast upon the East.

378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a strange argument because 
it ignores the history of the world,

379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a history in which various nations, Muslims and non-Muslims,

380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have succumbed to the ebb-and-flow 
of conquest, repeatedly,

381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for all of recorded history.

382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Many Islamic countries in fact had 
horrific laws before colonialism.

383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Two of the epicenters of Islamic thought, 
Iran for Shia Islam,

384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Saudi Arabia for Sunni Islam, 
resisted colonialism.

385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In fact, Saudi Arabia was founded in 1744 
as an extremist state,

386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the first iteration of which was 
destroyed by the Ottomans,

387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
due to their religious fanaticism.

388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first Saudis in fact attacked 
and desecrated

389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some of the most holy Muslim sites 
and were stopped

390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not by intervention of the West 
but by other Muslims

391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that viewed them as dangerous fanatics.

392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There was then no American imperialism, 
no frame of wars against other Muslims,

393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and yet, fundamentalist Wahabbis existed,
and were attacking other Muslims

394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very much the same way 
that ISIS attacks them today.

395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Reform is impossible when you constantly 
shift the conversation away

396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from Islamic fundamentalism, and back 
to western violence and imperialism.

397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But don't get me wrong. 
It is important to discuss this,

398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it is important to discuss imperialism 
and the harm that it caused.

399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But violence in the name of Islam 
has terrorized the Middle East

400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ever since its inception, 
and it is important

401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we don't derail this conversation.

402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The moral paralysis out of fear of the 
right, out of fear of furthering bigotry,

403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by shame of prior crimes committed 
by other white people

404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
should not trump all considerations.

405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When I read articles of why Muslims 
should not be ridiculed

406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I get a sense of condescension, a sense 
that there are those who believe

407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that the most essential trait of 
brown people is their religion,

408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a defining feature in fact, 
and due to this

409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they presume that we won't reform 
or we can't,

410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that religion is something 
inherent to who we are

411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and that it won't respond 
to pressure, to change

412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the way Christianity responded 
to pressure by secularists.

413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
While they believe themselves 
to be supporting tolerance,

414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what they are really supporting is 
the religious right of the East,

415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and not just any religious right, not the 
religious right that we have here,

416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's a religious right the West 
hasn't seen for centuries.

417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To me, someone who opposes the most 
foundational liberal principle,

418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the freedom of expression,

419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in order to protect the sensibilities 
of this Islamist religious right

420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is a liberal only in name.

421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In fact, what kind of person holds two 
different groups of people accountable

422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to two different standards of 
acceptable behavior but a bigot?

423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Islam, like all patriarchal religions,

424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is a tool used to justify abuse 
of women and minorities.

425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Does our concept of tolerance extend 
towards tolerance

426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of systematic subjugation 
of women and minorities?

427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What else can excusing abuse made 
in the name of tolerance be called

428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
other than a benevolent, 
self-serving form of bigotry?

429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No matter how seemingly 
compassionate the motivations,

430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we must not hesitate in being honest

431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in calling out our allies for their 
hypocrisy and their illiberal mores.

432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sometimes I feel as though people 
view secularism and free-thinking

433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to be concepts owned by the West, 
something inherently Western.

434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To push secularism and free thought 
to Muslims then

435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is to push a Western identity onto them.

436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is no more than ignorance of history

437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to feel that Enlightenment ideals can 
only be shared by this civilization,

438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
rather than a progression 
of all of humanity.

439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Indeed throughout history

440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there have been champions 
of these very same ideals,

441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there have been free-thinkers 
in every culture in the world

442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that have bled for these ideals.

443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There have been countless free-thinkers 
that challenged faith,

444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that tried but sadly failed to interpret 
scripture in a less misogynist way,

445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even in patriarchal Islamic societies.

446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
For example, the seventeenth century had

447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the crown prince of the Mughal dynasty, 
Dara Shikoh,

448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who was committed to rights of all 
religions, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim alike,

449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
working to bridge the gaps between 
the leading lights of all faiths.

450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
As you may anticipate, 
this was not to last,

451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Dara was murdered by his own brother,

452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
claiming that Dara's tolerance 
was a sign of his apostasy,

453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a brother that is now revered in Muslim 
circles as being a guardian of the faith.

454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Similarly, there have been women

455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that have led the charge 
for their own rights.

456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Exactly two hundred years ago, 
Fatima Baraghani was born in Iran,

457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
an extremely intelligent woman, who as 
per custom was married young,

458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and wasn't allowed to further 
pursue her education.

459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
She was attracted to a radical movement 
brewing in the country,

460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which espoused equality of the genders.

461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
She joined and rose to be one 
of the leading lights of that movement.

462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To symbolize a break from Shariah, 
in one gathering,

463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she took off her traditional veil 
in front of an assemblage of men

464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and brandished instead a sword.

465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now this sight caused such a shock 
among the crowd,

466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that many grown men screamed aloud.

467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One man cut his own throat in horror,

468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
fleeing the scene as blood poured 
from his neck. {Laughter}

469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But she did not enjoy freedom or live 
long after this incident.

470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The tragedy of the Eastern past isn't 
that we haven't given birth to reformers

471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but that the violence of our oppressors 
has eliminated us, time and again.

472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Even in modern times, one Somali author, 
Abdisaid Abdi Ismail, wrote a book

473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where he audaciously argued

474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that Islam doesn't actually call 
for a death penalty for apostasy.

475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was rewarded for his efforts by 
having his life threatened,

476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and calls for his book to be burned.

477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A British reformist, Maajid Nawaz, has had
fatwas issued calling for his death

478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for simply saying on a tweet

479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that a cartoon of Muhammad 
doesn't personally offend him.

480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The religious right has been murdering 
reformers for centuries,

481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but we are still here, 
fighting for our future,

482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the same fight that the West has had 
much greater success in.

483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is strange that the very same people, 
who should (?) tamp down on the power

484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the Christian right and use the advances 
that the West has had,

485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to insist that we must be defined 
by our religious right.

486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let us assume, for the sake of argument,

487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we can all concede the idea that 
Islam, as a religion, needs reform,

488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or at the very least, Muslim communities 
do, both in the West and abroad,

489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and in the way they choose 
to practice their faith.

490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I happen to believe this. 
All the data we have corroborates this.

491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a large amount of evidence

492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which clearly demonstrates 
rampant misogyny,

493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
bad attitudes towards homosexuals 
and apostasy within the Muslim world,

494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
supported by the law and widely 
accepted by the people.

495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In an effort to draw attention away 
from the role of religion in all this,

496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some have chosen to instead use 
excuses by a variety of reasons,

497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
none of which make sense,

498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because Muslim countries share 
almost nothing between them all,

499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
except the predominant religion -

500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not socio-economic status, 
not education or literacy levels, not GDP,

501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not cultural background or history, 
not race or ethnicity, not language,

502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not political system, 
not the history of Western colonization.

503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What they do share is theology.

504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Obviously Islam isn't the root of 
all evil, but it is an important factor.

505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What we have here is a right wing 
in the West who believes

506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that Islam personifies evil

507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and a Left which refuses to even 
look into it as a source of harm.

508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The question then becomes, 
how do we achieve reform

509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
without actually mentioning 
any problems in Islam?

510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How do we achieve progress 
while shying away

511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from one of the foundational aspects 
of how harmful practices are justified?

512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Most cultures are responsive to selective pressure,

513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and by insisting that no pressure 
be applied,

514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are acting as a brake on any progress.

515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have plenty of evidence 
that a push for secularism

516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or a presence within secular cultures 
can change behavior,

517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and even the beliefs of Muslims.

518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
For example, if you compare 
Muslims in the US

519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with Muslims in the Middle East, 
you will find across all metrics,

520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that their opinions are less extreme
and more in line with liberal values,

521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than those of the population 
of their origin countries.

522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Many Muslims believe that 
their religion is immutable,

523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that every word of which is true, 
and reformers insult them

524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when they demand change.

525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yet profound changes in the way 
Muslims practice their religion

526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have occurred in the past.

527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Many Muslim countries practiced 
slavery up until the twentieth century,

528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with some countries abolishing slavery 
as recently as 1981,

529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
citing religious sanction of the practice 
as a justification.

530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Saudi Arabia's slave population 
was estimated at 300,000

531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a scant 50 years ago,

532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it was international pressure 
that forced abolition.

533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Under pressure from the 
British Empire to abolish slavery

534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a little over a century ago,

535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Sultan of Morocco cited 
the inerrancy of the Quran

536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to make the case for the divine 
sanction of slavery.

537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Later the chief minister of Morocco, 
Muhammad Idris,

538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wrote in response to anti-slavery 
efforts, that

539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"we do not interfere in religious 
principles which you profess,

540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
likewise you should not interfere 
in our religion".

541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In the face of Ottoman unwillingness 
to condemn the status of slaves

542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as enshrined in Shariah, 
a British statesman sarcastically stated,

543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one might well ask the Sultan 
to become a Christian.

544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yet today, most if not all Muslims 
are repulsed by the idea of slaves.

545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Did they abandon the Quran which 
seemed to clearly condone slavery

546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a mere century ago?

547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or were we able to shift 
mainstream consensus

548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by standing up for our moral principles?

549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I wonder what would have happened

550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if the benevolent bigots of the West, 
of the Left today,

551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who feel that it is more important 
to respect a culture

552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for the sake of respecting a culture 
had existed back then.

553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How many millions would be 
living in chains today?

554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is another common narrative, 
of the West as oppressors,

555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how racism here feeds 
into the oppression of a minority.

556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Champions of Islam have gone 
on record using it as a cudgel

557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to beat against the back of progress.

558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We need to be aware that 
the victim versus the oppressor dynamic

559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
isn't set in stone the way some people 
would have you believe.

560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One can be a victim in one context 
and an oppressor in another.

561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A Muslim man may deal with racism 
at work, real racism,

562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
may see career setbacks, 
and goes home and beats his hijabi wife

563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because he was raised 
in a misogynistic tradition,

564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
using Quran's verse as justification.

565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Should we not criticize his behavior

566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because of his victimization 
in one aspect?

567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
An imam may be an anti-Semite, 
a homophobe, he may be indoctrinating

568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a generation of impressionable minds 
into his harmful ideas.

569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yet the same imam might also 
be a victim of bigotry

570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when he aims to launch a new mosque.

571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He may be the target of 
local xenophobic attitudes.

572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In lieu of his sufferings, 
should we pretend

573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
his other despicable behaviors 
do not exist? or do not matter?

574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Are we to sacrifice one for the other?

575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Instead, can we not stand 
against all oppressions,

576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
stand for the equal rights of others, 
while simultaneously working

577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
against bigoted narratives in religion?

578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One of my ex-Muslim colleagues

579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beautifully summed up 
the same sentiments,

580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when she was talking about 
the misogynistic nature of the hijab,

581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
quote, feminism is defending 
women, Muslim women,

582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who wear the hijab for whatever reason,
against shaming or attack.

583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Feminism is not categorically 
denying that the hijab can be coercive,

584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
body-shaming, slut-shaming, restrictive 
or psychologically crippling.

585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We cannot avoid reality 
because we are afraid

586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the consequences 
of acknowledging facts.

587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is it ethical to avoid educating our 
children about Darwinian evolution

588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
simply because it has fed 
into Social Darwinism in the past?

589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our silence about uncomfortable truths 
simply underscores

590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the cost of our inaction and 
the consequences loom ever larger.

591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We are paralyzed by our own insecurities, 
by our fear

592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that the truth will empower 
the worst of us, rather than set us free.

593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have those on the Islamic far right

594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who say that there is no room 
for reform in Islam,

595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because Islam is, 
and always has been perfect.

596
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have their counterparts 
from the far right in the West,

597
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who coincidentally also view Islam 
as beyond reform,

598
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but for different reasons,

599
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as something that is irredeemably 
and permanently evil.

600
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Between those two extremes, 
we have the average Muslim,

601
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who is forced to choose 
between the devil he knows,

602
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Islamic dominance and supremacy, over 
the devil he doesn't, Western bigotry.

603
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The liberal Left needs to present 
a different path,

604
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not acquiesce to either form 
of religious dominance.

605
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We must remember that there is 
no inevitable march of progress,

606
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no guarantee that tomorrow's world 
will be more just, more equal,

607
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
more rational, more tolerant 
or reasonable.

608
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Liberal rights without liberals 
to champion them

609
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are values without influence, 
with no defense.

610
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let's not let our empathy 
for oppression of one group

611
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
excuse their oppression of another.

612
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thank you!

613
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
{Standing applause}