Last weekend, Trevor Noah spoke at a Toronto fundraiser hosted by an Islamist-linked group. It also featured Nouman Ali Khan, an American Muslim who's well known for supporting an extremist Salafi branch of Islam.
I wanted to talk to the people attending this event and hear their thoughts.
WATCH my video to see if they think Islam is compatible with Western values.
I heard differing opinions on issues ranging from the Danish cartoon depicting Mohammad, to the differing views of British and North American Muslims.
Anyway, I think we’re basically on the same page. The question posed is whether Islam is compatible with Western values, and I’ll still maintain that as a theocratic philosophy it clearly is not. Go reform your beliefs elsewhere, come back again in 500 years and we’ll see if we can make a go of it then.
Or do they believe that the practice of female genital mutilation should continue and do they approve or not and would they subject themselves to it or their female children.!
Or how would they react if members of their family or immediate family became radicalized and wanted to carry out terror attacks.!
Or what is their interpretation of the Koran calling for the murder of Christians and Jews.
Or do they support the radical violence that is happening worldwide in the name of Allah.
You know… The hard questions..!
That is a fallacy. While they do remain peaceful in small numbers their hatred towards non-muslims is still clearly visible. Encountering their women when shopping is not a pleasant occurrence, they go out of their way to be rude.
Does Islam only equate to a set of religious / sacred beliefs surrounding a deity folks privately pray to for guidance and reflection? I suspect for some Muslims at least this is the extent of their definition of Islam.
Or does Islam equate to the religion AND a theocratic form of government AND the sharia judicial system? The Islamists who follow this path clearly intend to supersede, by force if not by force of numbers, all other forms of government and judicial systems in the name of Allah.
Unfortunately, because one of the tenets of Islam is taqiyyah there is simply no possible method of easily differentiating a Muslim from an Islamist.
Also, because there is no one central, overriding authority (like a Pope) to steer Islam in a consistent, clear, upward evolutionary path, this particular theocratic philosophy is continually capable of being hijacked back to its 7th century roots and its literal Koranic interpretations by those who wield power, and who are far more interested in establishing their own position within a worldwide Caliphate than they are in establishing a personal connection with any deity.
The Islamic apologists and moral relativists who routinely (and lazily) equate current day Islamic terror with that of historical Christianity forget that Christianity as a religion had to undergo several centuries of bloodletting, chaos and gradual reformation before it ended up as it is today. Islam has never had such a reformation; it does not handle secularism well, even in its more “moderate” forms (can anyone really say Saudi Arabia cheerily adopts Western secular values, even though branded as a “moderate” among Muslim nations?).
So on balance, no; Islam as it currently exists is not compatible with Western values. It’s funny how many times apologists are quick to brand Islam as a guaranteed constitutional right because, when convenient to do so, it can be packaged and presented with a neat bow as “just another religion” in the pantheon of religions; anyone who cares to acquaint themselves with the facts can see from the Islamic experience elsewhere that it is clearly much more.
Individual live-and-let-live Muslims will always be able to exist in the West, but the overall Islamic philosophy as currently constituted runs counter to Western liberal secularism completely.
http://www.watchmanbiblestudy.com/Articles/SteveSnider/MeetPaleHorse.html
There seems to be an intellectual acknowledgement that Sharia culture should have dominance over western values. I fear Trudeau’s upcoming anti-freedom law will force us all to become silent (fearing persecution under that law). I also fear the next Conservative leader will cow-tow to Trudeau’s new law and not stand up for our western values.
By the time I retire, if it’s not too late, I’ve been thinking that it might be best to just shut out the media and internet and live out the rest of my years in isolation, not stressing over our loss of freedoms and the persecution of women, the LGBT community, non-Muslims, etc. Become oblivious to current affairs. Perhaps move to the outer reaches of Canada or another country that maintains the values that we cherish today. I want to die of old age. I want to die FREE.
But I will NEVER BE FREE of the sorrow for lost rights and freedoms, and I’ll constantly wonder why I didn’t do more to protect them.