The Problem With The Way The Left Views Islam
There's a Q & A with Ayaan Hirsi-Ali and Asra Q. Nomani in The New York Times, in which they respond to readers' inquiries. Here's one exchange:

FDR ASKS: Fellow progressives, hear me out ...

These ladies have a point. The left in general has given a pass to Islamism. We need to be able to criticize Islam's worst without fear from political correctness. We need to demand from Muslim friends and colleagues the same, as well as verbal acceptance of basic Western and Enlightenment values such as women's equality.

Let's recapture the discourse and this banner from the right.

AYAAN HIRSI ALI ANSWERS:

I think this is a good way to approach the subject of Shariah and in particular the attitudes of many Muslims to the rights of women, the L.G.B.T. community, blasphemy laws, apostasy and dissent.

First, what is needed is critical self-reflection on the morals and agenda to which people on the left say they are committed. Look squarely at the real consequences of that agenda, both good and bad. Second, apply the idea of equality to all individuals regardless of their identity. Human rights are universal. And human rights are held by individuals, not by groups. The left today has a growing tendency to prioritize group rights over individual rights, partly driven by "intersectionality." This is often what gets them in a moral bind. The rights of individual human beings should always come before those of the tribe or the collective.

If one finds white male sexism intolerable, then one should by definition find all male sexism just as intolerable. Excusing men of color, Muslims, immigrants or men living in non-Western societies for bad behavior toward women is an expression of the bigotry of low expectations.

The result of this mindset is that Christianity -- still "the white man's religion" in the eyes of many -- is criticized for every misstep against women but Islam is protected from the glare of scrutiny. In its extreme form, relativism excuses Muslim men from universal standards because they are said to be victims of colonialism and of recent military invasions; because they are new immigrants who face cultural alienation; and because they cannot be deprived of their last source of pride: their domination over their women in their communities. I reject this line of reasoning. Anyone who believes in human rights should too.

In Europe, and in the United States, we need to defend universal women's rights. Thorny religious and cultural problems need to be addressed, and discussed openly. There is no reason why this should be, or be viewed as, a partisan issue.

RELATED: Barbara Kay's terrific talk "How To Launder A Hijab," about how a symbol of female disempowerment is turned into a symbol of female empowerment -- which is, of course, total bullshit.

Did you know the hijab was invented by an Iranian mullah in 1970?

Under Islam, the woman is responsible for the containment of male desire? And women are responsible for sustaining their family's "honor" through their sexual behavior.

Helloo? Yoohoo? Where are the protests by feminists?

P.S. Keep in mind, as Kay points out, that when you see a women in a hijab, you don't know whether she's wearing it out of free choice or out of pressure by her family and other Muslims -- perhaps the pressure of being killed for going without it.

via @CHSommers