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I feel confident I have made my position always clear: we cannot be bigoted, discriminate, or over-generalize Muslims. This is my personal and ethical responsibility. Words matter. I don’t want to contribute to the climate of fear and hate against Muslims. /1
If it makes you uncomfortable that I’m saying this, ask yourself why. Do you hate Muslims? /2
Islam encompasses just about every single culture in the world. There are commonalities, but there are also many differences. A Tajiki Sunni Muslim & a second generation American born Indian Shia Muslim are as different as could be, yet still both consider themselves Muslim. /3
I can predict the situation will get worse. Birth rates continue to drop and immigration seems to be the only viable solution to keep our work force young and productive. So we will continue to have this ‘cultural clash’. /4
What are examples of irresponsible statements? “They want to kill us all” or sweeping generalizations like “they hate our way of life”. Encouraging discrimination against or dehumanizing them. Making statements like “China is doing a good job”, or “we need to ban Islam”. /5
This is just going to lead to more hatred, more antagonism, more sunk positions, more Islamists, and a worse outcome for all. /6
What’s the solution? We need to stick to our values of liberal secular humanism. We will find more and more Muslims interpreting Islam in a progressive manner, compartmentalizing the bad parts away, or leaving it. This is already happening. I have seen it myself in Canada. /7
If you want to eliminate Islam from the world, make everyone atheist (or Christian), sorry, I don’t have the same goal as you. My goal is to show Islam doesn’t satisfy the truth claims and to preach secular enlightenment values, and ultimately let people decide for themselves. /8
The “veil of ignorance” is a thought experiment where you get to make the laws, but you don't get to decide who you are born as. If this was the case, would you still support repressive laws against others? /9
But.. but.. Muslims don’t give us the same rights in their countries. Oh really? So now that’s our yardstick to decide right and wrong - what Muslims do? Again, if that’s how you’re thinking, you can’t claim to be any better. /10
If you don’t want to live in a world where regimes persecute exmuslims and LGBT for not conforming, how can you support these same Draconian laws against Muslims? Muslim countries arrest them, throw them in jail, fine them, beat them, and you condemn it all. /11
But if you support laws such as a hijab ban, aren’t you a hypocrite? Then it’s not Islam that’s evil and repressive, it’s your ideology. /12
