I made a quick transcription of the first six minutes of the video where Sargon is reading a letter about Islam from a man in Pakistan. I'm sure I made are a few minor errors here and there, but I don't think I missed anything significant. —MichaelThe Basis of DiscriminationIn Islam, discrimination is based on belief and not tied to geography or race. Islam has a taxonomy of dehumanization: pagans, Muslims of the wrong sect, etc. Western culture does not have words that are counterparts for religious racism and sexism that are in Islam. Western society became secular long ago, and now that it is under assault from Islam, it lacks the linguistic weapons to fight religious ascendancy. Non-Muslims might not be interested in Islam, but Islam is very interested in non-Muslims.
Much of the Koran is addressed to non-Muslims. Islam actively engages kafir (apostates) and confrontation. Islam is universalist and intends to become a religion for all of humanity. Just like all have the right to comment on communism [as a political ideology], all have the right to comment on Islam.
Too often Western academia bundles Islam with Christianity and teaches it in religious studies. Islam should be studied in political science, along with communism, capitalism and fascism. What Islam needs, first and foremost, is secular comment and secular judgment. Most university's Islamic studies are staffed by Muslims, making them little different from madrassas.
Apostasy and BlasphemyThere are many issues with Islam that Western audiences should know. You can't leave Islam and you can't scrutinize Islam. Imagine if, during the Cold War, criticizing Karl Mark constituted blasphemy. Imagine the fear and paranoia in the West if people feared that criticizing Marx would mean a random, knife-wielding communist might kill them at any time, anywhere.
When a regressive talks about Muhammed Ali being a Muslim, but not a terrorist, just ask them if they can imagine any Muslim celebrity leaving Islam and continuing to live their life as normal. Islam is like a prison for Muslims: you can't leave it. Also, Muslims go to China, India, Europe, America and Africa. They preach their religion freely, in seminars, on streets, setup mosques, and so on. Why is the Muslim world closed for non-Muslim preachers? Why can't Christian, Hindu, atheist missionaries set up shop in Muslim countries and convert people to their view? Muslim lands are essentially locked out of other religions, for Islam remains a totalitarian religion allowing no competitor. In the Islamic world, the social contract is not between man and society, but between Muslims and non-Muslims in society.
The invention of the academic category "the Muslim" is itself, problematic. It locks people up in their religion and this is what Islamists want. The West should identify Muslims with their country of origin, Bengali, Pakistani, etc., and deal with the community leaders, with these country-based communities, rather than one brand, "the Muslim community."
Another interesting fact is that Islam has little experience living as a minority; it always seeks power. It ruled India, Spain and Eastern Europe as a minority, and now Muslim minorities find themselves being ruled, in India and Europe, hence the anxiety. Many of those Islamists who initially opposed the creation of Pakistan, had this in mind, that if they were pious enough and organized enough in a united India, they, the minority, could once again rule the Hindu majority of India, like the Mughal times, once Britain had left.
One of the reasons Pakistan is so anti-India and so anti-Hindu is the caution of this imperialist dream. And speaking of imperialism, the West needs to understand that imperialism is not always state based. Non-states can also be imperialistic and imperialism is not always cultural and linguistic, it can also be religious.
Assimilation and Post-ModernismPost-modernists are suspicious and critical of grand narratives. The Enlightenment had humbled Christianity, then Post-modernism came and humbled the Enlightenment universalism and de-constructed secularism. Apparently, the only grand narrative they're afraid of de-constructing is Islam. This is another point worth emphasizing. Why are Post-modernists afraid of taking on the grand narrative, ie. Islam? Also, they say cultural assimilation is genocide. If so, why do they tolerate religious assimilation? Why is Islam allowed to assimilate its converts and erase the diversity? Isn't that a form of genocide?
ReciprocationWhy don't Muslim majority countries strive for pluralism? Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, these are rich countries. Why don't they open up for non-Muslims and celebrate difference? Why isn't this liberal generosity reciprocated? Turkey was never colonized. It was itself the seat of the Ottoman Empire, which built its beautiful cities by stifling the growth of the Arab world and Eastern Europe. Will Turkey accept pluralism by inviting Eastern European Christian it once ruled over, or is post-colonial guilt only for the West?
Islam and ReformThe fight between liberal Muslims and Islamists is not on equal terms. Islamists use blasphemy laws and taboos as cover and a shield, as a trench from which to attack the opposition. They can come out with anything, while liberals have to watch their tongues. Liberals are extremely restricted in their speech, while Islamists lace their argument with Koranic or Prophetic authority, knowing full well that liberals can't oppose or contradict the Koran or the Prophet, so liberals have to work around that obstacle and in this way lose the force and substance of their argument. That is the one and only reason Islamists are winning everywhere.
The Muslim LeftAll leftists in the West should ask themselves, "What happened to the Muslim left? Who exterminated them? Which ideology erased their existence?" Only by answering this question can we think about reviving left internationalism.
The Muslim CommunityThe regressives divide the wider society to far right, right, left and far left, so why not apply these same divisions to Muslim communities? Why do they suddenly suspend their judgment and identify Western Muslim population as "the Muslim community?"
ConclusionApostacy and blasphemy are two closed valves that need to be thrust open if Islam is to be compatible with Western values. Islam needs to move from a paradigm of coercion to a paradigm of choice. If we need any diversity, it is within Muslim communities in the West.