Ayaan Hirsi Ali

I am not a conservative but Islam's other components are abhorrent.When Waleed Aly (love the guy) disagrees with her and says her lack of credentials in Theology makes her ignorant that is a VERY poor excuse for Moderates like himself to appear polished and credible with their argument on the topic. There is a fine line between moderates and extremism Waleed....which is why you have chosen the palatable Moderate route via your media gigs.

I agree with Hirsi Ali about the intellectual-moral dead end of moral relativism. But in most respects her thesis that Islam is inherently antithetical to Western liberal democratic values is alarmingly simplistic.

For example, she interprets the threat from Iran as a simple "clash of civilizations". But she forgets that Iran was not so long ago a modern, secular society. It's "radicalization" was not a natural result of Islamic values but the result of British and American forces overthrowing Iran's democratically elected leader and installing an autocratic government that would assist them in exploiting the country's oil resources.

This actual history reflects the same "liberal" values that Hirsi Ali advocates for refugees to be blackmailed into accepting when they flee to Australia from war-torn regions.

Hi Pam, can you (or someone else) share where Waleed Aly makes reference to Hirsi Ali's lack of credentials in theology? Thanks in advance!