Weeny Western liberals like to argue that Islam is not innately oppressive.

But who cares? Nothing is innately oppressive. Christianity is not innately oppressive. Yet it and its institutions have nevertheless subjugated hundreds of millions of people over the years.

Western academics are afraid of Islam and are also afraid of not being seen as all-inclusive.

I have no such fears of either, and I care (like this commenter) about practice not theory.

In practice, hundreds of millions of women are oppressed every day around the world by Islam. Don’t tell me this is not true. I have actually lived in a Middle Eastern Islamic country.

Have you?

Anyway, Islam is not innately oppressive. So fucking what. I care about what actually happens in the real world.

And no, arguing that, well, the chattel-women in Islam like it (or at least say they do), so it’s not really oppression.

You and I are very different liberals, then, because I do not believe someone can commit themselves to slavery even if they claim to really, really want to do so. I think it is morally wrong and incompatible with any sort of secular humanism one can imagine.

So what should we do?

Nothing. We should do nothing. It’s not our fight, yet we are fighting it.

Bombing and invading countries where Muslims live actually makes it worse. Far worse. We should stop all that immediately.

Other than that and offering some humanitarian support, there’s nothing we can do.

But pretending that Islam is immune from criticism ain’t my bag. All religions harm people, and I make no exception for Islam’s harm.

That one thing isn’t innately some other thing doesn’t mean it does not have those qualities in practice. Simple logic, but not so simple I guess for those stuck in theoretical clouds of obfuscation.