Reason’s Matt Welch agreed that Islam “is providing a disproportionate share of radical nut bags killing people.” Arianna Huffington and Baratunde Thurston pushed back a bit, arguing that you can’t condemn a whole faith just based on what the radicals do. Thurston pointed out that Islam doesn’t exactly have a monopoly on extremism.
However, Maher said “perspective is important,” and Dinesh D’Souza added that most of the terrorist attacks in recent history have at the very least some ties to the Islamic faith. Huffington argued it’s unfair to say “all Muslims are guilty,” which both D’
Maher pointed to how Ayaan Hirsi Ali got an award from Brandeis University revoked because a liberal mob decried her anti-Islamic views, which were borne from a place of experience. D’Souza called that an “illiberal mentality” that wouldn’t be treated equally with similarly out-there people with political views closer to college students’.
Watch the video below, via HBO:
[image via screengrab]
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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac