Who defines what Islam is and what its ideas are?
Sorry, I havent been following the Affleck/Harris thing too closely, but:
you're not saying that one needs to read the Quran in Arabic, are you? That you need to go to scholars? That someone can't criticize Islam because they aren't themselves Muslim?
Why do we need one definition of Islam? We see generally how Muslims think, what they believe, and it's not difficult to engage in a discussion to see the faults of the religion, just like any other. It's not difficult to draw some conclusions about some components of Islam, good or bad.
Not trying to say that that's what you are saying, but I often have come to realize that with Islam specifically, it's often said that "oh you just don't understand because Islam requires a lot of studying and knowledge to properly critique"
I just want to make clear that this is not what is being argued
I don't think arguments that suggest Islam is truly violent are inherently wrong.
I don't view the arguments too different from arguments made against Christianity that paint the religion as deeply flawed and immoral.
But when it comes to Islam, I often see people saying that criticizers don't have the authority to speak against Islam, whether that's because they are white/American, or simply uneducated on "true Islam"
I'm not sure if Harris says something particularly different about Islam being "truly" and exclusively one way, but I'm hoping that what you aren't saying is that people who speak against Islam are themselves making invalid arguments.
You don't think that the Quran is perfect, do you? That the Qu'ran is the perfect book of authority and morality?
