How the PC Regressive Left Can Manifest Bigotry and Prejudice | Maajid Nawaz
Big Think
2018-06-06
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"No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity," says activist Maajid Nawaz. We should interrogate the intellectual justification of all ideas and preserve the dignity of all people. Nawaz's latest book, co-written with Sam Harris, is "Islam and The Future of Tolerance" (http://goo.gl/MyTejl).
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Transcript - No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity. And what I mean by that is that no idea in Islam, like any other religion and any other philosophy and political thought and creed, is an idea. An idea is by definition adopted voluntary and therefore should be subject to scrutiny. And so I don’t subscribe to any form of blasphemy or censorship when it comes to an intellectual and rigorous debate around any idea. On the other hand, no people are beneath dignity. So no idea is above scrutiny, no people are beneath dignity. And what I mean by that is, it’s very easy when understanding it in this way to recognize, and you can recognize it in your gut, the difference between somebody who is saying I don’t like the religion of Islam. Let me scrutinize it, you know. I think this whole thing about the literal word of God doesn’t sit comfortable with me. That’s very different to someone saying all Muslims are terrorists and they are a disease in America we must expel them. Your gut can recognize the difference between those two. I think Muslims as a people deserve every dignity like any other human being. But every single idea – Charlie Hebdo is a case in point. People have the right, the absolute right to scrutinize and satirize. And so I think my ideas around this were crystalized in my conversation with Sam. And, you know, I think there’s an analogy I use in the dialogue which I took from another ex-Muslim that we refer to by name in the book, Ali Rizvi is a Canadian ex-Muslim who says that it’s like saying smoking is bad and that doesn’t imply smokers are bad people, you know. To say smoking is bad doesn’t mean I’m saying all smokers are bad people. So if Sam Harris is saying he doesn’t agree with Islam it doesn’t mean he’s saying all Muslims are bad people. And I think that’s an example that comes from this maxim, no idea is above scrutiny, you know, people are beneath dignity. And that’s one of the things I took away from this dialogue. And even though the phrasing of that is something which I put in the book the concept, the idea is something I took from people like Sam and I’m very happy that my own thoughts have developed in all these lines when it comes to that. Read Full Transcript Here: http://goo.gl/lWKdOb.
Read more at BigThink.com: http://bigthink.com/videos/maajid-nawaz-on-sam-harris-and-political-correctness
Follow Big Think here:
YouTube: http://goo.gl/CPTsV5
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigthink
Transcript - No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity. And what I mean by that is that no idea in Islam, like any other religion and any other philosophy and political thought and creed, is an idea. An idea is by definition adopted voluntary and therefore should be subject to scrutiny. And so I don’t subscribe to any form of blasphemy or censorship when it comes to an intellectual and rigorous debate around any idea. On the other hand, no people are beneath dignity. So no idea is above scrutiny, no people are beneath dignity. And what I mean by that is, it’s very easy when understanding it in this way to recognize, and you can recognize it in your gut, the difference between somebody who is saying I don’t like the religion of Islam. Let me scrutinize it, you know. I think this whole thing about the literal word of God doesn’t sit comfortable with me. That’s very different to someone saying all Muslims are terrorists and they are a disease in America we must expel them. Your gut can recognize the difference between those two. I think Muslims as a people deserve every dignity like any other human being. But every single idea – Charlie Hebdo is a case in point. People have the right, the absolute right to scrutinize and satirize. And so I think my ideas around this were crystalized in my conversation with Sam. And, you know, I think there’s an analogy I use in the dialogue which I took from another ex-Muslim that we refer to by name in the book, Ali Rizvi is a Canadian ex-Muslim who says that it’s like saying smoking is bad and that doesn’t imply smokers are bad people, you know. To say smoking is bad doesn’t mean I’m saying all smokers are bad people. So if Sam Harris is saying he doesn’t agree with Islam it doesn’t mean he’s saying all Muslims are bad people. And I think that’s an example that comes from this maxim, no idea is above scrutiny, you know, people are beneath dignity. And that’s one of the things I took away from this dialogue. And even though the phrasing of that is something which I put in the book the concept, the idea is something I took from people like Sam and I’m very happy that my own thoughts have developed in all these lines when it comes to that. Read Full Transcript Here: http://goo.gl/lWKdOb.
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