Too many politicians want us to respect other cultures but the implicit assumption is that all cultures respect human rights. While it is true that many individuals do respect human rights this is not true of their culture. While most Muslims are quite ethical and care about other people, even those in other faiths, this is not true of their culture. That is, it’s not true of the official version of their religion as spelled out by their holy book, the Qur'an, and it’s not true as preached by a large number of their holy imams. In particular, Sharia law does not respect the rights of women and has no place in our society.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a tireless advocate of these points and continually slams Islam for having no respect for the rights of women. Although some Muslim countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have secular governments, fundamentalist Muslims are working to reduce the fragile separation of Mosque and State that exists there.
As an author and speaker, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has a clarity of thinking and expression that makes her an excellent spokesperson. Born and raised as a Muslim in the Middle East, she has more credibility than blond Geert Wilders who is often labelled extreme right-wing even though she says similar things. Rarely does Hirsi Ali get burdened with the same label.
The following is part of an interview she gave on Australian TV to promote her new book, Nomad.
Like the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) is known for quality programming and their interviews for pointed questions. Asking "why she is agnostic and not atheist" is an example – and I like the answer. If god was created by man, why would there be any ambiguity about his existence?
Islam 
