2) Jay isn’t saying he agrees with everything Ali thinks, he’s saying that feminist critiques of a society shouldn’t be held to a double standard based on whether the society being critiqued is western or non-western. He’s expressing opposition to an odious form of discrimination. So the most charitable interpretation I can give your remark is that you think we should approve of Ali being subject to illegitimate discrimination because she holds beliefs that we disagree with. All I can say to that is that conservatives and libertarians are only human and have many faults, but we’re not as bad as that.

And for the record, I did follow the link, and I wasn’t impressed. I strongly doubt that Ali really opposes free speech for religious believers. But even if she did, that would be irrelevant to Jay’s point. Even people who don’t support free speech have a right not to be subject to illegitimate discrimination.

As for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, conservatives should be careful supporting her. Recently she was exposed for holding extreme views on some subjects close to the hearts of many conservatives and libertarians.

http://planetirf.blogspot.com/2008/08/comment-ayaan-hirsi-hilali.html