"One that is diametrically and irreconceivably opposed to Western ideas of individual rights and freedoms at that. And completely intertwined with the political realm."
Ten yers ago I would have argued that Christianity did some horrible things in the middle ages and we grew out of it.
But we don't really have centuries to allow for Islam, the way things are going.
Lefties throw that argument up all the time. They don't seem to understand that last, and the fact that there's a matter of degree involved. Also, there's the uncomfortable fact that nasty things done in the name of "Christianity" are generally un-Christian, and are decried as such, while nasty things done in the name of Islam are generally in keeping with the life and tenets of Mad Mo'.