West vs Islam

I have just finished reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book, entitled Infidel.  The book covers the life of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, from her earliest years until the present.  She tells of her family, her upbringing, the physical abuse of female circumcision, of beatings, and of the emotional abuse of unrealistic expectations from a life ruled by the Quran. She describes her extreme devotion to the religion as an adolescent, as she seeks answers, and then her gradual rejection of it as she realises how, by it's intrinsic nature, Islam continually brings women into subservience, violence and abuse, with no means of escape.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is woman who is not afraid to speak the truth. Her central motivation for writing the book is to be a voice against the oppression of Islamic women. Towards the end of the book she says:

When people say that the values of Islam are compassion, tolerance, and freedom, I look at reality, at real cultures and governments, and I see that is simply isn’t so.  People in the West swallow this sort of thing because they have learned not to examine the religious or cultures of minorities too critically, for fear of being called racist.  It fascinates them that I am not afraid to do so.

The disparity between West and East was one of the key influences in shaping Ayaan’s philosophy and fight for freedom. How could the “infidel” West be so clean, organised, civilised and peaceful when it rejected the teachings of Allah?
An excellent, eye-opening book. I recommend it.