Over the course of my life, I have made many transitions - most of them taking me further away from my Somali roots and steadily toward the enlightened mentality of Western democracy.
From Ayaan Hirsi Ali
I don't have much in me left for Somalia, because the country is so broken, it's not realistic to daydream about it.
Every time you take a train, step into your car, walk into the shopping mall, go to the airport - every single time, something could happen. That's how terrorism works.
I was a Muslim once, remember, and it was when I was most devout that I was most full of hate.
They decided to let immigrants in and I am an immigrant. They gave us a chance to participate in this country's life and I took it.
I call myself a liberal - a classical liberal as in John Stuart Mill.
It's wrong to treat Muslims as if they will never find their John Stuart Mill. Christianity and Judaism show people can be very dogmatic and then open up.
Even with protection, even with death threats, I can publish, I can travel and I can live the life that I want and not the one my parents want or some imam somewhere thinks I should live.
You have to let individuals make their own choices and respect that, even if it's your own child. And that's what was taken away from me. My father passed away thinking I still had to go back to his way of believing.
My brother thinks it is very, very bad that I left Islam. My half-sister wants to convert me back; I want to convert her to Western values. My mum is terrified that when I die, and we all go to God, I will be burned.
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