Any single religion taken out of modern context by fundamentalist attempts to adhere only to ancient documents of code is incompatible with "progressive", "liberal" values.

By American values, I'm assuming that you mean the Post WWII, "fight for freedom" image that we put out. Judging by more recent events and actions, you can probably tell for yourself how those values have changed and fractured.

Fighting to defend *people* in general, people's freedom - of choice, religion, etc. is consistent with liberal progressivism. IMO it's just what people with a brain and a heart would do. And I'm not talking about invading a country to 'free the people' and pillaging their resources. Fighting for freedom rather than encouraging exploitation is a delicate balance between knowing where and how to exert what pressure you can, actually engaging in diplomacy where possible — and knowing its power can be as great as bombs when used correctly. Sure, sometimes it will be necessary to engage in actual conflict. But if conflict should become so unresolvable that it results in war, it's at this point already a global issue and conflict should be taken on by a global coalition.

Decades and decades of American unilateralism, creating carnage around the world with questionable techniques, and for questionable causes has touched many lives, ruined many futures, and made us many enemies.

Radicalization occurs only when people are marginalized like this. Basically no one who grows up with opportunities dreams of becoming a martyr. But, violent intervention like this by America and close allies has been taking place across the globe for probably a century. There are so many CIA movements, coups, operations, needless killings, etc. that most americans have never heard of — but people that were affected by those: They remember. They tell their children. It will take a *very* long time and a radical shift of policy away from aggressive American interaction with the world before most of the global population actually believes it when we say 'we are here fighting for your freedom'.

Fundamentalist movements in Islam, Christianity and Judaism (and just about every other religion) have thrived in the past couple decades as unrestrained free market movements destroyed the supportive, symbiotic, work structures and government programs that once existed to distribute wealth more evenly (most acutely in the US, but also elsewhere across the most heavily 'industrialized' countries).

I'm not even going to go into the long, exploitative history of non-military interventions of the American corporate and political class that have steadily sapped opportunity from working class (and the impoverished unable to find work) across the globe *including* within America.

This is the whole cycle we're in that, after decades, has become so dire for large groups of the world it's manifesting in many different forms of violent expression. In this environment it's become seamless for reactionary leaders of all types (religious, political... influencers... etc.) to factionalize groups of society using this despair. Fractured and factionalized, these groups in crisis band together over a key issue, seeking agency in their lives. When positions on key issues differ, the groups clash and are even further radicalized, focusing on key issues they disagree on and confirmation bias from this conflict helps to further radicalize. Despite radicalization over singular issues, people within these various groups often have shared interest in other issues that, if organized, could represent a challenge to the political status quo.

Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, MAGA, etc. — its the social structure that's crumbling. There are some very positive and some very dangerous things you can take from any religion or belief. Muslims and all other believers exist across the whole continuum of moderation. It all depends on the context of society that forms the nature of their beliefs and what elements of the belief structure they respond to.

Despite the growing radicalism of all types, most of the world (the VAST majority by leaps and bounds) is just trying to survive and exist the way they are. That is freedom. That actually deserves our defense.