When it comes to Islam, independent senator Jacqui Lambie is actually right about one thing, but it's not what she thinks it is.

The heated altercation between Lambie and Muslim youth advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied on Monday's Q&A program didn't come entirely as a surprise. The more the likes of Lambie lash out at Australian Muslims due to their fear of the way Islam is practised and enforced overseas, the more pressure and pain Muslims here feel to defend their faith and humanity in the face of those who are determined to deprive them of both.

It's unreasonable to expect any member of a marginalised group to maintain a level head and a calm tone when being told they should be deported for practising their faith. Admonishing them not "to shout at each other," as host Tony Jones did, and to hold both women accountable for expressing their opposing views in an "appalling" "shouting match" as some quarters of the media later did, is not only unfair given the unevenness of the playing field, it ensures that such interactions will never develop beyond superficial arguments.

The question is not whether Islam as a faith system is compatible with "western values" – it is. We know this by the fact that devout Muslims have been living in the west for centuries. But what progress can we hope to make when it is clear that "Sharia law" means something completely different to Muslims and to non-Muslims?