The French left shows it Islamophobia in supporting Niqab ban
contribution by Sam Bogg
On 11th April, French Muslim women will wake up to find they can no longer were the niqab in any public place.
Sarkozy has argued that the burqa is not welcome in France. Even on the liberal-left people have heralded the move as “the right step”. It would seem that some on the French left have forgotten what that means.
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What place for the Church in the Big Society?
contribution by James Townsend.
David Cameron would have us believe that the ‘Big Society’ was his idea, or at least that of Nat Wei. In truth, this is an idea that dates back at least two thousand years. At essence it is encapsulated in the simple, pithy phrase of Christ: “Love thy neighbour.”
The Church of England is ideally positioned to take a lead in the Big Society – it holds a unique claim to have a presence in every community across our nation. But our Church is also facing a crisis of identity, ripping itself apart over theological debates, while watching its congregation grow old and die. continue reading… »
Huck-a-world: How Mike Huckabee remade his image, not his views
Guest post by Michael C. Tracey.
In 2008, the Republican Party came precariously close to nominating Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister, as its presidential nominee. After conservative evangelicals propelled the friendly preacher to victory in the Iowa caucus, opinion polls showed him leading the pack nationwide. continue reading… »
Please don’t be a ‘Jedi’ on the Census again, please
contribution by Adam Wilcox
At the last Census, over 390,000 otherwise sane people listed their religion as ‘Jedi’, which completely screwed up the national religious statistics. There were [allegedly more] Jedi’s in the UK than identifying Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists combined.
By choosing to be officially registered as a Jedi, the true number of non-religious Britain’s was fudged, and this allowed the continued justification of religious influence on policy making. We can’t afford this same mistake again.
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State multiculturalism: replace it with what?
I’m not quite sure whether David Cameron put his own name forward as a founding signatory of Unite Against Fascism, or Unite Against Fascism actively set out to secure his autograph. Either way, many will now be asking which of the two is being more opportunist in maintaining what has always looked suspiciously like a business relationship.
Two days ago, UAF played a leading role in organising a counter-demonstration against an English Defence League march through Luton. More or less simultaneously, the prime minister delivered a speech slamming something called ‘state multiculturalism’. The UAF lot surely won’t have liked that.
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Three problems with David Cameron’s speech on multiculturalism
I think the biggest problem with Cameron’s speech yesterday that it missed a vital opportunity to start a more mature and intelligent dialogue on integration and counter-terrorism, rather than continuing the hectoring tone reminiscent of Tony Blair’s government.
My objections can be divided into three areas.
First, it was striking how much it was simply about pandering to the Daily Mail crowd through strawmen, than saying anything new.
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The Shoah and the Righteous Muslims
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. It is a day that honours our pledge to never forget. And so we don’t. But it is also a time for remembrance and learning.
In Britain anti-Semitism has been on the rise for some time. This has been driven by prolific ignorance and mendacity, predicated on libels levied against the Jewish people for centuries.
And it is also a time of huge anti-Muslim sentiment. Even on the Left we’ve seen idiots equating Muslims or proxy groups with terrorists/ predatory paedophiles/ whatever they fancy that day. As the son of Muslims I genuinely feel more worried about their safety than ever before.
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It’s not liberals deluded about Islam – it’s conservatives
contribution by Matt Hill
Are liberals deluded about the rise of British Islam? That’s what Ed West, a blogger at The Telegraph, alleges in response to an article I wrote arguing that a negligible growth in the numbers of British Muslims offers little to be worried about.
Several writers in recent years have also argued that European liberals are unwitting co-conspirators in the overthrow of everything they hold dear.
I don’t want Britain to become a Hizb ut-Tahrir wet dream any more than they do; I’m just not losing any sleep over it.
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Why are all Pakistani men are being smeared in the sex-grooming cases?
contribution by Iman Qureshi
The coverage of The Times’ investigation into the sexual exploitation of young girls—the majority of whom were revealed to be white—has snowballed into a debate on racial sensitivities, as it transpired that perpetrators were almost exclusively of Asian — more specifically, Pakistani — origin.
It is no surprise that this story was promptly picked up by the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Sun, enabling right-wingers and nationalists to smugly say that these statistics prove that Nick Griffin has been right all along.
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Are we seeing the Islamification of Britain? The opposite in fact
contribution by Matt Hill
Are we seeing the ‘Islamification’ of Britain? If a breathless report in the Independent yesterday is to be believed, the answer is yes. ‘Record numbers embrace Muslim faith‘, claims the article.
But look beyond the hype, and a different story emerges. Some people are eager to be misinformed about the spread of western Islam.
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Who persecutes believers? Other believers
Christians are the religious group that suffers most from persecution on account of faith, Pope Benedict XVI argues in his message for Word Peace Day. And when it comes to perpetrating that persecution, religious fundamentalism and secularism amount to pretty much the same thing, he adds.
As someone who defends religious liberty precisely on account of being a secularist, I must point out to His Holiness that evidence for either contention is somewhat flimsy.
Roshonara Choudhry and Muslim alienation
You must have seen that drawing of Roshonara Choudhry by now, if only because every media outlet seems to be using it. If it comes even close to a reasonable likeness, she looks every bit the homely geek girl that her academic track record suggests her to be.
The poor Bangladeshi kid from East Ham had done two years at Kings College London, one of Britain’s best universities, and they say that she was on for a first.
Her ambition was to become a teacher, a career that was surely within her grasp. Until she dropped out, that is.
Tomorrow she will be sentenced for the attempted murder of Stephen Timms, in an effort to exact, in her own words, revenge for the people of Iraq.
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Why I helped organised ‘Jews against EDL’ this Sunday
On Sunday the English Defence League mobilised outside the Israeli embassy for a rally in support of Israel with the guest speaker being Rabbi Nachum Shifren of The Tea Party, USA.
When I found out about the rally, which I was told was organised by the small but particularly vocal Jewish division of the EDL, I was fuming.
I felt there had to be a counter demonstration. So a few friends and I started organised one.
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Why Angela Merkel is wrong about ‘multiculturalism’
In Germany, Angela Merkel has stated that multiculturalism has “failed, utterly failed”. That the idea of people from different backgrounds living happily side by side does not work.
Further, that it is for immigrants to integrate and, by implication, not for the state that they live in to either accommodate or provide succour and encouragement.
This comes against the backdrop of rising racial tensions in Germany, a country with 3 million Muslims and senior officials publishing books accusing Muslims of lowering German intelligence.
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The Papal visit stand-off doesn’t help secularists or the religious
Allow me, as Aggressive Atheist Man, to declare the result of this week’s all-star Religion v Secularism deathmatch: Bullshit-Spouting Octogenarian Priest 1 Hyperventilating Celebrity Atheists 0.
It’s a game the secularists were always fated to lose. A Papal visit is a forensically planned and meticulously crafted advertising bonanza for the church. It’s going to draw hundreds of thousands of men, women and children across the country; news coverage is going to reflect the joyous blah-blah of the stately waffle-arse.
Cut to a bunch of polysyllabic, placard-waving atheists bumming out everyone’s mellow by shouting about child abuse and condoms. That, there, is an own goal in a country like ours – Britain, as a nation, looks on protest as if it were a form of masturbatory public indecency.
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Christians can protest the Pope’s visit too
From the age of 11-16, I attended a Catholic state secondary school in Merseyside. During that period I realised two things: that I didn’t believe in God, and that even if I did Catholicism would be a bad vehicle of worship.
My contempt for Catholic teaching in particular crystallised in compulsory Religious Education class, around three experiences. The first is of a teacher telling my class that contraception was a sin, the rhythm method wholly reliable, and that any girl who had an abortion would definitely go to hell.
The second was the same teacher remarking that if people only had sex within marriage then “aids wouldn’t be a problem.” And then replying to my complaint that this was hardly appropriate insight regarding (say) non-Christians in Africa, that this was simply “their problem”.
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Why attempts to arrest the Pope were justified
contribution by Adam Wilcox
Back in July I argued that the proposed arrest of the Pope was legal, had precedence and morally the right thing to do. Thanks to the cowardice Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, arrest does not seem likely.
Sadly the ‘Pope’ condoms and abortion clinic visits proposed in the the “blue-sky thinking” [Foreign Office memo] are not going to happen either.
Still, it is worth addressing some of the comments raised by the original post, and give the reasons why this is a cause liberals should care about.
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Burning books is rarely just about the book, is it?
So, to Qur’an burning then. What the Dickens is that about, eh? Is it just a book?
Well no, it isn’t. I doubt Pastor Redneck would be satisfied if all paper copies of the Qur’an were destroyed but all e-books remained in tact.
Unless I’m sorely mistaken, his issue isn’t with some bound bits of paper you can pick up for £5.99 in Waterstones: it’s with ideas.
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The Pope is not the same as The Irish
So there’s a debate in the UK liberal blogosphere about Catholicism, Catholics, and when debate turns into race hate. The reasons why this is contentious are pretty obvious.
On the one hand, the Catholic Church is one of the most revolting institutions ever to have existed, second only to the USSR in terms of ‘well-meaning ideas invented by a nice chap that you could have enjoyed a cup of tea with, taken up by insane evil egomaniacs and turned into an excuse for tyranny and genocide’.
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Why I changed my mind over the Burkha debate
contribution by James Bloodworth
After initially stating my dislike for all things burka and hijab related, which, as it happens, I stand by, I have decided in hindsight that I was somewhat guilty of jumping upon the “ban the burka” bandwagon. I simply assumed that all women who do wear such garments are by default forced into doing so.
That is not to say that there isn’t a great deal of merit in that position. : there are, undoubtedly, a number of women who are forced into the burka (with the threat of Koranically sanctioned violence should they refuse); and it is also at least as important to frame the debate in terms of encouraging more women leaving their homes, as it is to simply view the debate as about the freedom to wear what one wishes.
However, it has became apparent to me that those often shouting the loudest for a burka ban were never really those for whom women’s rights had figured as an overly important issue in the past.
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» New Labour and ignoring racism of the past
» A good week for employment… if women are ignored
» Why it was probably best that just AV is offered in the referendum
» Clubs can’t stop offensive football chants
» There’s no point blaming migrants or welfare for unemployment
» Goldstone’s ‘retraction’ over Operation Cast Lead changes nothing
» Cameron, Clegg: both wrong on immigration
» Don’t be fooled by Cameron and Cable’s immigration stunt
» Why the *type* of debt Britain owes also matters
» Why isn’t Labour offering a credible alternative in Northern Ireland?
» Fear and loathing in Britain’s rightwing press
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