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Britain
Blunkett's ban will fan the flames
2004-07-13
Steyn of course
A couple of years back, I mentioned the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and received a flurry of lively e-mails. It was Valentine's Day 1989, you'll recall, when the Ayatollah Khomeini issued his extraterritorial summary judgment on a British subject, and shortly thereafter large numbers of British Muslims were marching through English cities openly calling for Rushdie to be killed.

A reader in Bradford recalled asking a West Yorkshire officer on the street that day why the various "Muslim community leaders" weren't being arrested for incitement to murder. The officer said they'd been told to "play it cool". The calls for blood got more raucous. My correspondent asked his question again. The policeman told him to "F--- off, or I'll arrest you."

Isn't that pretty much how it's likely to go once David Blunkett's new protection for Islam is in place? If you're the "moderate" Imam Yusuf al-Qaradawi, you'll be invited to speak at the "Our Children Our Future" conference sponsored and funded by the Metropolitan Police and the Department for Work and Pensions. But, if you express concern about ol' Mullah Moderate, an Islamic lobby group will file an official complaint about you.
Posted by:tipper

#10  Are you Mi6 or Mi5 Mr. Bulldawg? Or a Yardie?

Be careful, see ya next time and maybe I'll show you the secret of the Mongolian Chest Implosion.
Posted by: Col Flagg   2004-07-13 12:20:09 PM  

#9  My skills aren't on a par with his though, unfortunately.
Posted by: Bulldog   2004-07-13 9:49:45 AM  

#8  You have more disguises than Inspector Cluseau.
Posted by: ed   2004-07-13 9:47:30 AM  

#7  Oh FFS - that was me!
Posted by: Bulldog   2004-07-13 9:43:18 AM  

#6  I don't think that's the intention at all, ed. You see, criticising Jews, Christians and other varieties of infidels isn't actually necessarily criticising their religion. Just them. The crime would be for a Jew, Christian, homosexual, etc. to criticise Islam for being intolerant. And criticising a cleric or Imam himself would no doubt constitute attacking Islam, as he speaks for the great Pooh-Bah.
Posted by: LLL Moron   2004-07-13 9:42:39 AM  

#5  Is this law 2 way? If a mosque sermon entreats Allah (and what sermon does not?) to destroy the Jews and Christians, bring fire to homosexuals, and shake the ground beneath Club Girls, can charges be brought against the Imam and mosque?
Posted by: ed   2004-07-13 9:34:45 AM  

#4  I have to say, if the Government think they can stifle my freedom to criticise Islam, they've got another thing coming.

If they did enact this law, we might just see the final showdown between the forces of PC and common sense. Could actually turn out to be a good thing...
Posted by: Bulldog   2004-07-13 8:26:01 AM  

#3  Don't shout too loudly about Churchill's lack of PC - we'll be forced to take his statue down ;) Great post.
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-07-13 8:21:41 AM  

#2  Yup, Blunket is an asshat. But we already knew that.
Posted by: FlameBait93268   2004-07-13 4:16:06 AM  

#1  These two portions sort of leapt off the page at me. How odd that Churchill made these observations over a century ago and they are still pertinent. I suppose it shows something about the stagnation timelessness of Islam.

"The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."

Few truer words could be spoken even to this very day.

"Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith."

Again, quite the spot-on analysis of a political system masquerading as religion.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-07-13 4:05:32 AM  

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