I do not like that feeling when I find myself agreeing with Tory MPs. Guilt shivers down my spine, like the winter chill factor ever present at this time of year. The Conservative Shadow Home Secretary said
- "Clearly some of these placards are incitement to violence and, indeed, incitement to murder - an extremely serious offence which the police must deal with and deal with quickly. Whatever your views on these cartoons, we have a tradition of freedom of speech in this country which has to be protected. Certainly there can be no tolerance of incitement to murder."
Maybe I am not fully subscribed to Liberal thinking on this issue, but why is it the political party that exists to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society and values liberty, equality and community is not speaking out against the enslaved spoken antics of an ignorant minority?
Radical Muslims who are sporting placards in our principal cities screaming: "Massacre those who insult Islam", "Europe you will pay" and "Europe you'll come crawling when Mujahideen come roaring" no further represent mainstream Muslim opinion than the Unionist radical Rev. Ian Paisley MP represents mainstream opinion on Christianity.
The rumpus and furore started last week when a fanatical wing of Muslim followers reacted to cartoons published in a Danish newspaper in September of 2005 which was subsequently re-printed by a number of other European media outlets. The most offensive cartoon appears to be of an image Mohamed with a fuse-lit bomb as a turban - an indication that killing your enemy is acceptable for followers of that faith.
Muslims believe in one God, is it the same God who is worshipped by Jews and Christians? If it is, then that fact invites co-operation between followers of the three monotheistic religions.
As a Liberal, I prefer to focus on where we agree, rather than dwell on where we disagree. Maybe Reflecting Britain campaign is a step towards that goal, although I think Lib Dems aiming to win the voting support of Muslims in the UK is more important than getting a Lib Dem Muslim elected to Parliament.
Muslim theology claims that God has sent prophets to every people, and that Mohammed was the last of them. After him, according to orthodox Muslim doctrine, the believers are to expect not another prophet, but the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Jews believe that the Messiah will come and set the captives free. Meanwhile Christians believe that the messiah has already come in the form of Jesus - He set us free through his death on the cross and resurrection and promised to come back "the Second Coming of Jesus Christ".
All three of these religious beliefs subscribe to the ultimate conclusion. I guess I just wish He would hurry up and come back before more blood is shed in His name!
4 comments:
By arresting these protesters the Met would cause an outcry of "freedom of speech doesn't apply to muslims". I suspect that's exactly what the protesters want.
By allowing the protests, and then arresting them later based on video evidence, we get justice and prevent adding fuel to the fire.
A failure to deal with incitement to murder smacks of the racism of low expectations.
If that rabble were locked up and out of the way, the vast majority of muslims would breathe a sigh of relief.
Still, I don't relish the prospect of pitting the riot police against them.
There was certainly some line-crossing at the BBC protest earlier in the week.
The first chants that the Beeb broadcast were of people shouting "Down with BBC!" in protest at the broadcast of brief images of some of the cartoons. Pointless, but within the reasonable realms of freedom of speech.
When these people - apparently British residents - moved on to "Down with UK!" I did start to wonder if they wouldn't be better off living somewhere else...
Still, there is no logic to be afraid, esspecially not for the state.
I feel bad whenever a perceived threat it translated into government policy.
Dutch Justice Minister Donner theorised last week, before his resignation on another issue, that if the society would want the Sharia as state law, it can happen in a democracy.
The Christian gov. responded with a bill proposing the removal of entities backing ideologies that undermine the State.
This is Stalinism, and we know it.
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