Category Archives: Liberal

MCB letter to Charles Kennedy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Muslim Council of Britain writes to Charles Kennedy raising concerns about his party’s attitude to the proposed law banning religious hatred, and complains that details of an MCB meeting with the Lib Dems were leaked to Nick Cohen for his article in the New Statesman (see here).

Now who was responsible for that leak, we wonder. Couldn’t possibly have been leading National Secular Society member Evan Harris, could it? Of course not, and we would never suggest otherwise.

The MCB also complains that Cohen’s account of the meeting was “shamelessly dishonest” and that he failed to contact the MCB to hear their side of the story. Investigative journalism at its best, eh?

See here.

The trouble with The Trouble with Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“As a Muslim, Ms. Manji has the right to criticize Islam more harshly than the rest of us. Her book, however, dredges up ancient history and events in poverty stricken, underdeveloped dictatorships supposedly to advance the idea that, in order to modernize, Muslims must become more self-critical. The brutal history of Christian European nations is barely mentioned.”

Linda Belanger comments on Irshad Manji’s Book The Trouble With Islam.

canpalnet, 1 January 2005

More than just a scarf …

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Perhaps Ridley should consider the possibility that some of those ‘glaring passengers’ might have lost relatives to the terrorist organisations whose fashion sense she shares.”

Letter writers to the Observer give their opinions on Yvonne Ridley’s article recounting the prejudice she experienced as a result of wearing the Islamic headscarf.

Observer, 19 December 2004

For Ridley’s original article, see here.

Seumas Milne takes on the militant secularists

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“For the left not to have stood with Muslims would have been a real betrayal. But for showing solidarity and working with Muslim organisations – whether in the anti-war movement or in campaigns against Islamophobia – leftwing groups and politicians such as the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, are now routinely damned by liberal secularists (many of whom have been keen supporters of the war in Iraq) for ‘betraying the enlightenment’ and making common cause with ‘Islamofascists’, homophobes and misogynists.”

Seumas Milne in Guardian, 16 December 2004

Atkinson joins Evangelical Coalition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Television star, Rowan Atkinson, from the celebrated comedy series “Blackadder” has joined conservative Christian groups in opposing the proposed religious hatred Bill. The celebrity will lead a coalition of comedians, writers and religious groups to oppose the Government’s plans to control extremists who incite religious hatred.

The force will now launch a campaign against some of the components of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill.

Opposition to the religious hatred Bill has been clearly voiced by many conservative groups including the Barnabas Fund, the Evangelical Alliance, and the Lawyer Christian Fellowship. The Bill is due to receive its second reading this week, and will look to create a new offence of incitement to religious hatred, which has the aim of protecting faith groups, in particular Muslims.

Christian Today, 6 December 2004

Liberals can also be fundamentalists

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“The secularist arguments behind the hijab ban in France amount to nothing more than a denial of freedoms of expression and choice. Those who look upon the hijab with disdain will now feel at liberty to abuse those who wear it, given that the state legitimises their feelings. This state oppression will alienate the Muslim population in France. It will result in Muslim women being stigmatised. Secular fundamentalism is as abhorrent as religious extremism.”

Yasmin Ataullah writing in the Guardian, 3 September 2004

‘We must be free to criticise without being called racist’ says Polly Toynbee

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“It is bizarre how the left has espoused the extreme Islamist cause: as ‘my enemy’s enemy’, Muslims are the best America-haters around. The hard left relishes terrorism: a fondness for explosions and the smell of martyrs’ blood excites their revolutionary zeal, without sharing a jot of religious belief.”

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian, 18 August 2004