“Harun Khan, the council’s deputy secretary, said: ‘We will be writing to Mr Eric Pickles to ask that he clarifies his request to Muslims to ‘explain and demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity’. Is Mr Pickles seriously suggesting, as do members of the far right, that Muslims and Islam are inherently apart from British society?’”
Well, is it? Please let us know. The way I read the request Mr Eric Pickles had assumed it was undoubtedly now a part of British society and that “means to be British” is simply that Britains deplore divisive extreamism, including our own far right for the majority. I guess that’s the semantic problem that has dogged theology, philosophy and family politics for all these years, a “can” that may have been an “is” but that then gets read as an “isn’t” in an invitation that then gets mistook for a command.
Government tells mosques: force out the preachers of hate (telegraph.co.uk).
“The Government has taken the unprecedented step of writing to every mosque in the country to tell Muslim leaders that they must do more to root out the ‘men of hate’ who are preaching extremism. … The letter says that Imams must explain to young people what it means to be British. And it says that mosques who identify hate preachers within their midst can receive free legal advice to force them out.”
Seriously, if there is an issue with getting rid of those hate preachers, please do let those who do accept Islam as a part of modern Britains landscape know.
Updated 20th January 2015
Yep, Dermot Murnaghan did ambush Labour’s Chuka Umunna over mosque letter on air (video, news.sky.com) after leading him up a charbagh garden path there.
Poor chap; he only thought he was coming on to say electing Labour will at least stop Flashman’s practised finger pointing at anything.
.:: Update ::.
David Cameron says anyone criticising Eric Pickles’ letter to Muslims “really has a problem” (independent.co.uk).
“Another part of [Mr Pickles’] letter said that ‘British values are Muslim values’, adding that Islam’s ‘message of peace and unity’ makes the country better and stronger.”
Hear, hear—except perhaps potentially treating women as second class citizens by prohibiting them from driving or making them cover up in a burqa or hijab in the presence of males outside of their immediate family or stoning them to death after they obviously didn’t or didn’t receive FGM (msn.com) to make them not want to, which really isn’t the Britain I’ve ever known or particularly want to.
But, then again, the Church of England has only just started allowing women to become bishops who can disapprove of much that I personally like in life too and still thinks pulling it out in time stops us “breeding like rabbits” (news.yahoo.com).
Even the controversial Lord Ahmed took issue with the response:
“Lord Ahmed, who co-signed the letter, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he was ‘disappointed’ with the Muslim Council of Britain’s response.”
For once managing to shift the blame for his dissapointment on anything other than that which is south of Lebanon.
Read for yourself. Eric Pickles’ letter to Muslim leaders: the text in full (independent.co.uk).
“You, as faith leaders, are in a unique position in our society. You have a precious opportunity, and an important responsibility: in explaining and demonstrating how faith in Islam can be part of British identity. We believe together we have an opportunity to demonstrate the true nature of British Islam today.”
Indeed; addressed to those “faith leaders” to give example and to take weight off the shoulders of poor Mr Chowdhury of the local branch of Happy Shopper, who has far too much to do clearing his own stock room, let alone clearing house for his religion as well.
And on a similar note:
PM challenges Pope over free speech (msn.com).
Giving Flashman all the more chance for pre-election posed finger pointing as, along with trying to bait that the Pope had heaped support for terorism against religion with a vague suggestion that those who gave it a pop could “expect a punch” he said, with more substance:
“You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”
Maybe you shouldn’t in polite society, but, not really one for chuckles and smiles anyway, the Catholic church has of course for a long, long time been going fire and brimstone decrying as sinners any not doing what it thinks is God’s law and only quite recently in most parts of the modern world have people stopped listening.
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