The Politics of Dancing

On The Limits of Tolerance: Islam, Islamism and the Pusillanimity of Liberal Left I owe a great deal to ‘Why I am not a Muslim,’ by Ibn Warraq in the writing of this essay. It is a courageous erudite and lucid book and I recommend to anyone interested in the issues raised here. I. The stupidest speech I have heard in recent years, and the bar is not high, came from a Liberal Democrat activist speaking at one of their spring conferences. The gist of her speech was a disdain for the concept of tolerance. ‘I don’t want” she opined from the rostrum, “to live in a society that merely tolerates difference I want to live in a society that openly embraces diversity. Tolerance simply isn’t good enough!” This is the sound of the ideology of multiculturalism finally gone mad. A hysterical cry of a hitherto unknown phenomenon, fanaticism masquerading as liberalism. Leaving aside for a moment how this brave new world would police any perceived failure to embrace diversity, let us pause...

The other day I watched the BBC Parliament channel coverage of the London Assembly and listened to Joanne McCartney, the Chair of the Police and Crime Committee, opening the proceedings. After referring to the "appalling murder murder of Lee Rigby,"   she  engaged in the following exchange:- “…What was the Met's assessment of the scale of racially motivated hate crime that has occurred since this appalling tragedy ?” The Deputy Commissioner of the Met responded by stating:-   “We all had been touched and affected by that tragedy. Increases in overall 'hate crime' after that"[the murder of Lee Rigby] "and low level harassment and name calling had increased, though now have resumed to more normal levels." Ms McCartney was concerned at the use of the word low level, did this not diminish the impact on victims? At this point I had to pause, take breath, and reflect upon the facts. A British soldier is murdered on the streets of Londo...

Two articles in the Guardian this week, the first a very long, windy and tedious piece by Glen Greenwald, you can read it here, (though you will require forbearance and a high tolerance for repetition and the non sequitur  :- http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/03/sam-harris-muslim-animus The second short sharp and to the point:- http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/05/femen-topless-protest-gloriously-crude . [1] Greenwald’s piece is part of a wider movement seeking to present hostility toward Islamism in particular and Islam in general as a) racist and b) part of an imperialist plot aimed at world domination by the west. Sam Harris  I do not intend here to go over Greenwald’s article, dissecting his all too oft repeated arguments, I fear to do so would induce in me a draining away of the will to live. So I am grateful for one  Charles Kingsley who sums up the piece perfectly in the comments section. ‘It makes the ...

The following was posted on my Facebook page.  POPPY BURNERS IN COURT 23RD FEB LIKE THIS PAGE TO LOCK THEM UP. Below this headline is a picture of what I presume to be one of the defendants. [1] It boasts over 92,000 Likes and I see no reason to question the figure. This is an extremely depressing statement of our lack of passion for freedom of expression, though sadly it does not surprise me. We have been living in a country culturally hostile to dissent for some time. A major player in this respect has been the popular press; particularly the Daily Mail and the Murdoch owned Sun newspaper, which have done so much to create a vigilante climate against unpopular opinion. I visited the Facebook page from which the post had come. Amongst the myriad of often semi literate outpourings of rage was the following,  ‘….NOOO whats [sic] funny is your dissin [sic] our hero's thats [sic] give there lives over 100 years of hero's that gave there lives for the freedom of...

Question: How did the anti Islamic film get to be seen in the Middle East ? Answer: It was shown on an Islamic TV channel. [1] Question: How did the Muslim world become aware of the ‘Danish cartoons’? Answer: A group of Danish Muslim clerics travelled the world publicising the cartoons, which hitherto had gone unnoticed and would have disappeared without trace but for their intervention. Additionally having decided that the cartoons were not sufficiently inflammatory enough they created an additional cartoon, one calculated to cause the maximum ‘offence.’   So let’s be clear about these sudden ‘spontaneous’ demonstrations of outrage on the ‘Arab street.’ They are deliberate, calculated and orchestrated; the use and manipulation of stupid people by somewhat less stupid, certainly viciously cynical, people. If it was not for this particular film it would be something else. Secondly the flag burners and embassy storming mobs represent a tiny fraction of Islamic opinio...

Four men have been found guilty of plotting to kill staff at a Danish newspaper in revenge for its publication in 2005 of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.Three Swedish citizens and a Tunisian were convicted of terrorism over the plot against Jyllands-Posten. One pleaded guilty to illegal possession of weapons, and two were acquitted of the same charge for technical reasons, court officials said. [1] I believe in gravity, that the world is round and that the earth is approximately 4.55 billion years old. These for me represent something profound called ‘the truth,’ and I believe that I could defend, with the assistance of properly tested scientific evidence, all three propositions in open debate.   Those who adhere to the two great monotheisms also hold fast to a set of beliefs, beliefs that they affirm to hold as firmly as my own belief in gravity, amongst these beliefs is the existence of Hell. Now I am an atheist, an unbeliever, a Kuffir and from the point of view...

In 1989 the Iranian regime passed a death sentence, a 'fatwa,' on the novelist Salman Rushdie, it was, as Nick Cohen has observed 'the Dreyfus Affair" of our age, a central signifier of our preoccupations, one which was to divide friends and bring out the unbelievable and perverse where you least expected it.' Amongst those involved in the 'affair' was Cat Stevens, Originally Steven Demetre Georgiou, alias Steve Adams, alias Cat Stevens, alias Yusef Islam, now just plain Yusef, (the man seems to have a positive mania for re-inventing himself). Some might say that Mr Stevens contribution was, how can I put this, somewhat intemperate. You can judge for yourselves by watching the video below. However Mr Stevens seems to have a somewhat confused memory of these events, I quote in full:- "I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini - and still don't. ... When asked about my opinion re...

The Current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams launches a verbal onslaught on the coalition government in, of all places, the pages of The New Statesman. No fan of the coalition government my self it might be thought that I would welcome this intervention however I have to say that the article made me feel more than a little queasy. The New Statesman has more than a mixed history; however it has historically represented a strong brand of rational secularism. Now it has a regular contributor who believes that The Koran represents the literal word of God* and invites an obscurantist like Mr Rowan Williams to opine on his pages. This to me feels like the sad demise of a once impressive publication of the left. As to the Archbishop’s concerns that the coalition are enacting far reaching legislation that nobody voted for is of course correct, however it comes a bit thick from someone who sits in the House of Lords as a matter of right, don’t ever remember seeing his name on a ball...

With his usual exquisite timing, just as the disgusting war criminal Mladic is finally dragged to the international criminal court at The Hague up pops Mr Ratzinger parading his Christian conscience in Croatia. Now Croatia has an interesting history, one in which the Catholic Church has played a significant role. With the creation of The Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War One Croatia was incorporating along with the Muslims of Bosnia into a single state dominated by the Orthodox Serbs. The kingdom was inherently unstable with a strong strand of Croatian nationalism pulling at the threads of the new state. With the Outbreak of the Second World War and the German defeat and Occupation of Yugoslavia Croatia was set up as a puppet Nazi state governed by the fascist Ustashe under the premiership of Ante Pavelić. ‘This resulted in a campaign of terror and extermination conducted by the Ustashe against two million Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and Communists between 1941 and 1945.’* It was dur...

I am not in favour of banning the burqa or the veil, to start banning items of dress, no matter how bizarre, is part of a slippery slope, where would it all end? We legislate far too much in the area of free expression already. Burning poppies on remembrance Sunday may be offensive, certainly as offensive to some as burning the Koran, but I disapprove of convicting people of a criminal offence for doing so, both actions would rightly be protected by the 1st Amendment in the US. This said I would require restrictions on a person’s right to remain hooded. Obviously in airports, banks and in all areas respecting security there should be a requirement to show your face. I would also make a similar requirement respecting school premises, including school playgrounds; children should not be subjected to the spectre of hooded adults wondering about the place. A mere polite notice would suffice:- Persons entering school premises are requested to uncover their face at all times. Failure t...

An attack on a UN base on Friday in the city of Mazar-e Sharif killed 14 people, seven of them UN staff this was said to be a response to the burning of a copy of the Koran by an American Pastor. At least 10 people were killed and many more were injured in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday in a second day of protests. ‘A top UN official has blamed the pastor who burnt the Koran for the violence.’* I think I have already made clear my position on book burning, it’s not really my sort of thing, I’m against it, however to absolve those who have murdered 24 people wholly of blame is extraordinary, it seems the logic of this statement is that murder is bad but book burning is worse! Someone completely unconnected to you burns a text that I hold dear and this justifies my killing you? This appallingly cowardly cringe turns the stomach. There is also something profoundly disquieting about this statement, a sort of latent racism, a sense that to provoke a 'primitive...

Prejudice against Muslims has "passed the dinner table test" argues Barones Warsi Co-chairman of the conservative party. BBC News 20/1/11 The term Islamaphobia has become a big bird now, it now sits squat upon the nest refusing to budge, it is here to stay. That said the Baroness needs to be made aware that in this country people are free to express dislike of any religion. I for one dislike all three monotheisms intensely and though it is a long time since I attended anything that could be remotely described as a ‘dinner party’ should I be invited I would feel free should the topic arise to give vent to this dislike. The Baroness describes this dislike as prejudice, i.e. an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. This may indeed be the case, though given that presumably she has not been present at these dinner parties how would she know? However should our hypothetically ignorant dinner party guest choose to disabuse ...

Pope Benedict XVI sent an uncompromising message to the people of Britain at the start of the first papal state visit to the UK since the Reformation.But he urged Britain to maintain its respect for traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer valued or even tolerated.’ [1] Aggressive secularism, excuse me, I cannot remember the last time I saw someone carrying a placard bearing the legend Behead all those who insult Voltaire, or militant secularist’s murdering anti abortion doctors in the US, protesting outside cinemas showing Mel Gibson’s Life of Christ, whilst burning copies of the bible. This is simply pernicious nonsense, the desperate cries of a church loosing it’s influence, not least because of the proclivity of its priest to indulge in the sexual assault of young children. Even in catholic Ireland and Spain its influence is on the wane and it is this that it cannot stomach, hence this pathetic whinge as it seeks to hold on t...

The Words of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who is attempting to construct a Multi-faith Centre on the site of the Trade World centre. ‘Rauf said he intends to go ahead with the "multifaith" centre near the site where Islamic terrorists killed nearly 2,800 people because not doing so would unleash fury abroad. "If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse," Rauf told CNN. "The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack. "There is a certain anger here [in America ], no doubt," he said later in the interview. "But if we don't do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world. If we don't do things correctly, this crisis could become much bigger than the Danish cartoon crisis [over images depicting the Prophet Mohammed], which resulted in attacks on Danish embassies in various parts of the Muslim world. And we have a much bigger footprint in the Muslim world." ABC Ne...

As I write this there now seems some doubt about whether the so called Burn The Koran day due to take place tomorrow will take place. There is something grotesquely atavistic about burning books, it is a form of violence, an attack on the life of the mind. Any society in which the burning of books is seen as acceptable erodes its own cultural life and as Heinrich Heine famously remarked, 'where books are burned they will eventually burn people.' There is however something rather ironic about the outrage amongst Muslim communities throughout the world given recent history, the tendency in many Muslim communities to burn effigies and flags as well as books. Burning an effigy is incidentally of course a demonstration of a desire to burn real people.

Buckingham Palace confirmed details today of the first official visit to Britain of a pope, which will see Benedict XVI celebrate two public masses, meet the Queen and move a 19th century theologian closer to sainthood in a ceremony at Coventry airport. Non-policing costs amount to £15m, a sum to be met by the state and the Catholic churches of England Scotland and Wales. Policing costs will depend on the venue for each engagement and will draw on existing budgets for the forces involved ‑ Strathclyde police, the Metropolitan police and West Midlands police.’ [1] So we are expected to fork out for the visit of this appalling man with a track record, form as they say in the police fraternity, of covering up the sexual manipulation, rape and molestation of children, thus making him guilty of being an accessory after the fact. If this represents the worst aspect of this man's sordid career of obfuscation, denial and outright obstruction of justice there is more. The man is an ...

Two reoccurring themes on Islamacist websites, one holds that 9/11 and 7/7 are conspiracies of MI5/CIA/Zionists, you take your pick, the other is that 9/11 and 7/7 are a direct consequence of US/UK foreign policy and we had better mend our ways. These opinions appear to be held by the same people at the same time!

I see that Richard Dawkins has been on the receiving end of a humourless diatribe from Jeremy Hardy, a professional wit, in which he describes Dawkins, amonst other things, as "a fundementalist." Well Nick Cohen has already responded in his Observer column, / http://nickcohen.net/ , very effectively. Of course when the real fundemantalists come pushing their wieght around the likes of Mr Hardy, Mark Steele et al are either strangely silent or mouthing 'understanding' multi cultural platitudes.

In December Mr & Mrs Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang will face trial. In July they were arrested and charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and Section 31 (1) (c) and (5) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Their arrest and the criminal charges followed on from a discussion they had with a guest at the hotel which they ran, a Muslim woman. The discussion was about religion during which it is alleged that they argued that Mohamed was a war-lord and that traditional Muslim dress is oppressive to women. Following on from this argument the woman reported the Vogelenzang’s to the police. Now leaving aside the veracity of the arguments, a case could be made for both, [1] indeed I have made similar arguments my self, it is however surely grotesque that they should face prosecution for voicing these opinions, for in effect hurting someones feelings. I cannot help but feel that a prosecution in this case is not somehow connected to the fact that the Vogelenzang’s are Christians a...

There used to be, possibly still are, a standard question for history undergraduates which posits that ‘all history is contemporary history, discuss.’ Far from the static collection of what the German historian Ranke called ‘the facts,’ history has always been seen through the prism of the present. Nobody writing of the Russian Revolution today, for example, would write in the same vein as say sixty, or even thirty years ago. Hindsight always provides a distorted perspective. We forget that what is now the past was once the future. The dangers inherent in this are obvious, leading to an ahistorical approach to the past. As AJP Taylor once reflected “History is not another name for the past, as many people imply, it is the name for stories about the past.” To further complicate things the requirements of ideology and ‘national prestige’ are constantly shaping and reshaping the historical ‘record.’ Moreover, as Orwell reflects in 1984 ‘he who controls the present controls the past,...