Category Archives: UK

Islam made me an atheist, says Douglas Murray

Posted on by Bob Pitt

douglas_murrayOver at the Spectator Douglas Murray explains his loss of religious faith:

“Some years ago I started studying Islam. It didn’t take long to recognise the problems of that religion’s texts – the repetitions, contradictions and absurdities…. Gradually, scepticism of the claims made by one religion was joined by scepticism of all such claims. Incredulity that anybody thought an archangel dictated a book to Mohammed produced a strange contradiction. I found myself still clinging to belief in Christianity. I was trying to believe – though rarely arguing – ‘Well, your guy didn’t hear voices: but I know a man who did.’ This last, shortest and sharpest, phase pulled down the whole thing. In the end Mohammed made me an atheist.”

Still, Murray’s rejection of religious belief was not without difficulty:

“My final fear was one which I think a lot of Christians in this country feel, particularly as they see Islam re-emerging and gaining adherents in spite (or perhaps because) of its intransigence and intractability. It is, I suppose, a sense of cultural abandonment. We know how much of what we enjoy and relish comes through Christianity. Can we really go on without it?”

The answer, according to Murray, is for non-Muslim non-believers to counter the threat posed by Islam by becoming “cultural Christians”.

This peculiar Islamophobic version of atheism, which rejects God but upholds the need to defend Christian civilisation against the Muslim hordes, appears to derive from Richard Dawkins, who thinks that the increase of Islamic influence at the expense of Christianity would be “a poor exchange” and has stated: “This is historically a Christian country. I’m a cultural Christian…. I’m not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history. If there’s any threat to these sorts of things, I think you will find it comes from rival religions and not from atheists.”

Update:  Over at Shiraz Socialist Jim Denham of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty recommends “this extraordinary account by Douglas Murray” to his readers. Of course, it’s hardly unexpected that an AWLer should ally himself with a vicious anti-Muslim bigot like Murray (“It is late in the day, but Europe still has time to turn around the demographic time-bomb which will soon see a number of our largest cities fall to Muslim majorities. It has to. All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop…. Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board”). After all, we recently witnessed Denham’s former comrade Alan Johnson enthusiastically promoting another hardline right-wing Islamophobe, Andrew Bostom. Surely it can only be a matter of time before Denham and Johnson find merit in the views of Nick Griffin.

Ed Husain is ‘driving Muslims to mass murder’ – Mad Mel falls out with the Quilliam Foundation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Quilliam FoundationEd Husain’s Quilliam Foundation has issued a statement criticising the government’s failure to take a stand against Israel’s bloody onslaught on the population of Gaza. Ed himself is quoted as saying:

“Perceived double standards from our Government and the current green light (from Washington and London) to Israel’s killing machine will strengthen Al Qaeda’s metanarrative and radicalize yet another generation of young Muslims.”

This from an organisation that has spent its entire existence ingratiating itself with the government by claiming that Islamist ideology not foreign policy is the root cause of “radicalisation” (a term which of course obliterates the distinction between the general politicisation of Muslim youth in response to imperialism and the influence of terrorist groupuscules).

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Damian Thompson continues witch-hunt of MPACUK

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Damian Thompson 2We realise this site is in danger of turning into Damian Thompson Watch, but we have to register the fact that the Catholic Herald editor has made a further contribution to the mounting witch-hunt aimed at framing MPACUK as a violent organisation. This time Thompson takes issue with MPAC’s call to expose the Muslim “researchers” who forged receipts in order to assist the right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange in compiling its Hijacking of British Islam report which claimed to reveal the sale of hate literature in British mosques.

Thompson, of course, thinks it’s perfectly OK for Policy Exchange to publish false accusations against the Muslim community, but MPAC’s call for the exposure of those responsible for fabricating the evidence is “a threatening post on the MPAC official website which is apparently encouraging someone to dispense Islamic justice to Muslim traitors. ‘Protecting our community’, MPAC calls it. That’s a handy little euphemism, isn’t it?”

Update:  The raving Islamophobes at Jihad Watch have thrown their weight behind Thompson: “Sounds like MPACUK is publicly denouncing these Muslims for apostasy – and we all know what happens to apostates in Islam.”

‘Do Cameron’s Tories secretly admire Islam?’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The question is posed by Damian Thompson, who claims that, when it comes to countering “the spread of Islamic ghettos” in the UK, “there’s so little to choose between the two main parties that I can’t see a case for voting Tory”. He continues:

“Conservative political correctness is normally more funny than alarming, especially when practised by deeply snobbish Old Etonians. But when it extends to taking advice from Muslim radicals about the correct posture to take towards the ‘religion of peace’, then it is positively dangerous. Leading Tories think that they can demonstrate their intolerance of Islamic extremism by fulminating against one or two loopy Jihadist pressure groups. It’s as if Margaret Thatcher, confronted by the threat of socialism in 1979, had simply called for the banning of the Workers’ Revolutionary Party. Expel Vanessa Redgrave from the country and the unions will come to their senses.”

Daily Telegraph, 27 December 2008

That would be the same Tory Party whose leader pledges to break up “Muslim ghettos” and regards “rising Muslim consciousness” as a threat to social stability, whose security spokesperson Pauline Neville-Jones produces reports labelling the Muslim Council of Britain as extremist and accuses the entirely peaceful and apolitical Tablighi Jamaat of association with terrorism, a party whose MPs include the likes of Philip Davies, Michael Gove and Patrick Mercer, and whose supposedly “pro-Muslim” wing enthusiastically adds its voice to the assault on multiculturalism.

If this is amounts to politically correct admiration of Islam, as Damian Thompson believes, then you wonder which political party is conducting an anti-Muslim campaign aggressive enough to meet with his approval. The obvious answer is the BNP, who only the other day approvingly reproduced another anti-Muslim piece by Thompson on their website. Perhaps they should consider sending him a membership form?

Update: Well, no actual invitation to join the party as yet, but the BNP have again reproduced Thompson’s piece on their website. See “Tories accused of ‘secretly admiring Islam’ by leading Daily Telegraph writer“.

Indulgence of Islam is harming society, says Damian Thompson

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Damian_Thompson“Islam is the fastest-growing religion in Britain: the number of Muslims has grown from 1.6 million to two million since 2000. Moreover, every major public institution has changed its policies to accommodate the demands of Islamic ‘community leaders’. The Government, the Opposition, the police, schools, the Church of England, the BBC and now Channel 4 are all helping Muslims construct a parallel Islamic state…. For the first time in decades, religion is moulding public life in this country; but that religion is not Christianity.”

Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson continues what appears to be a campaign aimed at making Melanie Phillips look relatively sane.

Daily Telegraph, 26 December 2008

The fascists of the BNP find that Thompson’s piece so perfectly reflects their own views that they reproduce it in its entirety, adding the following conclusion:

“When will the people of Britain wake up to the threat that lies within our country? When you will have to step on to the road for Muslims to walk safely by? When someone you know is stoned to death for being raped? When family pets are slaughtered for being ‘unclean’? When animals are halal butchered in the street? When homosexuals are murdered? Or when the sword is at your throat and you have to decide – be a Muslim or die?”

9,000 Muslims in UK prisons for terror offences, claims BNP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“There are almost 10,000 Muslims in Britain’s jails – with 90 percent of them serving time for terror offences”, claims the BNP.

This is evidently taken from a News of the World report which states: “There are almost 10,000 Muslims in Britain’s jails – with 90 of them serving time for terror offences.” Even allowing that this figure is accurate (which we doubt – the total number of convictions under the Terrorism Act 2000 is far less than that) the BNP has contrived to increase it by 8,910!

However, it would perhaps be unduly harsh to accuse the fascists of manipulating statistics for political ends. A more charitable explanation would be that they’re just plain thick.

The witch-hunt of Asghar Bukhari

Posted on by Bob Pitt

AsgharA London-based think tank has revealed that the co-founder of a Muslim communal organization whose spokespeople are used by mainstream media outlets has glorified terrorism and attacks on Israel.

The Center for Social Cohesion (CSC) reported that last week Asghar Bukhari, co-founder and spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC UK), said on the social networking site Facebook that any Muslim who died fighting Israel was a martyr.

Responding to comments by another contributor on a discussion entitled ‘Has Europe come to terms with Islam?’, Bukhari said, “Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are mujahadeen and are blessed by Allah. And any Muslim who fights against Israel and dies is a martyr and will be granted paradise.”

The Muslim leader went on to justify jihadism, saying, “The concept of jihad is a beautiful thing, and logical to those with a sincere heart. It tells the human being to stand up and fight against those who bring evil and oppression on this earth, and by standing up – roll back that oppression until the people are free from it.”

CSC called into question the media outlets’ use of MPAC UK and their portrayal of it as a mainstream Muslim organization. “The leadership of MPAC UK has been shown before to have expressed opinions which border on glorification of terrorism,” said Robin Simcox, a CSC researcher.

“Concern has previously been expressed to the BBC and other media about their continuing use of Bukhari and his organization. Despite this, they are regularly treated by the BBC and other mainstream media as representative of mainstream Muslim opinion,” Simcox said.

“Bukhari’s incitement and likely illegal public comments should be a matter of grave concern to broadcasters and others who have repeatedly given him and his organization a platform,” Simcox added.

The think tank has reported the incident to the police.

Jerusalem Post, 22 December 2008

The article is in fact almost a straight reprint of a (pdf) CSC briefing.

Predictably Damian Thompson and Melanie Phillips have seized on this, with the latter calling for Asghar to be prosecuted.

Read MPAC’s reponse here. They rightly accuse the CSC of “wasting police time by reporting Asghar Bukhari for supposedly contravening the new law banning ‘glorification of terrorism’. MPACUK – who actually care about stopping terrorism – expect our taxes to be spent trying to prevent anyone from blowing us up on tube trains (not dealing with politically-motivated malicious reports against media spokespeople from Muslim groups!)”

Once again we have a witch-hunt against mainstream Muslims, the origin of which can be traced back to the Islamophobic cesspool that is Harry’s Place.

Update:  See also ENGAGE’s letter to Damian Thompson, challenging him over his support for the CSC.

Established Church needed to hold Islam at bay, says Mad Mel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Melanie Phillips Jihad in BritainMelanie Phillips warns against proposals to disestablish the Church of England:

“Christianity is not just any faith. It lies at the heart of British values and Western civilisation. Breaking the link would mean Christianity would be cast adrift, along with many of this country’s values. The Church might not be destroyed, but the country’s core identity would undoubtedly suffer.

“And the plain fact is that Britain is not multicultural. Parts of it are multi-ethnic, with large pockets of immigrants from other nations, but that is a very different matter. Britain remains a Protestant Christian country, and most Britons define themselves as such.

“… the undermining of Christianity from within is being exploited by militant Islamist fanatics who want to turn Britain into an Islamic state. This might seem an impossible notion, until you recall the way Dr Williams – followed by the senior judge Lord Phillips – said there was nothing to be feared from the encroachment within Britain of Islamic sharia law, regardless of the fact that such law is based on principles which are inimical to Christianity and liberal democracy.

“The only way to defend British and Western society from such cultural attack is to re-assert a confident Christianity. Yet Dr Williams spends all his time apologising for the faith he supposedly represents….

“Maybe we can’t any longer hold off the demand for ‘equality’ between Christianity and the other faiths that make up modern Britain. But in that case we have to accept that Britain and its values will be utterly changed, and not for the better.”

Daily Mail, 22 December 2008

Update:  See the response from ENGAGE to Phillips’ article.