Western Muslims Must Admit Problems And Modernise.
Failure To Change Guarantees Culture Clash.
Shameful Mainstream Politicians Refuse To Act, Only Appease.
Even The President of Egypt Can See The Problem.
“Muslims must drop pointless nonsense like refusing to pay interest on loans, ditch teaching that women are inferior and must cover up from head to toe, ban forced marriages, admit that hallal killing of animals is cruel, and end the institutionalised hatred of Jews. “Honour” killing will be an oxymoron to them too”
Our politicians and opinion-formers, with a few honourable exceptions, refuse to acknowledge the problem with Islamic extremism; that the Muslim faith still includes tenets incompatible with Western principles of freedom and the rule of law, and this must be acknowledged and changed before the problem can be solved.
The honourable exceptions include former Tory cabinet minister Michael Portillo, Daily Telegraph columnist Charles Moore, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the irrepressible Rod Liddle of the Sunday Times and Spectator, and believe it or not, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but more of that later.
Since the Charlie Hebdo massacre, we have heard the shameful, cowardly, self-serving opinions of Home Secretary Theresa May, Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Lib-Dem Nick Clegg. We have to seek common ground and try and isolate the maniacs, but at all costs we mustn’t offend the majority of Muslims who are peace loving, and just want to get on with their lives, say these appeasers. They seem to suggest some kind of negotiation with Islam to trade off bits of our strongly held rights for which millions have died, in return for a quiet life.
But an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this week threw some sand into the wheels of that theory. A couple of Muslims from High Wycombe were interviewed, apparently selected on the grounds that they were the epitomy of moderation. Unfortunately, we heard something different. One said that the Prophet Mohammad was more important to him than his family. Any criticism was unconscionable. His colleague said something similar. Collapse of stout party saying that most Muslims are moderate and only seek peace and to be left alone to lead their own lives.
Something wrong
Portillo, on the BBCTV programme This Week, said, without elaborating, that there was something wrong with the Muslim religion which must be addressed. Moore had this powerful quote in his Daily Telegraph column yesterday.
“Until it is possible to criticise Islam without retribution, our liberty will be in jeopardy,” said Moore.
Farage said, in an interview with venom fueled leftie and Hamas lover Jon Snow on Channel 4 News, that there was a fifth column in our country which hated us and our culture and which must be rooted out. That surely is the unvarnished truth. Liddle pointed out in his SunTimes column a survey from NOP which said (in 2006 admittedly) that 68 per cent of our Muslims think that prophet insulters should go to jail. 28 per cent wanted Britain to become an Islamic state. Another poll said more than a third of British Muslims though apostates should be killed, and another poll suggested 40 per cent wanted sharia law in Britain.
“It is not just Muslim “extremists” who wish to punish people for apostasy and blasphemy; it is the view of the mainstream Islamic world,” Liddle said.
And it’s not just a few westerners which see that Islam has become a bit wonky. Earlier this month, the president of Egypt had this to say, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Umma
“It’s inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire umma (the Muslim community) to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world. The entire world, I say it again, the entire world is waiting for your next move,” al-Sisi said.
So what exactly should British Muslims do to convince the rest of us that they are aware of the contradictions of their culture? I have some suggestions.
Firstly comes the realisation that this culture clash is a problem unique to Muslims. Other incoming religions from a range of cultures sit perfectly well in our diversified country. But Islam has a lethal and unique quality because some of its supporters insist on the primacy of their religion and others plan violence to pursue their medieval agenda.
Muslims worshipping in our country must recognise that the Koran is loosely written and open to dangerous misinterpretation. Mosques must accept a belief system which eschews principles offensive to Britons and which are incompatible with our culture.
Reforming unacceptable parts of the Koran is the key. Muslims must drop pointless nonsense like refusing to pay interest on loans, ditch teaching that women are inferior and must cover up from head to toe, ban forced marriages, admit that hallal killing of animals is cruel, and end the institutionalised hatred of Jews. “Honour” killing will be an oxymoron to them too. This list is not complete, but it’s a start.
Fraught with difficulties
Of course this is fraught with difficulties because the Koran is supposedly the word of the prophet and cannot be changed by humans. That shouldn’t stop British Muslims from writing their own Charter, a modernised version of Islam like Christianity’s New Testament. Muslims can still revere the unalterable words of the prophet in an historical sense, but their Charter must edit those texts, used by some to justify despicable acts of cruelty and mayhem. Signing of this charter should be the basis of operation for Mosques in Britain.
Here are some core “values” which should be adopted in the charter.
- • Separation of religion and state, and constitutional government.
- • Reject terrorism as a political tool.
- • Embrace pluralism and moderation as core Islamic principles.
- • Recognise that religion is a matter of individual liberty and choice. (No more death sentences for anyone switching to Christianity)
- • Eschew identity politics, victimology, tribalism and intimidation as Islamic tools.
- • Equal rights for women.
- • Seek free markets, individual economic choice and support capitalism.
- • Recognise Israel’s right to exist.
If you think that this is a ridiculous and impossible wish list that will only antagonise Muslims, think about this. These eight points are drawn from the American Islamic Forum for Democracy’s (AIFD) website – aifdemocracy.org – an organisation of brave American Muslims who face down corrupt, bullying groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood front group. AIFD is saying for Muslims, America comes first and their religion second. In Britain, I’m waiting for a Muslim organisation to say something similar.
British politicians are unwilling to face the potential problems caused by unreformed Islam being practised in Mosques here. The media is also frightened of the consequences of facing down some of the unpleasant realities of Muslim belief. The cowards that govern us, not to mention politically correct media organisations like the BBC, always do the same thing when Islamic extremism rears its ugly head. They just hope the problem will go away. This will lead to disaster. Pre-emptive action is difficult but necessary. The first thing for the media to do now is to simultaneously publish the Mohammad cartoons that eventually lead to the murders at Charlie Hebdo. Nobody can be victimised if all take part.
Insisting Mosques sign up to a modernised Charter will stir up passions initially, but at least will give us a chance of finding out exactly who this alien fifth column is. Or would you rather wait for the mother of all terrorist attacks in central London, which would take the lives of thousands of innocents?
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