In its infinite wisdom, the Labour government appears to be reconsidering the introduction of a blasphemy law in the UK. It has picked up this idea despite it being so idiotic that it was even rejected by the last Conservative government.
That well-known theologian Angela Rayner has decided to set up a council to look into the question of ‘Islamophobia’. As mentioned, there was a push to do this during the Conservative era, when a committee including some of the worst people then in public life – Dominic Grieve, Naz Shah, Anna Soubry – looked into the same thing.
Their scholarship foundered, as it always will, on how you protect Muslims without simply protecting the feelings of Muslims. Because for some Muslims, what they ‘feel’ and what ‘is’ are one and the same thing – to say a thing is offensive is to deem it so – and there is much that may offend them. Allow me to cite just a few examples from recent weeks that might signify the problem.
Until recently, there was a rather brave Iraqi refugee who had found sanctuary in Scandinavia. Unlike many Iraqis who have found sanctuary in northern Europe, Salwan Momika, a Christian turned atheist, was not a fan of Islam’s holy book. In fact, he seemed to feel that the Quran and attempts to implement its teachings into governance was one of the things that had wrecked his country of birth; and so in 2023 he decided to burn a copy in Stockholm. He went on to burn more copies at public demonstrations.
Mr Momika was a man of flair as well as conviction.
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