The BBC showed us last
night the 3 types of Muslims living in the UK:- the majority
moderates trying hard to create a British Islam; the 'non-violent
Islamists', who feel the UK should accommodate their demands simply
because they're in Britain; and the murderous 'violent Islamists'. My
thought was that we could accommodate the second category by giving
them an island north of Scotland, called Orkneystan. Where they could
do what the hell they liked.
Raif Badawi is the
blogger I mentioned as the guy jailed in Saudi Arabia and sentenced
to 1,000 lashes. Last night I read "We are all Raif Badawi!"
Oh, no, we're not. We're just making gestures to make ourselves feel
a little better.
In another case of
extreme Islam, a young Egyptian has been given 3 years for apostasy
after his father testified against him. But at least he wasn't stoned
to death.
If you want to
understand why intelligent people cling to primitive beliefs and
practices, try The Thinking Atheist podcasts. Specifically, the one
entitled The Psychology of Belief.
Of course, ignorance
and stupidity aren't confined to the Muslim world. These are the
words of an American "terrorism expert" on the right-wing
Fox News channel:- "Birmingham is a totally Muslim city where
non-Muslims just simply don't go". Not content with that
inflammatory tripe, he added:- "In parts of London, there are
actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and
actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to
religious Muslim attire". Birmingham, he said, is one of a
number of European cities "where sharia courts were set up,
where Muslim density is very intense, where the police don't go in,
and where it's basically a separate country almost, a country within
a country." This cretin has since retracted everything and
apologised. I would say the damage had already been done, if I didn't
think his comments accorded with the pre-existing prejudices of
anyone who gets their news from Fox. So, no damage done.
Here's something that
you may not see in your local supermarket.
And here's one of the very few 1930s buildings left in Pontevedra. It's scheduled to be replaced by yet another block of anodyne flats. I might be wrong but I don't think Spain has anything like English Heritage to fight against desecration.
Finally . . . For all
her local fans, Joan Baez is performing here in Ponters on March 28.
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