Er ….. HELLO!
The Police, via the mainstream media, inform us that the bombers who killed over 50 people on the morning of the 7th July 2005 in London were British born. Possibly all four of them are now dead.
There are two immediate reactions, the first being “Good. Four less fanatics.” The second; “So what on earth did they achieve apart from mass murder of fellow Britons and a temporary disruption of London Transport?”
My own reaction is; WTF is the point? Anarchists and terrorists of whatever political colour have been causing mayhem at least since the dawn of time and what have they done apart from end the lives of their fellow citizens? Zip, nada, nothing. Have they improved the lot of their own community? No. Did the IRA achieve anything that the Civil Rights movement could not have achieved twenty years earlier without armed intervention? No. Have Hamas or Hezbollah done anything to advance the cause of peace and security for the Palestinian people? No. In point of fact, it can be proved that in both cases they have ended up prolonging the agony for the very people they purport to support or defend.
Therefore, all these four bozos and their fan club have done is stoke the fires of anti Islamic intolerance in Britain. Well that was a smart move wasn’t it?
In similar vein, will the religious hatred bill reduce such religious hatred? No. It might seriously backfire on the very people who campaigned so mightily for its introduction though. An Imam who preaches hatred against the ways of the country his congregation lives in should be prosecuted just the same as a member of the BNP who wants to burn Mosques.
On the subject, I was discussing this very topic with one of my older colleagues, the nub of the conversation being; these guys have either got to integrate with the rest of Britain or find an Islamic country to live in. Now I was told about this particular item second hand, so it might not be verifiable; On BBC’s Newsnight a member of the Muslim Council of Britain was defending his corner and saying how the religious hatred bill would be a good thing, when the reporter asked him whether he condemned Muslim extremist violence the MCB member would not. Instead, he went off into a self-justifying rant about Israel and Palestine. My thoughts are; Er, Hello guys, why do you think the Israelis keep bulldozing chunks of Palestinian towns and cities? Because some dead brain thinks that by killing Israelis in two’s and threes they will persuade the rest to leave the land to the Palestinians. Trust me, it isn’t going to happen. The Israelis, more specifically the Zionists, originally purchased land off Palestinian landlords. That makes that land theirs and you won’t get rid of the Israelis that easily; not without laying waste to the whole Middle East. The Jews have suffered too long and too hard to give up that easily.
One thing that surprised me was there are supposedly going to be exemptions in the religious hatred bill to enable Muslims to more or less ignore said law. This is simply silly and gives more ammo to the real racists. In order to be effective the law must be applied in a fair and even-handed way or it is no law at all. It’s like giving the Muslim community a ‘Blue badge’ so that they can quote passages from the Koran, which are frankly aggressive and incite violence against non-Muslims. Hang on a minute? This is not democracy. These guys are a minority, what about the rest of us? Do we not have equal rights under the law? How about the Hindu’s, Buddhists and Christians?
It will be interesting to see the first test cases of this legislation if it is enacted. I think the word ‘backlash’ looms large in my thinking. Still, I suppose it will keep some lawyers off the dole queue, if nothing else.
Sadly, it is axiomatic that violence of the homicide bomber breeds intolerant hatred, which is in turn the parent of more violence. You have in some way to break the process or keep on repeating the same old cycle of pointless killing. I think it was the poet, W H Auden who said; “We must love one another or die.” I say close, but no cigar. ‘Love’ in this super tribal context is simply not something the human animal is capable of sustaining, at least for very long. However, modify the statement to read, “We must tolerate each other or die.” Moreover, and it makes much more sense. Love and understanding per se are not necessary, just acceptance of other peoples ways. To quote an old English saying associated with paganism “An it harm none, do what ye will.”
Then again, sense is the last thing we can expect from the fanatics who think violence will achieve anything. They would be better advised to pay attention to the words of the late Bertrand Russell: “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” I know he was writing at the time of the Cold War, but his words still fit the current conflict.
The contention of this blog is that the religious hatred bill will promote, not reduce religious hatred.
When I asked my mate Asif what he thought, he just muttered and excused himself. Poor sod, he's caught right in the middle of it all and can't see a way out. Hi ho. Gives me something interesting to think about whilst I’m out patrolling one of the quieter beats.
There are two immediate reactions, the first being “Good. Four less fanatics.” The second; “So what on earth did they achieve apart from mass murder of fellow Britons and a temporary disruption of London Transport?”
My own reaction is; WTF is the point? Anarchists and terrorists of whatever political colour have been causing mayhem at least since the dawn of time and what have they done apart from end the lives of their fellow citizens? Zip, nada, nothing. Have they improved the lot of their own community? No. Did the IRA achieve anything that the Civil Rights movement could not have achieved twenty years earlier without armed intervention? No. Have Hamas or Hezbollah done anything to advance the cause of peace and security for the Palestinian people? No. In point of fact, it can be proved that in both cases they have ended up prolonging the agony for the very people they purport to support or defend.
Therefore, all these four bozos and their fan club have done is stoke the fires of anti Islamic intolerance in Britain. Well that was a smart move wasn’t it?
In similar vein, will the religious hatred bill reduce such religious hatred? No. It might seriously backfire on the very people who campaigned so mightily for its introduction though. An Imam who preaches hatred against the ways of the country his congregation lives in should be prosecuted just the same as a member of the BNP who wants to burn Mosques.
On the subject, I was discussing this very topic with one of my older colleagues, the nub of the conversation being; these guys have either got to integrate with the rest of Britain or find an Islamic country to live in. Now I was told about this particular item second hand, so it might not be verifiable; On BBC’s Newsnight a member of the Muslim Council of Britain was defending his corner and saying how the religious hatred bill would be a good thing, when the reporter asked him whether he condemned Muslim extremist violence the MCB member would not. Instead, he went off into a self-justifying rant about Israel and Palestine. My thoughts are; Er, Hello guys, why do you think the Israelis keep bulldozing chunks of Palestinian towns and cities? Because some dead brain thinks that by killing Israelis in two’s and threes they will persuade the rest to leave the land to the Palestinians. Trust me, it isn’t going to happen. The Israelis, more specifically the Zionists, originally purchased land off Palestinian landlords. That makes that land theirs and you won’t get rid of the Israelis that easily; not without laying waste to the whole Middle East. The Jews have suffered too long and too hard to give up that easily.
One thing that surprised me was there are supposedly going to be exemptions in the religious hatred bill to enable Muslims to more or less ignore said law. This is simply silly and gives more ammo to the real racists. In order to be effective the law must be applied in a fair and even-handed way or it is no law at all. It’s like giving the Muslim community a ‘Blue badge’ so that they can quote passages from the Koran, which are frankly aggressive and incite violence against non-Muslims. Hang on a minute? This is not democracy. These guys are a minority, what about the rest of us? Do we not have equal rights under the law? How about the Hindu’s, Buddhists and Christians?
It will be interesting to see the first test cases of this legislation if it is enacted. I think the word ‘backlash’ looms large in my thinking. Still, I suppose it will keep some lawyers off the dole queue, if nothing else.
Sadly, it is axiomatic that violence of the homicide bomber breeds intolerant hatred, which is in turn the parent of more violence. You have in some way to break the process or keep on repeating the same old cycle of pointless killing. I think it was the poet, W H Auden who said; “We must love one another or die.” I say close, but no cigar. ‘Love’ in this super tribal context is simply not something the human animal is capable of sustaining, at least for very long. However, modify the statement to read, “We must tolerate each other or die.” Moreover, and it makes much more sense. Love and understanding per se are not necessary, just acceptance of other peoples ways. To quote an old English saying associated with paganism “An it harm none, do what ye will.”
Then again, sense is the last thing we can expect from the fanatics who think violence will achieve anything. They would be better advised to pay attention to the words of the late Bertrand Russell: “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” I know he was writing at the time of the Cold War, but his words still fit the current conflict.
The contention of this blog is that the religious hatred bill will promote, not reduce religious hatred.
When I asked my mate Asif what he thought, he just muttered and excused himself. Poor sod, he's caught right in the middle of it all and can't see a way out. Hi ho. Gives me something interesting to think about whilst I’m out patrolling one of the quieter beats.
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