Evening Standard to hold debate about Islam in London
The Evening Standard newspaper is holding a debate tomorrow asking "Is Islam good for London?" The blurb tees up the debate as follows:
Is Islam Good for London? is a simple question but one of the most important for our city today. At a time when the Muslim population is growing and the threat of extremism has strained relations between Muslims and their host communities, we ask whether Islam is a positive addition to the diversity of a great city - or whether it’s roots in a different culture and value system are fundamentally incompatible with British society.I'll be going along tomorrow to check out the discussion itself, so a longer post will follow. Initial thoughts: it seems there are some huge fallacies in the way that the subject has been structured. First, I don't see Britain as a 'host' community. Muslims are British too. And then, why are these questions not being asked about other faiths?
It seems a bit pointless to ask if a creed, faith or ideology is good for a city - these things are simply statements of a world view. They already exist and are part of the world we live in. Nobody is asking for London to adopt Islam as its 'official' religion, even if someone were to suggest the rather odd idea that a city should have such a thing. So de facto, are we asking about the people? Most critically, is the motion really a euphemism to ask whether Muslims are good for London?
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 19:32
3 Comments:
It will be interesting to find out what you discover. I am sure that you are right that the debate is not about a faith as such as a thing in itself, but about people of that faith.
The implicit equation that underlies the piece is: Islam = Muslim = Mostly from Pakistan or thereabouts = Foreigner = At best anti-British and at worst a lethal terrorist.
"The Muslim population is growing." Is it now! Taking over then clearly is the thought behind the statement.
"Different culture"? 'Terrible smell of curry everywhere' - Daily Express circa. early 1960s.
"Different value system" - Well, yes in terms of faith beliefs there are differences. I believe in the resurrection of Christ and a Muslim does not. That is a given and nothing new. But this seems to be more about implying separation and distance: 'we Brits' do afternoon tea and Church fetes while 'you guys' do honour killings and jihad.
They would deny that of course, but it takes little to transpose this supposed promotion of 'honest debate' to 1930's Germany: "Judaism - good for Germany or not?" Earnest 'democratic socialists' giving a pseudo-intellectual and mock-dispassionate vent to prejudice and rank racial hatred.
"Of course we respect Jews, but their ways are not Aryan ways..." Etc., etc.
And from the outcome of the debate must follow a consequence: if the conclusion is that Islam is not 'good' for London, if it is 'fundamentally incompatible with British society', then what? Suppression, excision?
Quite spooky actually. Do let us know what you hear, say and learn. I would join you only I have a wretched infected arm and am totally laid up.
'It seems a bit pointless to ask if a creed, faith or ideology is good for a city - these things are simply statements of a world view.'
Really? So it'd be pointless to ask, say, 'Is Toryism good for London?' May as well call off next year's Mayoral elections then.
Aren't we all ignoring the fact that human beings come into this world without belief systems. They need air, food and shelter; anything above this is an optional extra and can be bad, good or indifferent. Unfortunately to me and a lot of others the belief system known as Islam seems to have very many bad points and only a few good points. We would probably have viewed Christianity before the last century in probably the same light as it contained many of the bad points so obvious in Islam. We would probably view orthodox Judaism the same way now, the difference being that unlike Islam it does not seek to convert. The fact that Islam, in almost all Muslim countries, makes living life as a female extraordinarily difficult does not endear it to those of us who fear the creeping islamisation of the West.
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