Warmed Over Cold Warrior

Unfortunately, this is not about the prudish or puritanical; it's about the politically correct and fearful press - and a creeping self-censorship virus that seems to have gone critical in the UK and may in the US.

Start with the UK and this report that : "Mark Steyn’s column is no longer available in the British press; according to the Guardian’s Lionel Shriver, Steyn has now been dropped from both the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator. And there’s very little doubt that it’s because of his clear-headed, uncompromising writing about Islam."

Perhaps, some are concerned about how Steyn is willing to speak bluntly about current events like the UNC "Road Rage(?)" incident in which a Muslim graduate attempted to run down students in a rented car. In this recent article, Steyn asserts that the (US) media is shockingly ignorant of Muslims among us:
"According to statements taken by the police, Mr. Taheri-azar, 22, an Iranian-born graduate of the university, felt that the United States government had been 'killing his people across the sea' and that his actions reflected 'an eye for an eye.' ..... Taheri-azar is admirably upfront about his actions. As he told police, he wanted to 'avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world.'

And yet the M-word appears nowhere in the Times report. Whether intentionally or not, they seem to be channeling the great Sufi theologian and jurist al-Ghazali, who died a millennium ago but whose first rule on the conduct of dhimmis -- non-Muslims in Muslim society -- seem to have been taken on board by the Western media:

The dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle. . . .

Are they teaching that at Columbia Journalism School yet?"


Both the UK and US major media press have refused to print copies of the "Danish Cartoons" on the grounds that they did not wish to inflame tensions ( of course, printing text and photos on "abuse" at abu Ghraib was fair game). What messgae does this self-censoring behavior send?

According to one educated view from the UK it's leading to the day when British Muslims form a state within a state: "'It's confirmation of what they believe to be a familiar pattern: if spokesmen for British Muslims threaten what they call 'adverse consequences' - violence to the rest of us - then the British Government will cave in. I think it is a very dangerous precedent.'

Dr Sookhdeo adds that he believes that 'in a decade, you will see parts of English cities which are controlled by Muslim clerics and which follow, not the common law, but aspects of Muslim sharia law.

'It is already starting to happen - and unless the Government changes the way it treats the so-called leaders of the Islamic community, it will continue.'"


Dr Sookhdeo believes Western leaders fail to understand that many Islamic clerics believe they are locked in mortal combat with secularism and that they are following a deliberate plan to achieve dominance for their religion in Western nations: "For example, one of the fundamental notions of a secular society is the moral importance of freedom, of individual choice. But in Islam, choice is not allowable ... . God has laid down the law, and man must obey. ...


In 1980, the Islamic Council of Europe laid out their strategy for the future - and the fundamental rule was never dilute your presence. That is to say, do not integrate. Rather, concentrate Muslim presence in a particular area until you are a majority in that area, so that the institutions of the local community come to reflect Islamic structures. The education system will be Islamic, the shops will serve only halal food, ... so on."

Dr Sookhdeo believes that plan: " is being followed in Britain. "That is why you are seeing areas which are now almost totally Muslim. The next step will be pushing the Government to recognise sharia law for Muslim communities - which will be backed up by the claim that it is "racist" or "Islamophobic" or "violating the rights of Muslims" to deny them sharia law."

To counter this trend : "You have to distinguish between ordinary Muslims and their self-appointed leaders," explains Dr Sookhdeo. ..... "First, it (Government) should try to engage with the real Muslim majority, not with the self-appointed 'community leaders' who don't actually represent anyone: they have not been elected, and the vast majority of ordinary Muslims have nothing to do with them. ......
"Second, ...there should be no compromise over education, or over English as the language of education. ....
Finally, the Government should make it absolutely clear: we welcome diversity, we welcome different religions - but all of them have to accept the secular basis of British law and society. That is a non-negotiable condition of being here."

Even if you don't agree with everything Dr Sookhdeo says, his Three Points of Action strike me as a very wise course for the UK government to follow. And I hope the US will pursue a similar course. Our strength comes from immigrants that have united in a single national identity. Let's reinforce that strength.