Criticism of Islam is a protected belief

@fromorbit “Anyway this court case is a positive move and part of the modernisation process Islam is undergoing. It is going to become a less sexist, racist religion over time. It will just take a long time to get there. Look at what is happening in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Gradual change is occurring.”

On what basis are you saying this? From what I can see islam marches to its own drum, and what we might consider modernisation to mean is pretty much irrelevant. You might have written exactly the same thing a hundred years ago (look at what is happening in Turkey and Persia) but that isn’t how things played out.

Of course it's always been ok to be critical of a religion or even the concept of religion.

The UK already has a bunch of depressing sectarian issues inside Northern Ireland.

We are recreating that nonsense on the mainland and we need to stop it and being able to criticise and laugh at Islam is essential.

Yes racism is part of the reason this is important because unfortunately many Muslim societies are horrifically racist.

Look what is happening in Sudan Lighter skinned Arabs slaughtering darker skinned people part of an on going process which has being going on since the 600s. Black Muslims get treated badly all the time by Arabs and there is a long history of Imperialism and colonialism.

Anyway this court case is a positive move and part of the modernisation process Islam is undergoing. It is going to become a less sexist, racist religion over time. It will just take a long time to get there. Look at what is happening in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Gradual change is occurring.

😂 I wonder if this misconception comes from discoveries of Muslim artefacts among Viking possessions? For some reason we think of the Viking era as ancient history, yet it was the 8th - 12th centuries AD.

Following introduction by the Romans earlier than 200 AD, England became solidly Christian, co-existing with older religions, until the Saxons turned up in the 5th century and temporarily reverted Eastern England to paganism.

Mohammed was born in the 6th century. The Vikings got here 300 years later, plenty of time for Islam to have grown and Muslims to be travelling.

Islam was on these shores hundreds of years before it even existed as a religion?

Quite. Which is why reasonable people can criticise a religion but take its individual adherents as they find them.

Most religions are intolerant of homosexuality. Their followers may have more nuanced beliefs.

Hahaha 🤪

What craziness is in this thread? There were likely Christians in Britain in the 3rd century, certainly before the 5th.

Mohammed wasn't even born until the second half of the 6th century.

Well, we can put this particular piece of nonsense to bed straight away. Christianity reached the British Isles during the Roman occupation, which ended in the early 5th century. Islam didn't even begin until the early 7th century. So it definitely wasn't here earlier.

Mind you, this poster's posts read like a caricature of a loony leftie as portrayed in a right wing tabloid. I think they're an undercover agent for Reform!

It's all junk science. They don't even know what they are measuring when they look at "unconscious bias," or measuring anything at all, because it doesn't seem to be a stable measurement.

The fact that "adult universities" are teaching this stuff is an embarrassment, but it's why we are where we are now.

“It is not our place to dictate, only to listen and implement “
God love ya,
I don’t know where you get your ideas from but that is a cracking one.

You have excelled yourself on this one.
Its all lies that you are spouting when it’s clearly been shown figures exist as given by a previous poster.

It’s not a fetish, I don’t have any fetishes whatsoever! I’m incredibly vanilla, anyone who knows me would say the same.

Because you fetishise and objectify people of colour.

Oh, and speak for them.

So no, you don't uplift them. Quite the opposite. Your guilt about that is yours to deal with.

Yes it was poorly worded, believe me I understand that loud and clear. It was also massively out of context but that’s a whole other kettle of fish. Please, please, please can we move on from this Okay?

Because you are a hypocrite.

Oh my lord, why are people still resorting to drudging up that comment from weeks ago to attack me! grrrrrr 😡

This always happens when religion is discussed. People go well x religion suffers as much/more/is openly criticised etc etc.

its not a competition about how is oppressed more. It’s not a competition about who can be thought of critically more.

I'm Christian and feel we do get a lot of criticism even hate. In this country I’m lucky I am not persecuted and hav the freedom to worship. I think that’s right. If you cannot critique a religion then that is oppression. Regardless of the religion. Personally I feel there is more judgement on those who critique Islam than other religions, but I accept I may be bias because I have strong opinions myself and am uncomfortable with much of what I see in that religion. Criticism is needed. I’m free to criticise the sexism in my own religion and I do openly criticise that. We should have the right to call thing like that out and voice our discomfort with that we’re ever we see it. As much as we have the right to practice our religion of choice. I do think it should be a choice though and that taps into a criticism I have of Islam and young girls

Just for fun - the Ghost version.

1

Can we be intolerant of those who do not tolerate homosexuality?

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/11/british-muslims-strong-sense-of-belonging-poll-homosexuality-sharia-law

Uplifting marginalised voices on the one hand.
Asking for recommendations for where to go to shag "exotic lovelies" on the other.

I think that this would come down to saying people can have whatever "bad" belief, but they cannot express or communicate it. Or perhaps it can be stated but not in a way that is perceived to be trying to convince others.

You see this approach in some religious states, you can be a Christian, say, but you can't talk about it without the worry that you will be seen as proselytising. Or some of the communist regimes have also taken this approach. Often presented as, of course you have freedom of belief, just not freedom to say anything about non-approved beliefs.

Ok

@Swiftasthewind

The thing about Islamophobia specifically is that it most definitely can be perpetuated by people who are not white but are also not Muslim.

There is someone I have in mind who I know personally holds quite extreme views against Islam (and Muslims, really). They are definitely not white and not British by birth, either. I have similar concerns about how their views manifest at work.

I think Swift is extracting the urine.

For all I know, they are actually a black, male conservative who isn't from the UK and is having a right laugh posting this bollocks (and considers himself to be an 'exotic lovely'... or whatever the phrase was that Swift used).