AIBU to think Katie Hopkins is even more of a tw--a--it...

[GigiB]

.. she really is. Check out this headline:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3627352/KATIE-HOPKINS-Welcome-Midsummer-madness-Ramadan.html

who wants to help me plot how to get her put in a box and posted to the north pole with no ski's?

Not read the whole FT but she is right. I am in an Islamic country - the end of fast is marked by a cannon. 5 seconds later it's like wacky races on the roads. Anyone with half a brain hears the cannon and gets the hell off the street - it's just bloody dangerous. We have been issued with warnings about it at work by the risk team.

I used to love the idea of Ramadan - fasting to remember others who have less. Having seen the practice here - conspicuously grand face-stuffing at sunset in 5-star hotels - I think it's just another excuse to show off your wealth and supposed piety, like veiling or having 4 wives. It's great that money is raised for the poor migrant workers and they are given iftar, but it doesn't change the fact that they are ignored and treated like dirt the rest of the year.

The last time the fasts were this long was back in the 80's when I was born...I wonder how many people knew/cared about "the danger of fasting Muslims" back then

I knew exactly what you meant when you said this and as a family my lot will say to each other - well thats that for another 36 years.

Lostmybaubles you are being either purposefully misleading or are talking about things you have not researched.

Misquoting the quran in such a way is why some people insist on calling islam "the religion of peace" when actually it is inherently very violent.

You think the quran says this, and to be fair it is very misquoted....

"The Quran clearly states if you kill an innocent person its like you've killed all of mankind and if you save an innocent person its like you've saved all mankind."

The quran actually states....

"[5.32] For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul,unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land,it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly Our apostles came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land."

So it's only applies to the children of Israel and it states it is fine to murder someone who is creating mischief in the land...

So, strictly speaking, verse5:32is only applicable to the children of Israel (the verse says it). Any way, to be fair, we shall ignore this limitation and concentrate on the wider meaning:

On the surface of it, the first sentence (Islamists often quote only the first sentence, conveniently hiding the next sentence) of verse5:32seems very munificence and non-violent. What does the next sentence say? It says clearly that even when Allah sent His messengers many people disbelieved them. Muhammad was one of such messengers, the best and the last. Therefore, “those who disbelieve in Muhammad and Allah (i.e. the non-Muslims) are the transgressors. Evidently, the non-Muslims are the mischief-makers on earth. Logically, these non-Muslims do not fall under the purview of the merciful provisions of verse 5:32.In simple language, this means: verse5:32is applicable only to the Muslims

I hope this clears that up, also your statement that the bible is more violent is nonsense, that's without getting into the fact that the old testament is hardly referenced by any christian groups due to the enlightenment and the new testament, an enlightenment that Islam will never have.

The longest day of the year has 12 hours and 16 minutes of sunlight so that would be the longest fast.

You might want to rethink that calculation as it is dawn to dusk not 'sunlight'

I doubt it is 20 hours but up in Scotland I suspect it gets pretty close to that.

Besides this is the 21st Century, no one should have any truck with 'sky fairies' of whatever hue...

Blindsider - in the north of Scotland it's more than 20 hrs. I woke up sun morning to daylight, it was 2am.

Why is it 'inciting religious hatred' to question someone's ability to drive or do a responsible job when they are dehydrated?

Because Hindus, some Christians, Jews, Jains and I don't know how many other people of faith also fast and no body says they shouldn't drive a Taxi.

Hell I've worked in a hospital on the morning of an operation, obviously fasting because of the op.

I know some employers swap people's shifts around to make life easier, if you operate 24/7 then it can be done and means other people also get time off when they want it.

Making/allowing pre-pubescent growing children to fast is so wrong

Which is why they don't have to do it. Some children do, but usually only for part of the day. One girl I knew fasted 'only for an hour at a time, with sweets' because she wanted to join in and was about 5.

Driving home yesterday I saw a family, the little girl was in school uniform with a veil (whole other discussion) clearly enjoying her ice cream.

Katie Hopkins doesn't have politics. She is not writing this shit out of a deep understanding of Islam and its practices nor is she trying to do us all a favour.

Her 'opinions' and views are not respectful as one poster suggested and are actually all about instilling fear and hatred against one group. She isn't interested in the right thing only in what is most hateful.

Equating fasting Muslims in the UK to the actions of Isis is vile. Calling Ramadan a month of hate and vengeance knowing te people reading her article will encounter normal Muslims in the uk and now think of them as terrorists is vile.

Nobody seems to want to listen to the actual
Muslims on threads like these and inevitably it always becomes an Islam bashing thread which isn't even what it's about. Pretty sure one poster just copied and pasted the exact same post from last year.

also these few years the fasts have been/will be long. But it won't be for much longer. And yes the last 'era' they were this long (by this I mean the last couple of years) was the 80's. That's what my grandparents told me. And I've been fasting for 20 years and they were all December- now roughly.

kawliga not sure how you think a person who says hateful
Things about disabled people can pass on any decent morals
to their children.

sashh does any other religion fast daily for 30 days though? (Genuine question from a non-practicing Muslim).

Here in the Middle East the hospitals are reporting a marked increase in people coming to A&E with gastric issues caused by 12+ hours of fasting and then face-stuffing for the next 12 hours.

And here is a quote from an Arab government website, who interestingly agree with KH: "Just before sunset is a problematic time to be on the roads. The pre-Iftar rush hour is a mix of psychological urges and physical needs and some motorists use this as an excuse to misbehave on the roads. Hence all traffic participants must be extra-careful at this time".

It's not rocket science (unless you're a UK liberal) apparently!

Yesterday my 8 yr old said the 5 Muslim kids in her class told the other kids it was wrong to eat their lunch in front of them

Those 8 year olds shouldn't be fasting! This is bullshit. And your Pakistani students were being pains in the ass but that's more to do with their cultural expectations than religion. Some countries you can be arrested for eating in daylight and in other countries restaurant workers will happily serve tourists meals and drinks and see it as part of the testing.

Ok, I haven't read the fasting article, but the morals she teaches her kids, according to what she wrote in other articles: working hard at school; playing fair; independence; and also, strong family values and the duty of parents to look after their dc, which I think in itself is a lesson to the dc. I agreed with what she wrote when the little boy fell into the gorilla pit which was basically, parents should watch their kids and not expect the world to be idiot-proofed for them.

I didn't read what she said about disabled people so I can't comment on that. For the record I don't agree at all with what she says about immigrants.

Katie Hopkins isn't talking about other countries. She is talking about Muslims in the UK being a danger to others. (Where's the evidence for this?) Either through their fasting or by blowing things ups. She literally equates the two as the same thing and talks about them at the same time so that everyone reading thinks 'fasting Muslims= batshit terrorists. Where is the evidence for this?

crystal I agree that conflating the two is clumsy and mischievous but equally it's daft to argue that not eating or drinking during daylight hours does not affect concentration. Of course it does! Or does fasting somehow have different physiological effects in the UK compared to elsewhere?

And not all Muslims are batshit terrorists but (as the BBC chap recently admitted) most batshit terrorists identify as Muslims.

I am a Muslim married to a Muslim btw, but this thread is rather too "Emperors' new clothes" in places.

whisperinglolly please educate yourself before making such stupid comments. I really should know it was back in the 80's when fasts were this long because it's the year I was born in ...33 years ago.

Erm I'm pretty well educated on the topic thanks buttock but would of course be interested in your feedback on how much longer the fasts are this year than this year?

This year than last year

Whispering for gods sake she was talking generally about the era. Yes the last couple
Of years have been long but the last general time fasts were this long was the 80's. I grew up doing fasts in December. The day's change every year!

Because Hindus, some Christians, Jews, Jains and I don't know how many other people of faith also fast and no body says they shouldn't drive a Taxi.

None of them fast quite as harshly, nor as sustainedly.

YoungGirl I'm not saying it's not hard. I'm not saying they don't affect our bodies.

What I'm saying is all these great calamities occurring due to fasting don't actually occur. Unless you can find me evidence of thousands of Muslims in this country going mad during Ramadan and killing themselves/others due to fasting

Katie Hopkins is clumsy and mischievous? No, it's not clumsy because it's totally deliberate and it's not mischievous- it's completely dangerous.

Plenty of people disagree about fatness and breast feeding in public. Even here on MN people disagree about that stuff. I don't know what she said about ginger hair or disabled people, sorry. I did disagree strongly with her saying the refugees were like swarms of cockroaches - I remember her being roundly condemned for that, and other shocking things she has said. I also agree with pp saying she goes for shock value, obviously that being what they do in the tabloids.

I would not say all her politics reflect mine. I just think it's healthy in a democracy for people to disagree with each other and I worry when free speech is at risk even if I disagree with the views of the speaker. Saying she's vile, hateful, thick, etc, is just unnecessary, though I get that anybody in public life is opening themselves up to such insults.