More Signs of the Apocalypse
In this planet's never-ending quest to justify my cynicism about the future, I have two brief events to report to my faithful readers. Both are sickening to be sure, and both are dire portents for the future.
The first is Tony Blair's new religious intolerance law currently being debated in Parliament. Blair, being the foremost leader in his intolerance of intolerance, has taken this drastic step at the urging of Britain's sizeable Muslim community. This law outlaws "incitement to religious hatred," though the definition is no more specific than that. In Islam, denying the basic creed "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet" is an infamous crime. Does that qualify as incitement to religious hatred? Or the more-than-likely catalyst for this bill, the "Koran Desecration" incidents? If someone mis-treats a Koran, does that qualify as "incitement?"
This puts forth serious issues concerning free speech and exercise of religion. I am not a Muslim, and I do not believe in the creed. Must I pretend not to? Must I give a book whose tenets I do not believe in more reverence than I do my own Holy Book? Must I memorise the litany of rules regarding proper treatment of the book?
I don't think Tony, despite his Fabian Socialist origins, designs an end to free speech. Laws like this are a symptom of both his sheer incompetence and the leftist dogma that government is the solution to every problem. Tony knows that Muslim immigrants are a growth sector in his electorate, and as they oppose his backing of the Iraq War, he's giving this to them as a diversion.
The other sign of the immanent apocalypse is from to-day's Awful Link on Something Awful. I never predicted people this sick, but it seems that someone has written homo-erotic civil war fiction. I'll leave it at that.
The first is Tony Blair's new religious intolerance law currently being debated in Parliament. Blair, being the foremost leader in his intolerance of intolerance, has taken this drastic step at the urging of Britain's sizeable Muslim community. This law outlaws "incitement to religious hatred," though the definition is no more specific than that. In Islam, denying the basic creed "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet" is an infamous crime. Does that qualify as incitement to religious hatred? Or the more-than-likely catalyst for this bill, the "Koran Desecration" incidents? If someone mis-treats a Koran, does that qualify as "incitement?"
This puts forth serious issues concerning free speech and exercise of religion. I am not a Muslim, and I do not believe in the creed. Must I pretend not to? Must I give a book whose tenets I do not believe in more reverence than I do my own Holy Book? Must I memorise the litany of rules regarding proper treatment of the book?
I don't think Tony, despite his Fabian Socialist origins, designs an end to free speech. Laws like this are a symptom of both his sheer incompetence and the leftist dogma that government is the solution to every problem. Tony knows that Muslim immigrants are a growth sector in his electorate, and as they oppose his backing of the Iraq War, he's giving this to them as a diversion.
The other sign of the immanent apocalypse is from to-day's Awful Link on Something Awful. I never predicted people this sick, but it seems that someone has written homo-erotic civil war fiction. I'll leave it at that.
posted by The Admiral at 12:07 AM
1 Comments:
Given the quality of the "Southern Patriot" does that link really surprise you? We're talking about a section of the country whose genetic tree doesn't fork but only has a few slight curves in it's collective trunk...
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