I Don't Like Mondays

Getting up for work on a Monday morning is always a pain no matter how nice the weather but most of us just get on with it. After being shouted at by a drunk at just nine o'clock this morning I remembered this little ditty..... from 1979 would you believe?

Anyway it's an excuse for a musical interlude since I'll only be blogging intermittently during the summer holidays this year. Just need a break really. Probably as soon I write this I'll be motivated by some event or another.......watch this space!

Defend the British Council of Ex-Muslims against Islamic censorship

The participation of the British Council of Ex-Muslims in the London Gay Pride march has seen attacks by the far left in the form of Counterfire and the Islamist extremists of the East London Mosque. 

The inability of so-called progressives to recognise the right to criticise Islam even by ex-Muslims is frankly disturbing. 

The latest correspondence between the CEMB and Pride is reproduced below:

28 July 2017

Dear Michael Salter-Church and Alison Camps, Co-Chairs - Pride in London

Thank you for your letter dated 21 July addressed to CEMB’s Pride Organiser, Daniel Fitzgerald (available below).

The crux of the issue, which you have failed to recognise, is this: Pride in London has taken complaints against the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) by the likes of the East London Mosque - a centre of homophobia - seriously because of a cultural relativism and tone policing that is only applicable to critics of Islam and never critics of Christianity.

Moreover, complaints have been given credence because of the erroneous conflation of criticism of religion and the religious-Right with bigotry against Muslims.

We remind Pride that "tolerance, acceptance and recognition" are for people (whether LGBT, Muslims or ex-Muslims), not beliefs or regressive political movements and States. Whilst we must hold all human beings - even those we disagree with - in high regard, this is not the same as accepting all beliefs without criticism. Clearly, Pride is able to make distinctions between criticism of beliefs and an attack on people when it comes to non-minority groups and religions other than Islam so it should not be too difficult for you to understand our position.

In your letter you say, protest "does not give people in our parade the freedom to ostracise, discriminate against or humiliate anyone else taking part." But the question that remains is how has our presence and placards criticising Islamic homophobia, the East London mosque, States that murder LGBT and apostates ostracising, humiliating or discriminating against anyone? Are placards critical of Christianity, the Church, Jesus, the Pope... "ostracising, humiliating and discriminating against" Christians? It seems Pride has bought into the Islamist narrative that betrays the persecuted and defends the persecutors. This is a politics that rewards bullies and blames victims.

You add: "...Pride celebrates diversity and will not tolerate any individual making derogatory remarks about a person's sexuality, gender, gender identity, race, age, nationality, disability, appearance, religion or any other factor." Again, you confuse criticism of religion as being the same as attacking someone because they are Muslim or gay or a woman. You merely need to change any of our placards critical of Islam to ones critical of Christianity to see how absurd your position is.

You say: "there were some placards we feel may have the potential to breach our code of conduct. These placards may be seen to reject the existence of Islamophobia, to make defamatory statements about a specific group of people, and overall could have been seen to proactively question the ability to be LGBT+ and Muslim."

This is more disingenuous nonsense and merely an attempt to justify your unjustifiable position. Islamophobia is a misnomer that conflates criticism of religion and belief with discrimination against Muslims; we can be critical of Islamophobia as a political term used to silence dissent whilst opposing racism. We certainly don't need a lesson in racism from Pride; our members live it every day. Also we can be critical of Islam; this doesn't mean one cannot be Muslim and LGBT. In fact, some Bangladeshi Muslims marched with us on the day. Unlike Pride, CEMB fights on several fronts, including against Islamism, the far-Right and racism. You say some of our placards were "defamatory"? Which ones? Presumably, the defamed can take us to court; we welcome it.

As for your determining whether CEMB has broken your code of conduct and will be able to march again in future parades, we must say this: your decision will be more important for you than for us. After all, we don't need your permission to march for LGBT rights or the rights of apostates. But your decision will determine whether Pride, which has been a source of inspiration for LGBT globally, will continue to be a beacon by showing the courage to give LGBT ex-Muslims the right to self-expression alongside our Muslim friends and family and as a respite from our daily experience which are intrinsically linked with fear, violence and intimidation, or whether it will remain firmly corporate Pride more concerned with causing "offence" that the rights and lives of ex-Muslim and Muslim apostates and LGBT.

As a follow up to a resolution on Pride adopted at the 22-24 July International Conference on Freedom of Expression and Conscience, we ask Pride to do the following:

1) Provide evidence for the serious allegations made against CEMB

2) Make a statement against all laws criminalising homosexuality, apostasy and blasphemy and against incitement to hate and murder by preachers at mosques like the East London mosque

3) Clarify whether by condemning ‘Islamophobia’, Pride meant to side with Islamists supporting the judicial murder of ex-Muslims and gay men

4) Affirm CEMB’s continued presence at Pride in London to show that they side with dissenters and those defending the right to think, live and love as they choose.

Thankfully, as you point out, you don't have a role in making "a legal judgement about offense or freedom of speech." If you did, you would have already imposed de facto blasphemy laws on those of us who have fled de jure blasphemy and apostasy laws which call for our murder.

You do, however, have the chance to do the right thing. Whether you do is another matter.

Sincerely

Maryam Namazie
CEMB Spokesperson
Daniel Fitzgerald
CEMB Pride Organiser

LETTER FROM PRIDE IN LONDON

21ST July 2017

Dear Mr Fitzgerald,

Thank you very much for your email.

As you are aware, we have received a number of complaints regarding some of the placards your group chose to carry during the Pride in London parade.

At its heart, Pride is a movement of acceptance, diversity and unity - a safe place that celebrates difference and rejects intolerance.

Our parade has always been a home to protest, and not just to celebrate, which means we are used to seeing conflicting points of view. The tolerance, acceptance and recognition that we demand for ourselves as LGBT+ people, can only happen if we are also prepared to offer those whose opinions we don’t agree with the same courtesy.

It is also incredibly important to Pride in London that groups are able to use our platform to protest, to challenge authority and stand up for all LGBT+ rights. It is especially important that groups are able to challenge governments and states that continue to persecute, torture, imprison and even kill people simply because of their sexuality.

However, this does not give people in our parade the freedom to ostracise, discriminate against or humiliate anyone else taking part. If any individual or any group does this, they undermine the very principles on which we exist.

Our code of conduct, which every group agreed to as part of taking part in the parade, is very clear on this matter. All volunteers, staff and parade groups agree that Pride celebrates diversity and will not tolerate any individual making derogatory remarks about a person's sexuality, gender, gender identity, race, age, nationality, disability, appearance, religion or any other factor.

LGBT+ Muslims play a vital and important role in London and in Pride. We recognise that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Muslims face discrimination on both sides, from people within their faith and also from within the LGBT+ community.

Over the years the parade has been a place of acceptance for LGBT+ Muslims and this year Imaan, the LGBT+ charity, was voted the winner of the best walking group in the parade for the diversity and passion they displayed. What’s more, this year we supported the ‘Big Gay Iftaar’ as part of the Pride in London festival. We also hosted a vibrant and positive discussion about Islam and the LGBT+ community on the faith episode of our Facebook Live series. This is part of our dedication to supporting the full spectrum of the LGBT+ community.

Equally, it is also very important that individuals who once did but no longer follow the Muslim faith have a welcome place in the Pride parade. We acknowledge the difficulties individuals leaving the faith can sometimes encounter and do not in anyway seek to diminish the significance of those experiences.

To specifically address the complaints we have received, we want to be clear that we do not feel it is our role to make a legal judgement about offense or freedom of speech. However, it is our role to determine if a group has broken our code of conduct and whether they can be permitted to march again in future parades.

It has been argued that some of the placards are a legitimate form of protest. However, there were some placards we feel may have the potential to breach our code of conduct. These placards may be seen to reject the existence of islamophobia, to make defamatory statements about a specific group of people, and overall could have been seen to proactively question the ability to be LGBT+ and Muslim.

We have referred these complaints to our Community Advisory Board, who assess every parade entry after each year and decide on which groups will be allowed to march again. This decision will be taken prior to the opening of parade entries in 2018. Both the CAB and Pride in London commit to ensuring you are able to engage fully in this discussion, and welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss further.

We believe Pride in London must continue to play a vital role in supporting LGBT+ Muslims, as well as those who have left the faith. We want to work with community groups and charities to further these efforts, and would encourage any organisation that can play a role in building a vital bridge to get involved.

We also want to thank you for any support you can provide in the fight against hatred and bigotry. We are eager to stand side-by-side with you in this battle, supporting any actions you take to support LGBT+ people, but we also feel that the LGBT+ community can equally do more to tackle hatred and bigotry in all its forms, especially Islamophobia.

Together, I hope we can build common ground to stand up for communities that are more harmonious and supportive, valuing all citizens, no matter their faith or sexuality.

Michael Salter-Church
Alison Camps
Co-Chairs - Pride in London

Sincerely,

Michael Salter-Church
Alison Camps
Co-Chairs - Pride in London

See with links here: https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/pride-2/
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB)
Jimmy London
Daniel Fitzgerald

Morality & Social Media

Photo: By Nigel Cox

The sad tale of the Charlie Gard and his parents struggle to get him further treatment has been at the centre of media attention for a while now. It has been a difficult and heart-breaking case for all involved. Who cannot but feel sympathy for parents that want their child to live no matter what but also understand the medical prognosis offered by experienced and caring medical staff.

The medical decision to discontinue treatment for young Charlie was not taken lightly either by the doctors or the courts that got involved. There comes a time when no matter how hard it is a final decision has to be made.

Like most people I trust the vast majority of NHS and hospital staff. They have a hard job in making difficult decisions, especially when the parents really do not want to let go. The decision has been made but what worries me is not the actions of doctors or parents but the activity of so-called supporters.

It was reported that both staff and the parents of sick children were abused outside the hospital. What were these idiots thinking. Even worse thousands of hate messages including death threats have been sent to the hospital. Unforgiveable.

What do these "people" think they are doing? Why make threats or send abuse to staff who are just doing their best. Untold thousands of children have been treated in Great ormond Street Hospital over the years. Medical science despite it's advances has its limitations. Doctors are not "gods", they cannot cure everything. Sometimes we have to let go and allow both the parents to grieve and the medical staff learn what they can from this and other cases.

They cannot win them all.

Yet the hate that exists on social media spills over into every sphere these days. For some reason a lot of people just cannot control themselves. Can the monster that the Internet has unleashed ever be controlled?

Probably not but if you have friends that you see step over the line pull them up and say that their words are unacceptable. Of course there are those who spread hate for other reason or hide their true purpose behind lies and half-truths by publishing false news and views on the net.

Just because it's on-line doesn't make it true. Left, right and centre can all be guilty of this but those at the extremes thrive on falsehoods that lead to hate.

As for the average punter. Simply check things out. Look at sites and blogs with which you may not normally agree to gain a balanced view. Too often what goes on-line is not checked, not questioned.

Stop being lazy. Start thinking for yourself. And don't let hate replace reason. That is the challenge for us all.

Politics is broken

Every morning as I make a cup of coffee and look out the window the sight of Grenfell Tower just down the road reminds me of how broken our political system has become. The richest borough in the country put a few measly quid before safety.

The fallout from the fire showed how incompetent our politicians have become. A wealthy council couldn't cope with the problems faced with it's poorest tenants.

It's failure all round as we have a Prime Minister that's not up to the job leading a divided party that barely won the last election against an opposition led by a useless buffoon that should never be allowed to be in charge of anything. As for the other parties the Lib-Dems remain in disgrace and the rest are just maladjusted nationalists of various sorts.

None have anything to offer.

Yet this country faces a difficult future as the UK extricates itself from the European Union. Only the first to go, others may follow to different degrees. Merkel's decision to open Germany's borders has caused a migrant crisis that will have an effect for decades to come. Eastern Europe has closed their borders and Italy struggles to cope with boatloads from Africa.

Poland has rebelled against the EU over the appointment of judges and other countries refuse to take the supposed share of Germany's folly. Even Austria has sent troops to its borders.

Meanwhile the United Nations continues to be a body representing the worst of governments with Saudi Arabia, the world's true apartheid state which remains the only country in the world  where women are denied the right to drive. Their Grand Mufti wants to destroy all churches in the gulf and christians are persecuted across the Middle East in Pakistan, Indonesia and Burenie by intolerant and supremacist Islamist regimes and currents.

A woman is threatened with being burnt to death by conservative clerics for daring to have a photo taken of herself dressed in a mini-skirt. Public caning becomes acceptable in one Indonesian province and history itself is bent to the Islamist agenda as Jewish cultural centres are declared part of Palestinian heritage even though these places existed and were inhabited by Jews long before Arabs and Muslims came along.

The UK government & Opposition is a joke. The Eu is a joke. The Islamic world is beyond parody and the "United Nations" is a failure.

No wonder I despair when I look out the window. The world is broken. The environment polluted, the minds of men seemingly devolving back to barbarity.

That's why I have not blogged regularly for a while, but the time for despair must end. Those who wish to reclaim the middle ground with reason rather than those with ideology and theology must organise, must rally against the growing darkness at home and abroad.

I don't have the answers but those that rule over us or would try to do so must be challenged. Their politics their religions cannot be forced down our throats. The time for the rights of the individual, for free speech and freedom from fear must take centre stage.

The men (and women) of violence exist on the far-left, the far-right and particularly amongst the followers of barbaric medieval religions. Stand up to them now.

Our futures are at stake.

Remembering Martin Landau

Martin Landau the well known star of two iconic TV shows, Mission Impossible and Space 1999 and more sadly passed away at the age of 89.

These two shows were at the centre of many of my generations television viewing. They spawned comics in both Britain and the USA. Landau was critical of Space 1999's scripts apparently. He was married to co-star Barbara Bain from 1957 until they divorced in 1993.

  

Thanks for the memories Martin. Rest In Peace

Ambisexual fiction

Photo: By Source,

The announcement of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor caused some surprise across social media. Most people will have been warned to the possibility of the next or a future Doctor changing gender by the transformation of The Master into the much loved Missy.

Some people have attacked her appointment as "PC gone mad" and there are the usual crowd who do not like change. The only surprise as far as I am concerned is that Jodie is not an actress I am familiar with not having seen Broadchurch or the new St Trinians films.

However this should not come as a shock to hardcore science fiction fans. One famous novel The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin sees an Earthman serving as an ambassador on a planet of "ambisexuals". Wikipedia explains:

The inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual humans; for twenty-four days (somer) of each twenty-six-day lunar cycle, they are sexually latent androgynes. They only adopt sexual attributes once a month, during a period of sexual receptiveness and high fertility, called kemmer. During kemmer they become sexually male or female, with no predisposition towards either, although which sex they adopt can depend on context and relationships.

I read this book (originally published in 1969) in the early seventies when I was still at school and think it just might be time to pick up a copy again if it is still in print.

The point is that critics should not see the Doctors sex change as "PC" but as part of a wider tapestry of possibilities within creation that can be explored by science fiction

FBU attack Ex-Muslims as "Islamophobic"

The presence of members of the Council of Ex Muslims in Britain on the recent Pride march has not just caused a reaction from the usual Islamist suspects including some very nasty and misogynistic comments posted on Maryam Namazie's Facebook page. 

However it seems even amongst the trade unions supposed bastions of freedom there are those who seek to misrepresent not just the CEMB but also the positions of atheists, secularists and those with legitimate criticisms of Islam.

A certain Lucy Masoud of the FBU (Fire Brigades Union) writes:

Union members who attended this year’s London Pride parade on Saturday were shocked to find out that they would be marching alongside an Islamophobic group.

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), who claim to be gay former Muslims, carried offensive signs such as ‘F**K Islam’ and ‘East London Mosque Incites Murder of Homosexuals’. Their inclusion in the Pride parade caused much concern amongst other participants, including union members who were marching with the London Fire Brigade and were positioned alongside the anti-Islamic group.

The CEMB have written to Matt Wrack with the following response:

Dear Mr Wrack, FBU General Secretary,

It has been drawn to our attention that Ms Lucy Masoud, treasurer of the Fire Brigades Union in London, has written a blog on The FBU website stating that the presence of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) at Pride was “hate on display” and that the group is “islamophobic” (https://www.fbu.org.uk/blog/hate-display-pride). CEMB has responded to the post and would like to know whether this is the FBU’s official position (https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/fbu-we-are-combating-hate-not…/).

As we have mentioned in our response to Ms Masoud, there is a clear distinction between criticism of religion and the religious-Right versus bigotry against people. Charges of islamophobia erroneously conflate the two. In fact, CEMB’s presence at Pride aimed to combat the hate perpetrated against ex-Muslims and LGBT and to defend the right to reject and criticise religion without fear. This was political protest at its best. Had the FBU not recently backed calls to reclaim Pride as political protest?

Given that apostasy, blasphemy and homosexuality are punishable by death in many countries under Islamic rule, our being at Pride was an important moment for our members, many of whom are refugees. It would be unfortunate if the FBU officially defended the vilification of a minority within a minority providing further justification for our persecution by implying that “offence” is more important than murder.

We look forward to hearing from you on your union’s position.

Thank you for your response in advance. We attach a copy of a photo with FBU members and two of ours taken at Pride.

Sincerely

Maryam Namazie, CEMB Spokesperson
Daniel Fitzgerald CEMB Pride Organiser
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
BM Box 1919, London WC1N 3XX, UK