It's not that I think it's Pulitzer prize-winning material - it clearly isn't - it's just that I want it known which side of the argument I'm on.
She Who Must Be Obeyed told me it was too serious. Whatever.
Here goes...
With all due respect to columnists elsewhere on this page,
I’m not religious, nor am I a fan of religion. If faith helps people make it
through the day, who am I to complain.
Some of my closest friends are religious, however, though I
no more know which god they worship than the colour of their underwear. It’s
not something you ask in general conversation. But I do not hold the fact they
are religious against them any more than I do their politics. The one thing I
do know is that religion ranks up there with imperialism when it comes to
causing conflict.
Some of my friends may be Muslim for all I know, but if they
are, I can sleep easy at night knowing they’re not terrorists. Most Muslims,
I’m sure, would have been as appalled by last week’s events in Woolwich as the
rest of us. They were undoubtedly ashamed of the horrific acts carried out in
the name of their religion. Indeed, the Muslim Council of Britain condemned the
attack within hours stating: “This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in
Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the victim and
his family … this attack on a member of the Armed Forces is dishonourable, and no
cause justifies this murder.”
Once again they are forced to issue a statement which
effectively says “not in our name”. I can empathise with their shame and anger.
As a white Englishman I was appalled by the response to the killing by the
English Defence League (EDL). How does fighting with the police help that
organisation’s investigation into this atrocity? How does attacking mosques
achieve anything other than stoking up racial hatred? But they don’t care.
That’s exactly what they want.
These are the same sort of people who 40 years ago were
looking to recruit violent football supporters into the National Front. Their
faces are so screwed up with hatred they can’t see the truth – and nor would
they accept it if they could see it. They just want to hate and fight. It’s in
their nature.
To assume all Islamic terrorists are indicative of the
Muslim faith is like saying the Ku Klux Klan is truly representative of the
Christian faith. When the IRA was bombing the hearts out of major cities in the
1970s and 80s, we didn’t go around blaming all Catholics. And where were the
reprisals against Christians when the Yorkshire Ripper was convicted of 13
murders in 1981?
A psychopath is a psychopath whatever his or her faith. Psychopaths
have an extreme view of society and their place in it regardless of their
faith. No, the response to this tragic and horrific incident is racism, pure
and simple.
Twitter went into overdrive last week with right-wing
fanatics – every bit as bad as any other fanatic – encouraging all sorts of
ghastly activity. But the best tweet I saw was sent by a serving member of our
armed forces to a member of the EDL. John, whose Twitter name is @lfc2652, sent a tweet which said:
“There’s Muslims in the Army/Navy/RAF that do a lot more for this country than
you. You gonna try (to) get rid of them as well?"
Well said sir. I’m sure most of these Neanderthals don’t –
or can’t – read this column, but if they do I’ll say simply: NOT IN MY NAME.
