Muslim Council of Britain is Offended
Kapellmeister
Posts: 41,322 Forum Member
✭
Oh dear. The (rather awful) Eric Pickles has sent a letter to mosque leaders that hasn't gone down too well.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/19/david-cameron-backs-eric-pickles-letter-muslim-leaders#start-of-comments
The Muslim Council of Britain has responded angrily:
A full copy of the letter is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/396312/160115_Final_Draft_Letter_to_Mosques_PDF.pdf
In the letter Pickles wrote: “You, as faith leaders, are in a unique position in our society. You have a precious opportunity, and an important responsibility, in explaining and demonstrating how faith in Islam can be part of British identity.
“All of us have a responsibility to try and confront this radicalisation, and make sure we stop young people being drawn into this poisonous, fanatical death cult that a very small minority of people have created.
The letter added, “British values are Muslim values”, and the country would be diminished without Islam and its “message of peace and unity”.
“We must show our young people, who may be targeted, that extremists have nothing to offer them. We must show them that there are other ways to express disagreement, that their right to do so is dependent on the very freedoms that extremists seek to destroy."
“We must show them the multitude of statements of condemnation from British Muslims, show them these men of hate have no place in our mosques or any place of worship, and that they do not speak for Muslims in Britain or anywhere in the world.
“Let us assure you that the government will do all we can to defeat the voices of division, but ultimately the challenges of integration and radicalisation cannot be solved from Whitehall alone. Strong community-based leadership at a local level is needed.
“Every day, mosques and other faith institutions across the country are providing help for those in need, and acting as a centre for our communities. It is these positive contributions that are the true messages of faith and it is these contributions that need to be promoted.”
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/19/david-cameron-backs-eric-pickles-letter-muslim-leaders#start-of-comments
The Muslim Council of Britain has responded angrily:
Harun Khan, deputy secretary general of the MCB, said: “Is Mr Pickles seriously suggesting, as do members of the far right, that Muslims and Islam are inherently apart from British society?”
He said he was writing back to Pickles to demand an explanation for the apparent assumptions made.
A full copy of the letter is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/396312/160115_Final_Draft_Letter_to_Mosques_PDF.pdf
0
Comments
He doesn't seem too happy with the MCB's response.
While I appreciate that Pickles is actually a massive prat, I can't see what's wrong with his letter. Instead of clutching their pearls, maybe the Muslim Council need to be asking why Islam is seen as being on the 'outside' & what they can do about it.
I think most of the rest of us have bent over quite far enough now. Any more & something will snap.
I don't see that as true at all, as most Muslims will just be trying to get on with their daily lives, the same as anyone else. I do think that there needs to be more outing from the community and less turning a blind eye to extremists and radicalised views from homes and mosques, which I think is what Pickles is on about, as these people are effectively the eyes and ears of spotting potential trouble first hand and long before the security services pick up on this. It's not easy, as these will be friends and family members, but the alternative is much worse, both in terms for the individual and anyone who is on the receiving end of this radicalisation in the form of violence.
I do see Islam as apart from Britain, but then I see all religion as a problem as most of it just drags people backwards and conditions the thought process of many to hold piss poor views of gays and women, as an example.
I don't think the Muslim Council's response is particularly clever, as they have taken offence to the spirit to which the letter was intended. Ironically, this offence being taken will now just harden the resolve of any fanatic now, who will even more so see the UK as their enemy.
After leading Bradford council, I'm surprised he has the patience to be so polite.
Where in the letter does Mr. Pickles say this? Surely he says the opposite?
He is a massive prat and agreed there is nothing wrong with the letter at all.
Muslims and their leaders need to learn that its their religion that's causing the problems all over the world right now. It is their responsibility to teach these potential radicals what their religion is actually all about. Not just sit there saying they disagree with what's happening or becoming offended at a letter.
Actually I am. I thought they were more reasonable than this.
Islam is very much against violence but you wouldn't know it from the actions of the few.
We need the Muslim community leaders to start and spearhead a drive against radicalism - Without the community leaders support the issues are only going to get a lot worse.
It indicates that islam currently isn't part of a British identity.
Of course it bloody isn't a Christian country ..... whatever that means.
Some interesting polling evidence from 2006:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5111248.stm
Btw, it is.
I'm not, it's depressingly inevitable. There needs to be a collective acknowledgement that a problem exists and that there is a united front against extremism in Islam in the UK. It's fair enough to point out that there is only so much that mosques can do when people are being brainwashed and led to extremism by other means, like social media etc. But it's silly to suggest that mosques do not have a collective responsibility to ensure that those practices - however much they are in the minority - need to be rooted out and that Islamic community themselves have to do it.
I agree.
Either with us; or against us. HM Government were right in sending the letter.
Yes it is you and clearly you do not know what you are talking about .
Even in 2011 David Cameron called us one .
The Archbishop of Canterbury has said David Cameron is "right" to state that the UK is a "Christian country".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27145915
I wouldn't class myself as ever having been Christian but I don't have any problem with it.
"You're all lovely people but we'd appreciate it ever so much if you could manage not to produce quite so many extremist nutcases who are hell-bent on fighting wars in other countries and doing bad things over here if it's all the same to you"
Somehow, I can't imagine that any similar campaigns intended to deter, say, car owners from drinking & driving or to deter teenagers from indulging in vandalism would be phrased so carefully and politely.
Ah, so you'd prefer to wait until another (note that word) atrocity occurs in the UK before sending the letter.
I disagree.
Ah, I see, wait until we have something similar and THEN act. Wait until even more people have been murdered, when a simple letter might do something to help.
Always better to avoid offending people hey?