This is my latest article for Christian Today – you can get the original here
The problem with Labour’s Islamophobia definition
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and in Scotland in 2021. But under new proposals from the UK government, they are about to make a not so surprising comeback. In this new Britain you can blaspheme all you want about Jesus and feel free to burn the Bible, but dare to critique Muhammad or burn a Quran as Hamit Coskun did and things could end very differently for you.
When I wrote about Islamophobia seven years ago there was the usual reaction from those who see a conspiracy theory or a ‘right wing’ exaggeration in everything. Sadly, even in the church, this is seen as an effective way to shut down any discussion. But this subject keeps coming up. And as The Telegraph recently reported, this is not a fantasy threat, but a clear and present danger.
Sir John Jenkins, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria, has suggested that any criticism of Iran for example could be perceived as hostility towards Islam and invoking hatred against Muslims.
“If you make a point of criticising the way the Islamic Republic seeks to oppress women by mandatory veiling you will be criticised for expressing hostility to a particular facet of being Muslim,” he said.
Let’s take a step back and ask: what is Islamophobia? How did we end up with this word and concept? The term was first coined by the Runnymede Trust in 1997 to describe an ‘unfounded hostility towards Islam’. But what is unfounded? And what is hostility? In 2018, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims defined ‘Islamophobia’ as a ‘type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness’. This is such a broad definition that it could be used to silence any criticism of Islam – especially when combined with the British political and police systems’ penchant for hate crimes and hate speech, being effectively determined by how the ‘victims’ perceive it.
As a result, we have now got to a stage where, as Niyak Ghorbani, an Iranian dissident and activist, told The Telegraph: “As an Iranian living in England, I can see that a word that is meant to prevent hatred has become a tool to silence criticism of ideology “In practice, Islamophobia has become a word that disarms free societies – protecting Islamists who have not yet reached power.”
The government argues that its legislation will not restrict the right to criticise a particular religion, but it is difficult to see how that view can be compatible with the Islamic view that any criticism of Islam, Muhammad or the Quran is hateful. If you doubt this, ask any newspaper or magazine editor if they would ever publish a cartoon of Muhammad! Indeed, would the BBC ever let any of its Sunday preachers, or thought for the day contributors, say anything even remotely critical of Islam?
If you want to know how far our society has regressed from the freedom of speech, press and religion that was so inherent in our Christian foundations, ask yourself: can you imagine Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses being published today?
The government has sought to rebrand Islamophobia as “anti-Muslim hostility” but whatever the case, the effect of an official definition will be to silence critics from all sides. Think of the Iranian feminist and dissenter Maryam Namazie who was ‘no platformed’ for daring to challenge Islamic fundamentalism. Or Nick Lowles, the director of the impeccably progressive Hope Not Hate organisation, who was disinvited from a National Union of Students event for criticising Islamist extremism.
If you want to know where this is leading, look across the English Channel to France where the journalist Yona Faedda has been arrested under France’s hate speech laws and also chillingly been ‘de-banked’, cutting off access to basic financial services.
The problem with the Islamophobia blasphemy law is not that it will lead to a few public prosecutions, but the way that it will be used by the press, universities, corporations and government departments to silence any criticism of Islam. It’s not just that Muslims will be saying ‘you can’t say that’, it will be the institutions of the state enforcing that particular Islamic doctrine.
When you combine this with the ‘cultural’ pressure already being put on police and other civic authorities you can see how this will work out. When police ban a march in London because they are scared of Islamist violence, or they cancel Israeli/Jewish football supporters from Birmingham because of ‘community concerns’ (i.e. Muslim community concerns), then we are in danger of seeing not only the ghettoisation of British cities, but the sectarianisation of British politics. Take for example the alliance between the Greens in Manchester and the Muslim Vote organisation endorsing them in the upcoming Gorton and Denton parliamentary by-election. Given that 30 per cent of the area is now Muslim, this could be a troubling sign of the future for UK politics.
The proposed Islamophobia laws show the growing political power of the Muslim vote. Why else do you think that the government is doing this? They are not planning legislation to deal with Christophobia, or the great hatred of our times – antisemitism. Christians don’t riot when Islamists march through the streets or perform the Islamist version of ‘name and claim it’ prayer. And despite the ever present ‘blood libels’ against Jews there is no danger of Judaism dominating UK society.
There is one other concern – and it is a big one, one which affects Christian magazines like Christian Today and writers like yours truly. At the moment we can publish articles like this, but I can see a day coming in the not-too-distant future when lawyers will suggest that we don’t, and when writers like me will be prosecuted under the Islamophobia blasphemy law for spreading hate against Muslims.
But preaching Christ and his word is not hatred, nor is it any kind of phobia. It is Christian love. As a Christian I am compelled to love my neighbours, including my Muslim ones. And if I believe what Jesus says, it is hardly loving to encourage them to continue on in a religion that takes them away from Christ and the hope found in Him.
In a truly pluralistic society Muslims would be free to declare their faith in Muhammad and say what they like about other contrary beliefs – as would Christians. The fact that we are moving towards government protection of one religion only shows just how far we have moved away from principled pluralism and gone down the rabbit hole of singling out a religion that cannot be blasphemed against.
David Robertson is the former minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee and a former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He is currently the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales, and blogs at The Wee Flea.
I had little time for Scott Morrison when he was prime minister. His Christian faith, too, seemed to be at odds with true principles.. from a distance.
Nevertheless, his recent commentary on the above subject, delivered in Israel, captured the essence of the problem. And likely iterated the thoughts of most Australians.
Except the Muslim cohort, the provocative retort from their “association” very much reflecting the concepts you describe.. a set of rules against blaspheming one religion.. while allowing a “free for all” on all the rest.
Christianity in particular. The religion around which Western Society has evolved over many centuries. Tom Holland’s opus a certain outline of that history.
The naivety, or perhaps callous disregard, of Australia’s ruling politic with respect to Islam and it’s weaponisation is hard to watch, given the gross evidence presented in Europe.
Waking up to that fact is essential if we are to avoid Bondi 2.
I think fears are misplaced, see The leaked Islamophobia definition is not the threat some are claiming – Faithroots https://share.google/1XW1ED0b3tTuYl2bT. The definition is very clear I’m terms of what it is about which is to do with a form of racism, similar to definitions of antisemitism which is crucial to the issues you mention in Birmingham, as much about negative stereotyping of Israelis as concern for a community. Re the march in London it was not a march for Jesus but a organized by UKIP – not the centre right EU protest grouping they may have been seen as in the past. There are good policing reasons for stopping groups organising marches into communities. I wouldn’t want such a thing coming down my street either. Indeed such activities are themselves a hindrance to Gospel witness into Muslim majority neighbourhoods
I’m sorry Dave but that is not your finest work. You ignore the most blatant inconsistency – that Islam is not a race – but a religion.
And you are far too glib about the dangers inherent in the very definition. Your example of pluralism is nonsense. Islam is specifically against pluralism. Therefore if I say that Mohammed is not a prophet and that the Koran is not the Word of God – as well has having my life placed in danger – now I am going to have the State reinforce that by prosecuting me for being Islamaphobic.
As regards marching down the streets – I don’t want the Orange order, the pro Palestinian marchers, or gay pride marching down my street. But I don’t think that I have the right to ban them or ask for them to be banned just because I don’t like the idea. The point about the London ban was not who was organising the march – but who opposed it. Muslim groups who threaten violence – both police and politicians are running scard of them.
Hang on a minute David! I’m not an Orangeman and have no Orange blood in my genes. I’ve never been tempted to join the Order. But the 12 July parades (in N. Ireland anyway) are really just pageantry. They’re not anti-Semitic hate marches and they don’t offend public decency.
My uncle served in the army and he as posted several times in Northern Ireland (back to family roots. My grandpa was an Ulsterman who joined the RAF. My uncle commented that on those parades the media focused on the pageantry at the front not the hostile crowds behind seeking to prod and provoke the community they were marching through
Thank you for this David. 🙏
I had a little time to spare today David and I sat down with my tea and biscuits to read this column. It left me a little perturbed. Are we not all bairns of Jock Thompson and is an insult to one religion not an insult to all? Why do you single out Islam as an example? There is enough anti religious thought around. I have Muslim friends who cannot understand why we Christians don’t seem to have much effect on the daily blasphemy against our religion – they are shocked and hurt by it as well. In these sad times alll religions need to get together to show that an attack on one is an attack on all. Anyway back to my tea and biscuit.
Don’t be perturbed. Yes we are all human. But if you are a Christian then you follow the teachings of Christ as given us in the Bible…God was pretty strong about ‘insulting’ other religions. He calls them false gods, warns us against idolatry and says that they are the blind leading the blind. Islam continually attacks Christianity…indeed it says that those who hold to the position that Jesus is God are cursed. Besides which if someone insults my religion – I don’t want them to go to jail. I don’t want a blasphemy law….do you?
Sadly some of the comments to this courageous and insightful article reflect the zeitgeist and the resulting complacency which lulls so many who hold a Christian worldview to a false sense of security about this issue. The West is being Islamised by stealth and by the time many wake to this reality it will be too late. Yet we have an unshakeable hope and security which will endure despite humankind’s folly (Isaiah42: 8, 43:10-11).
Which Labour are you referring to here – Australia or UK? I don’t really see this as a problem if one political party – all parties should be involved in this. Ironically it could be argued that Christians are part of the problem as, unlike Muslims, not stood up for their faith in the same way Muslims are doing. Another argument which could be proposed is – Christianity has existed now for thousands of years – is Islam really going to finish it? I agree totally about censorship and I remember being severely censured by my church for arguing, for example that films like the “Last temptation of Christ” be freely accessible to alland not banned. My reasoning – if these sorts of things are banned – then it makes it very easy for a secular or other religious group to ban things.
Could it be that because the west has abandoned our Christian heritage and more recently-Israel, it is now being handed over to the spirit of Islam? It seems to me that there are consequences to our actions and to our belief systems. There is a very strange alliance between the lefty, progressive, wokarati and Islam. It is only strange when using common sense and logic, but seen spiritually it makes perfect sense, as both are of the same spirit. The Lord has mercy and grace on a nation but only for so long and has the west now crossed the line where judgement is the only remedy? Of course in the midst of judgement the true church will arise and many will come to Him in the trials that will overcome us, just as is happening in Iran, Syria and other nations. I have recently been working in Turkey where most of the new Testament was born and written. That early church is for the most part gone and the nation has been handed over to Islam. Surely a warning to the rest of the nations, especially those with a so called Christian heritage. Only Israel as a nation has its past, present and future determined and secured by God. All other nations will have to have enough salt and light to secure their place in the world that is to come.
I’m sure you are quite right that soon the government will not allow you to publish your Christian views on many topics. But that’s, I believe, to be expected from Revelation. I know we don’t know when it will happen but as those times approach I think it will just get darker. We need Christians such as you to continue to be a voice to those who choose to listen.
Thanks David
There is also compliment to the Church! Is Islam brittle? You can say christianity is a scam. But no one worries in the Church, because the case (proofs) for belief in our LJC are so strong-overwhelmingly so!