Labour councils in the north of England warn schools that children’s drawings of Jesus and Mohammed could be blasphemous for Muslim pupils under Islamic law. Music and dance lessons could also be problematic. This comes exactly as new blasphemy laws, under the guise of a new definition of “anti-Muslim hostility”, are introduced by Keir Starmer. Britain is quickly becoming a hostage of Sharia law.
Teachers in the north of England are being warned that some Muslim pupils may not wish to portray the image of Jesus, Mohammed or even the human form as their parents may view this as blasphemous, The Telegraph reports. Dancing and music lessons may also be off the table as they could be contrary to Islamic teachings, and teachers are urged to adapt to these new religious sensitivities. The Telegraph writes:
“The prohibition is based on several hadith – canonical stories about Mohammed that inform sharia – in which the Muslim prophet speaks out against images, particularly those imitating living beings. Guidance for schools further states that “in Islam, music is traditionally limited to the human voice and non-tuneable percussion instruments as in the days of the Prophet, when they were only used in marriage ceremonies and on the battlefield”. It notes that there is diversity of opinion on music in Islam, but that “schools should listen to any concerns, discuss the place of music in the curriculum and ensure that students are not asked to join in songs that conflict with their religious beliefs.”
This is yet another way that Britain is bending over backwards to please their new overlords – the Muslims. But why? For one, Labour is haemorrhaging voters to pro-Gaza secteria candidates. At the next election, if the polls remain the same, high-profile figures in the Government like Wes Streeting and Jess Phillips look set to lose their jobs. At the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, the threat to Labour was made particularly clear as the Greens – not so much “green” as appealing to minorities including Muslims – soaked up voters that would have otherwise gone to Labour.
Blasphemy law by the back door
No wonder then, that Labour has introduced a new official definition of Islamophobia, and appointed a new ‘Islamophobia tsar’ – someone who will be advising the government – which is hailed as a blasphemy law by the back door by critics. Even the government’s own tsar on terror, Jonathan Hall, is warning that it will stifle debate and give Islamist terrorists an excuse to silence criticism of sharia law, and even fail to prevent attacks on Muslims, thus rendering the new definition useless no matter which viewpoint you take.
Religion is already a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. The UK has a proud history of religious tolerance and already has laws in place that protect all religions — including Islam — from discrimination and hatred. The Government could instead opt to enforce those laws, rather than creating a new definition that risks introducing a de facto blasphemy law protecting only one faith, critics argue.
Matt Goodwin from Reform UK agrees.
“The Labour government is bringing back plans to abolish jury trials and on the same day has introduced a definition of “Islamophobia” that will inevitably restrict free speech over Islam in the UK and the West. We are losing our freedoms,” he writes on Facebook.
No Jesus on the Christmas card
Sadly, I’m in agreement with Goodwin, and not at all surprised. Having experienced the state school system in Scotland, I would say England seems to be behind. My eight-year-old son was told not to draw Jesus on his “winter card” – or Christmas card, as it used to be known as. The reason he was given was that it could offend the Muslim boy in the class. Lately he has complained that all they seem to hear about is Ramadan, and he wondered why there was never anything Christian in the lessons.
The UK isn’t the only country to erase its own culture to appease Muslims. In Barcelona, children are not allowed to sing and dance during the month of Ramadan.
It’s easy to say that Britain, and the West, has fallen, but it can get a lot worse. I read somewhere that this is how it all started back in the beginning of the Iran revolution in 1979. In the beginning, the changes were small, and local. Liberally minded people, such as the Brits, will tolerate a lot of smaller changes. They will argue that we need to make the newcomers feel welcome, and treat them they way we wish to be treated. Besides, Islam is the religion of peace and most Muslims are nice people, they say. The former can be argued, whereas the latter is largely true. There are millions of Muslims in Britain and the rest of the world who live in peace, work and contribute to society in a positive way.
Two-tier society
But this isn’t really about that. It’s about creating an atmosphere of hostility between people – the British working class and the new immigrant population. By creating a two-tier society, where the natives are treated worse than the newcomers, hostility builds up. In such a tense climate, bringing about more state control becomes easier. As Matt Goodwin reminds us, jury trials are set to be scrapped in the UK for most offences, paving the way for government-appointed judges to exercise the law of the land as they see fit.
The differential treatment also has consequences that affect vulnerable Muslim girls and women. Public services turn a blind eye when it comes to cases such as the tragic case of Sara Sharif, a ten-year-old who was abused to death by her father, because she was Muslim and wore a hijab that covered the bruises. The grooming gang scandal is another example in which public officials failed to address the problem because they were afraid of being labelled Islamophobic. When a group is placed on a pedestal and exempted from responsibility, mistrust and inequalities increase, and contempt within the majority population will grow.
Ralf Heydel-Mankoo of the New Culture Forum sums up the seriousness of the situation Britain is in:
“The Labour Party must now be recognised as a deeply sinister and dangerous organisation. A party which takes the side of any foreign minority or nation except its own. The Labour Party despises Britain – its culture, its history, and its people. What the party has now done, is embed the primacy of its Islamic voting block into law, by resurrecting blasphemy laws – but for one religion only. In so doing, it has formalised the islamo-leftist pact now reshaping the country. This is incredibly serious.”
The fight to preserve what is left of the country’s liberal values isn’t over yet. The Free Speech Union, headed by Lord Young of Acton, is bringing a legal challenge to the new Islamophobia definition. They are fundraising for the legal challenge here. “This is the biggest fight we’ve taken on yet,” says Lord Young. “If we don’t win this fight, tens of thousands of people a year could lose their jobs at the say-so of a Labour-appointed ‘tsar.’ It’s dystopian.”