For heaven's sake

(I got e-mail about this, I know I should be grateful but...)

It’s not about cartoons or freedom of speech, or what’s blasphemy and what’s not, or even who’s upset and what they might do about it.

It’s not about asking moderate Muslims to calm the hot heads, or banning certain organizations and passing laws to limit speech. It’s not about terrorism or some war between two civilizations. It’s about grassroots political organization.

Islamic political groups have for the last three Saturdays brought thousands of demonstrators to London, not only to protest at the Danish cartoons but also to push for new laws protecting Islam from offence.

What they propose is an attempt to de-secularize our society that should, to my mind, be vigorously resisted. That the Muslim Action Committee seeks to promote itself as representing majority Muslim opinion is neither here nor there. What matters is there's no grassroots political opposition to them in the constituencies.

The cartoons have incidentally revealed at least one issue: it’s not about whether the MAC or anyone else represents mainstream or moderate Muslims, it's not even about the role of Muslims in the West (that’s for them to figure out), the pressing question for democrats is how to counter the rise of political Islam and effectively resist its demands.

It is in this context that I welcome Oliver Kamm’s initiative. But if anyone wants to go along and wave giant sized placards featuring certain cartoons, you can DEFINITELY count me out.

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