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Maajid Nawaz Is In Trouble. Big Trouble.

The Muslim candidate for the UK Parliament tweeted an utterly innocuous cartoon of Jesus and Mohammad. In The Guardian, Nawaz explains why he did so: My intention was not to speak for any Muslim but myself – rather, it was to defend my religion from those who have hijacked it just because they shout the […]

The Muslim candidate for the UK Parliament tweeted an utterly innocuous cartoon of Jesus and Mohammad. In The Guardian, Nawaz explains why he did so:

My intention was not to speak for any Muslim but myself – rather, it was to defend my religion from those who have hijacked it just because they shout the loudest. My intention was to carve out a space to be heard without constantly fearing the blasphemy charge, on pain of death. I did it for Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who was assassinated by his bodyguard for calling for a review of Pakistan’s colonial-era blasphemy laws; for Malala Yusafzai, the schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for wanting an education; and for Muhammad Asghar, a mentally ill British man sentenced to death for “blasphemy” last week in Pakistan.

My intention was to demonstrate that Muslims are able to see things we don’t like, yet remain calm and pluralist, and to demonstrate that there are Muslims who care more about the thousands of deaths in Iraq, Pakistan and Syria than we do about what a student is wearing. My intention was to highlight that Muslims can engage in politics without insisting that our own religious values must trump all others’ concerns, and to stand before the mob so that other liberal Muslim voices that are seldom heard, women’s and men’s, could come to the fore.

Good for him. But bad on the BBC. Why? According to the American scientist Jerry Coyne — who is often a fierce, Dawkinsian denouncer of Christianity — [link fixed] the BBC’s double standards when it comes to how they treat Islam and Christianity are disgusting. Coyne shows the Jesus and Mo cartoon — really, it’s the blandest thing imaginable — and writes:

This is contemptible, and shows that Channel 4 and the BBC are cowed by fear of offending Muslims. Would they censor, for example, Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” (an “artwork” with a crucifix immersed in a jar of Serrano’s urine) for fear of offending Christians? I don’t think so, for “Piss Christ” featured prominently in a 2009 BBC documentary  called “Why beauty matters” (video below). Here’s a screenshot from minute 42 of that show, and you can clearly see Jesus floating in the urine (this version, from Vimeo, has Spanish subtitles):

More:

I’d like to ask the BBC why they don’t mind offending Christian sensibilities but bridle at offending Muslims. We already know the answer, of course.

Of course. I don’t know that I’ve ever agreed with anything Jerry Coyne has said about religion, but he’s right about this. The idea that national news organizations in a free country would not let its viewers see a stick-figure cartoon depicting the Prophet, even though it has become relevant to a political news story, is unspeakable. If the UK were a Muslim nation, one could understand it. But in a Western liberal democracy? What is wrong with those people?

Anyway, pray for Maajid Nawaz’s safety. That the BBC would knuckle under to violent troglodytes in its news coverage makes Britain that much more dangerous for Nawaz and Muslims like him.

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