Category Archives: Loving Islam

A biased BBC reader notes;

A Biased BBC reader asks;

“Listening to Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed, rofessor of the Anthropology of Religion at King’s College London, being interviewed on ‘Woman’s Hour’ ) this morning the thought came to me that perhaps the Pope is not Catholic.

His, some might say, extreme views on women, homosexuality and contraception are surely not what the Catholic Religion is really about. In other words the Pope is perverting or distorting the real Catholicism.

Then to see Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Brussels spalttered with pie for expressing such Popish views shook me…perhaps there is a God, one with a sense of humour….is God confirming my radical thoughts?

No it was the BBC.

My eyes were opened to new thinking about religion and authority when the above mentioned professor suggested that the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia had its origin in religion, but not the religion of Islam.

The Saudi religious establishment were not the true representatives of Islam…they were perverting its Truths for their own ends. This might seem strange as Islam was born in Saudi Arabia, Islam’s single most Holy shrine is in Saudi Arabia and the pronouncements of the Saudi religious authority are followed around the world and indeed the Saudis pay for much of the Islamic infrastructure burgeoning in Britain right now.

The question therefore arises if the Saudi Religious Establishment is not the true Islam because of its extreme and unIslamic nature, then possibly the Pope is not Catholic.

This is of course the new BBC narrative regarding Islam….the various ‘extremes’ which are shot through Muslim societies are actually a result of conservative cultural traditions and not Islam. Curious that cultures as disparate as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Luton all have the same culture.

The BBC and how it treats Islam and Christianity. A B-BBC reader informs;

“The BBC continues its assault on Christianity and the Bible ( ‘a monstrous book that does more evil than good’ Melvyn Bragg suggests many people think).

Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou has been given a primetime BBC Two series, ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’, in which she makes a number of startling suggestions. The good doctor works at Exeter University which is heavily funded by Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood.

She states that: “I’m an atheist ….as an academic, I think you leave faith at the door.” “Don’t forget that the biblical writers are male and it’s a very male-dominated world. Women were second-class citizens, seen as property.”

When have we ever heard such criticisms being made of the Koran which even now propagates the very same attitudes towards women…..but the BBC tells us: ‘Islam also teaches that men and women are equal in the sight of Allah. They are individually accountable for their actions, and will be judged equally by Allah. However, although men and women are equal, they are not the same. They have different purposes. It is part of Allah’s design and purpose for men and women to have different physical characteristics; likewise it is the duty of a man to provide for the financial needs of his family, and for a woman to look after the home and family.’

Whereas Christianity gets a rougher treatment: ‘No one can follow these teachings perfectly, and there will be occasions when Christians are guilty of prejudice and discrimination.Many people think that the Christian Church is sexist. It does not treat men and women equally.The teaching of St Paul is often quoted to support the way some churches today treat women.

From the extracts below, it would seem that he believed that the role of women was different to that of men, and secondary to it….although Christianity teaches that everyone should be equal and should be treated the same, this doesn’t always happen….Archbishop Sentamu has done a lot to raise awareness of racism in British society and in the Anglican church.’The same BBC that tells us that under Catholicism Europe was descending into madness and devotion to God was becoming an obsession that ended in a bloodbath….their fervour for contact with God led to darkness, even savagery, religion and violence intertwined.but Islam is a religion of Peace….’Islam is a religion of peace in which fighting and war are seen only as a last resorts….One aim of Holy War may be to create a democracy where people are free to live their lives without beliefs and politics being imposed on them. There must be no hatred or vengeance in the fighting.’whereas the Christians and Jews are happier to go to war:The Sixth Commandment (from the Ten Commandments, given to Moses) says, ‘You shall not murder,’ but there are occasions when the Jewish people are told by God to attack people who oppose them.Christian involvement in war…In the past there have been many occasions when Christians have fought wars and when Christian countries have fought each other including:the Crusadesthe First and Second World Warswars in Vietnam, Korea, the Falklands/Malvinos, South Africa, and Northern IrelandJesus’ anger

There are two occasions in the gospels when Jesus is obviously angry. One of these is in the Temple in Jerusalem: ‘It is written,’ he said to them. ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’Matthew 21:12-13Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered.’Matthew 21:18-19Such an angry man…no wonder Christians are so violent.

 The BBC’s religious output is overseen by Muslim Aaqil Ahmed, head of religion and ethics.

Here are a few great examples of BBC professional neutrality.

First, here’s BBC employee Mary Walker…

When I joined the team of “Living Islam” (the BBC series) two years ago, my perception of Islam was dominated by prejudice and ignorance, and I found its treatment of women abhorrent. To me the veil symbolised the oppression of women, making them invisible, anonymous and voiceless, and the cause of this oppression lay in the will to perpetuate the family and maintain a patriarchal framework – the very basis of an Islamic society. I thought women were entirely submerged by divine justification of their role as wife and mother.

Ah, but that was then. She knows so much better now. Give it a read here. And then, lest we think lovely Islam-loving Mary is alone in her admiration for the Religion of Peace, there’s posh Ed Stourton bending the knee…

In a feature about a ‘woman friendly mosque’, in Manchester. Ed Stourton interviews Sabina Hammed, who says she has ‘the very rare privilege of being able to come and go as she pleases’ at the Mosque. She notes the separate entrances and boys as young as eleven being banned from the women’s room inside. Stourton never challenges her about sexual segregation in Islam or the attitude of other Mosques which are breaking English law by keeping women out. At one point she trots out the ‘It’s cultural, nothing to do with Islam,’ argument. Later there is a report about a discount coat store being turned into an Islamic community centre/mosque only two blocks away from Ground Zero in New York. Stourton tells us: ‘There are strident voices attacking the proposal and using it as a vehicle to strike at Islam.’ A BBC reporter goes on: ‘Islam is once more under fire from a noisy minority who see the Koran as suspect.’