The BBC finally got around to reporting the ‘Muslim Patrol’…or the ‘Homophobic vigilantes’ as the BBC prefer…..a key identifier of the ‘Vigilantes’, both personally and to explain the reason for their actions is that they are Muslim…..and therefore an acknowedgement of that should have been in the report’s title.
The BBC had to admit that the vigilantes claimed to be acting in the name of Islam but as with 7/7 such claims are dismissed…..strangely, you might think, one of the voices used by the BBC to defend Islam’s innocence in all things homophobic or otherwise was the East London Mosque…a well known centre of moderation, common sense and tolerance.
…or perhaps not.
The BBC, either from wilful blindness or laziness, do no background check on the ELM….strange when you think how keen the BBC are to reveal the political leanings of right wing think tanks. Wouldn’t it be wise to delve into the real beliefs and policies of a Mosque which is claiming to represent the Muslim community? After all the ELM claiming the beliefs of the ‘Muslim Patrol’ had nothing to do with Islam is a bit like Hitler claiming the Brown Shirts had absolutely nothing to do with the Nazi Party.
The ELM has a long held reputation for radicalism and support for extreme, or should that be fundamentalist Islam. A lot has been written about it.
Look at Harry’s Place…. which gives you the primer on the ELM which it tells us has ‘a pitiful record in promoting hate preachers’.
‘It is pretty clear that promoting hatred is part of the ELM/LMC’s core mission.’
‘The ELM/LMC is lying when they say that they’ve banned hate preachers. They love hate preachers, and they hate gay people.
And then, we’re surprised when gay people are bullied and abused in the streets around their institution.’
If the BBC are genuinely eager to see the end of discrimination and harassment then perhaps they should be investigating the source, the intellectual source, which feeds the beliefs of anyone acting upon them….rather than just accepting a convenient, for both parties, press release that exonerates the real culprit here….religion….not of course just one religion in regard to homosexuality.
The BBC of course have no intention of looking closely at Islam preferring to give us a gilded version of it and its history in an attempt to persuade us that if Islam once led to a great civilisation then surely everyone must come to realise that Islam is a force for good and anyone claiming to be acting in the name of Islam who does ‘evil’ is distorting or perverting the wonderful religion of Islam.