In 2018 the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims came up with this definition of ‘Islamophobia’ with the intention that it should be officially adopted and used for the purpose of identifying ‘hate crimes’:
“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
Mercifully, the previous government rejected this definition out of hand. They were also lobbied by police chiefs not to adopt it. Unfortunately, hot on the heels of its announced revocation of regulations to safeguard freedom of expression in our universities, the new government is indicating that it will adopt and implement the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s definition
I should point that the designation of ‘All-Party Parliamentary Group’ does not convey any more authoritative status than that there are at least twenty self-selected parliamentarians (of both Lords & Commons) that share a ‘bee in their bonnet’ on the subject about which they’ve chosen to form their group.
The central weakness about this group’s definition is that it is manifestly absolute nonsense: Islam is a religion and not a race. It is comprised of adherents from many different races, in exactly the same way as is Christianity.
The central danger of defining a religion as a race is that any robust criticism of dogma or practice, then becomes a form of ‘racism’. In our free society where we have had a long tradition of, biblical criticism, it would be outrageous to exempt Islam, or any other religion, from the sort of critique to which Christianity has been, and remains subject.
As a Christian, I’m entitled to say that there are aspects of religion are a bit ‘wacky’ (though, surely, Mormonism has to be wackiest of all) and that people of any religion or none, have every right to say so, without receiving a visit from the thought police.
Thus far, the charge in defence of freedom has been led by the Sikhs who have written to the Government lobbying against adoption of the definition. They argue that they would no longer be free to teach the history of their own religious struggle and the martyrdom of their gurus at the hands of the Mughal empire as it expanded Islamic hegemony in the Indian sub-continent by military conquest.
I’m not convinced that they are correct, I very much doubt that their history lessons could fall within the scope and I think there are much more pressing dangers that might shield aspects of Islam from quite proper scrutiny. Nevertheless, the very fact that Sikhs are alarmed at the proposals is itself significant. Indeed, police chiefs lobbied against the definition because they were concerned about the impact it would have on community harmony.
It is a very bad Idea