On Saturday, Femke Halsema, head of GroenLinks (Dutch Greens), gave a speech in Utrecht on the subject of freedom of religion. The speech appears to have been something quite radical: a major European leftist political leader actually calling for criticism of Islam over the issues of women's rights and gay rights.Halsema diverged abruptly from the "politically correct" orthodoxy of 21st century Progressive Islamic Apologetics on four major points:
(1) She dared to suggest that women and gays are subject to systematic persecution and oppression in Islam in general and in predominantly Muslim communities in the West in particular.
(2) She dared to suggest that "multiculturalism" has gone too far, and is now becoming an excuse for overlooking oppression based on gender and sexual orientation among Muslims.
(3) She dared to suggest that "Salafist" and "orthodox" ideas have strong support among Muslims in the West. That is to say that, "extremist"/"Islamist" ideology is not just supported by a tiny, isolated, minority.
(4) She dared to suggest that even such things as laws banning the wearing of headscarves, at least in some situations, are necessary and justifiable in order to combat the regressive influence of Islam, and to protect basic freedoms and rights for all citizens.
Hopefully more information will be available soon -- like a full transcript of her speech translated into English! In the meantime, here are two links:
http://www.allah.eu/about-islam/netherlands-progressives-should-talk-about-women-gay-rights-in-islam.html
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/121010_1.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment moderation on for all posts older than 4 days. However, I never censor or block views of people that I disagree with, unlike some intellectually lazy cowards.