sinister platitudes

Calling bullshit on...the Prime Minister:

Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for new laws to tackle extremism and a worldwide drive to tackle the "evil" ideology behind the London bombings.

Mr Blair said there would be "profound shock and anxiety" at the news the suspected suicide bombers were British.

Talks are to begin on bringing in new laws covering preparations for attacks and to make it easier to deport people trying to "incite hatred", he told MPs.

The "moderate and true voice of Islam" had to be mobilised, he said.

"This is not an isolated criminal act we are dealing with," he said.

"It is an extreme and evil ideology whose roots lie in a perverted and poisonous misinterpretation of the religion of Islam."

Mr Blair met Muslim MPs on Wednesday morning to discuss how to tackle "this evil within the Muslim community".

"In the end, this can only be taken on and defeated by the community itself," he said.

Well, Mr Muslim, what did you do today?

Well, I went to work, then I picked the kids up from school. We had some tea and I went through their homework and then there was the accounts for work and…

No, I mean what did you do today? To take on extremism.

What do you mean?

Extremism. There is extremism in your community. What did you do today to root it out?

Look, I just went to work and…

So you did nothing about the evil in your community stemming from twisted interpretations of your religion?

Look, if I thought that anyone was planning a terrorist attack I’d tell the police about it. And obviously if it’s muslim terrorists, then there’s more chance another muslim would know about it. But I don’t know about any of those people.

There is the wider issue of extremism in your community. And your community must speak out against it in it’s moderate and true voice.

But what does that mean?

Confront the extremism in your community. Look, it’s perfectly simple.

But what am I actually supposed to do?

Oppose extremism, like the Prime Minister says. The prime Minister knows that the true voice of Islam is moderate

But what does he mean by extremism? And what does he mean by moderate?

Just mind how you go, alright?

Comments

[Uponnothing]

Like it, absolutely spot on.

[EU Serf]

Its a PC way to blame a whole community for the evils of a few individuals.

No community can be responsible for a crime. Crime is commited by criminals.

If a member of the BNP used the same logic in a slightly different way, Mr Blair's dodgy heart would go boom.

[lexolympics]

I am not so sure. I think communities can do a lot to self-censor behavior. Look at drunk driving: it is now completely unacceptable in most British communities -it's not only illegal but also totally uncool. If you are drunk and are heading towards your car, one of your friends is going to intervene to stop you.
This is not the case in all cultures: in Spain for example, drunk driving is still common and socially acceptable, as it is in many rural communities in the US. There, the only deterrent is the threat of the police catching you: which is not nearly as effective a deterrent as the social influence of your friends and family.