Friday 25 March 2011

Maths Teachers And "Anti-Muslim Bigotry"

Richard "Ignore All The Evidence" Durbin


Earlier this month, Rep. Peter King began his hearings on the radicalisation of American Muslims, an important investigative process that no more demonises the average Muslim than the trial of the Yorkshire Ripper demonised Michael Parkinson.

Now American Senate Democrats are countering with a hearing of their own, led by Richard J. Durbin, to examine Muslims' civil rights, saying there has been a "spike in anti-Muslim bigotry" in the last year that demands closer attention.

Evidence of this "anti-Muslim bigotry" is hardly anywhere to be found. After all, as even the Washington Times article linked above notes, "In 2009, the latest FBI statistics available, anti-Islamic hate crimes accounted for 9.3 percent of the 1,376 religiously motivated hate crimes recorded. That's far less than the 70.1 percent that were anti-Jewish." There have been no Congressional hearings that I am aware of on the subject of American antisemitism.

Meanwhile, the US government is suing a Chicago school on behalf of a Muslim maths teacher who claimed religious discrimination when the school refused to grant her permission to take three weeks off for her pilgrimage to Mecca. Despite the fact that the school's decision had nothing to do with her religion and everything to do with her unreasonable request, and despite the fact that nothing in Safoorah Khan's religion requires her to go on her hajj this year, Uncle Sam is apparently running interference on her behalf, which they would obviously not have done for a member of any other religious group.

With this sort of "anti-Muslim bigotry" rampant in America, it's no wonder that Muslims are being "driven" to extremism and radicalisation, right?

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