![]() ![]() As a result, we effectively have a new blasphemy law, inked in liberal cowardice.īut such accusations of racism are grotesque, and the acquiescence to them is shameful. But in the main, the silence is motivated by fear – not only fear of reprisals, with Islamist atrocities like the beheading of Samuel Paty in France fresh in our minds, but also fear of being labelled an ‘Islamophobe’ or a ‘racist’ for daring to challenge the protesters. In this way, many otherwise secular people have talked themselves into enforcing the religious prohibitions of fundamentalists. ![]() Some, regrettably, will have bought into the Islamist propaganda that depicting the prophet is essentially a ‘racist’ provocation. And yet everyone is staring at their shoelaces, for reasons that are depressingly obvious. ![]() If religious nutcases can muster a few hundred protesters they can effectively dictate what the rest of us can watch. So, in 21st-century Britain, films can be withdrawn from cinemas across the country for being ‘blasphemous’. One of them, in Birmingham, gave an interview in which he threatened ‘repercussions’ to those who disrespected Muhammad, suggesting he and his fellow protesters would ‘lay our life on the line’. A smaller chain, Showcase, has followed suit. After hundreds of protesters showed up outside its cinemas in Sheffield, Bolton, Birmingham and Bradford, Cineworld was forced to pull the film nationwide, as it could not guarantee the safety of its staff or its patrons. The great and the good have been nowhere to be seen – nor, it seems, have the police. Only a handful of MPs have said anything. Now ask yourself why none of that principled, confident defence of liberal values has materialised this week, in response to those mobs of hardline Sunni Muslims who have turned up outside cinemas, protesting against Shia-made film The Lady of Heaven – a film they insist is ‘blasphemous’ for its CGI depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and its negative portrayal of certain Islamic figures. ![]()
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