“I’ve gotta address the real issue, I’ve gotta call it out. Radical, violent, extremist Islam that opposes our very way of life. I am the first to protect the religious freedom in this country but it also means I must be the first to call out the religious extremism.” Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia after the Melbourne terrorist attack.
Finally, an elite Australian politician has spoken the words we have been dying to hear but I am not happy. Not because what Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime minister said was wrong but because it is coming from a conservative and not from a liberal (Labour Party in Australia is liberal and the liberal party is conservative).
Just like it had been happening in America with the rise of Trump and other nationalist parties in Europe, this was bound to happen here in Australia as well. I am not comparing Scott Morison with any of the right-wing ideologues but since he is a conservative, I am worried more hardcore right-wingers will take his message seriously and will gain more popularity.
Both the mainstream Australian political parties, the Labour Party (left of the centre) and the Liberals (right of the centre) are mainly centrist parties, socially at least. However, this is not to say they are not influenced by far left (Greens) in the case of the labour and other conservative parties in the case of the Liberal Party. Despite being a classical liberal and a labour party supporter, I must say the Liberal party is doing a far better job than the Labour Party.
These words uttered by Scott Morrison should have been uttered by the Labour party but they are too busy with the political correctness. They are too afraid to speak the truth because it might hurt certain people. I think the leftists should not discriminate the vast majority of Muslims who might also actually be sick of these violent thugs who are Islamists and take Islam seriously. Most Muslims don’t take Islam seriously enough to manifest its true message in their day to day lives i.e. dream of imposing sharia in Australia. Therefore, let’s call it as it is, these attacks are inspired by the doctrine of Islam. Attack the doctrine of Islam, not the people.
Let’s debate about the problematic aspects of Islam so not only non-Muslims are educated about the true Islam but also the Muslims. So often, in my debates with liberal Muslims, I hear “but Islam is a religion of peace”. They have never heard of the verses that order the killings and amputations of the infidels or heard of the hadiths that instruct believing men to throw homosexuals off the rooftops or kill apostates. These good-hearted Muslims need to be educated about the problematic values of Islam.
Unless the Labour party and its affiliates start doing this, this narrative will be built up by the conservative parties and we all know what kind of behaviour and crowd it will attract. The anti-Muslim bigotry will rise, racism and xenophobia will flourish and before we know it, we will have our own Prime Minister Trump, or dare I say, worse than Trump!
