Thursday, March 20, 2008

Christianophobia

Damian Thompson wrote:

"A clergyman in East London has been kicked in the head by Asian youths, one of whom screamed the words “f------- priest” at him. Police are treating the attack on Canon Michael Ainsworth, vicar of Hawksmoor’s magnificent St George-in-the-East, Wapping, as a “faith hate” crime. But was it?

A church in East London
How many churches are there in Saudi Arabia?

A lot hangs on the answer. Does the use of a single word automatically turn a savage but common assault into a new (and essentially artificial) category of crime, or has the tide of Islamic anti-Christian persecution reached these shores?

According to one Asian member of the parish, local youths have been heard shouting: “This should not be a church, this should be a mosque. You should not be here.” Perhaps we should not attach too much weight to that remark; but the fact remains that Tower Hamlets houses Muslim ghettos whose fundamentalist leaders are offended by the mere presence of a Christian place of worship in their community."

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