The matter of Britain losing its way in all sorts of ways is a matter of great concern for me and others, many viewed as deplorable and far right, bigots by their detractors. This, along with what are commonly understood British values (such as those set out in meme below), do they still exist, which ones are desirable, are themes that underlie some of the rants contained in my blogs in recent years. Linked to these deliberations is the question of the desirability and influence of Islam, whether or not this is welcomed or significant?

Before attempting to answer the question implicit in the title, I would like to blow my own trumpet and say why I hope that both the cohort I am supposedly aligned with, “the far right racists” and the one I am supposed to be against, “the far left wokeists”, as well as those in between, will see that I am well qualified to answer that question, based on my life history that includes being a community activist, working tirelessly among foreign born nationals of all shades, living in Britain, typically first and second generation immigrants, including Muslims of various dispositions.

I grew up in England in the 1950’s and 1960’s and my own school experience was that there were hardly any black and minority ethnic (BME) children around at that time. That began to change when I went to university when a third of the students were BME. I actually managed to befriend a number, including Muslims, and it was an overall positive experience. While during my working career, I came across more and more BME folk, some of whom became my friends, it was not until toward the latter end of that career, soon after the turn of the millennium when I became a full-time paid and unpaid community worker, that I began to significantly re-engage with BME folk and it became an important part of my community activism.

One of my early projects was to work on behalf of a fledgling charity to help those with mental health issues. Our main partner was our local council and our main funder was the government. There were other similar projects starting up around then and one involved the local mosque. I became close to the person leading that initiative, the secretary of that mosque, a retired hospital physician who was widely respected. I relish the memory of him counseling me that on the matter of religion this was something I needed to hold onto. He became my mentor and invited me onto his committee to help oversee his project. I had a lot to do with that mosque and another one located nearby after then. This continues to this day and I see it to be a positive thing, with many Muslims I met over the past 20+ years I have a lot of respect and affection for, and especially because these same people have demonstrated they are good neighbours.

My community activism, besides mental health, involved helping the homeless and engaging, empowering, uniting diverse communities representing all sectors of society, irrespective of religion. Pertinent to this article, I found that a recurring theme in my involvement was working among asylum seekers and helping some to get settled status in the UK. The irony is this came as successive governments starting from Blair’s Labour opened the floodgates for foreigners to come into the country that need not or should not be here while at the same time making it difficult for those that should and ought to be here given that they were seeking sanctuary and in my experience would go on to become good citizens and be assets to this country.

I say this in the light of where I think we are as a nation, with its growing Muslim population, set to overtake that of practicing Christians, numerically speaking, in the not too distant future. We are finding Muslims increasingly in positions of power and influence, the latest being the head of Ofsted, which for many is a welcome trend but for others a worrying one on ideological grounds. One of the major concerns is that the good aspects British culture is being overtaken by an inferior one that does not share “traditional” values. One reason for this is the influx of legal and illegal immigrants who (unlike those I applauded in my previous paragraph) do not share British values and we are led by bad government that fails to address the dangers. As a nation, we have either succumbed to bad ideology or have rejected the Christian world view consensus of my parent’s and grandparent’s generation that is increasingly replaced by a vacuum brought on by modern secularism and which looks likely to be filled by an Islam world view being inflicted on my children’s and grandchildren’s generation. As for Muslim related issues and concerns, I refer to the following:   

1. Reform UK, Labour, Community Cohesion and Muslim Rape Gangs (see here)
2. Tommy Robinson is a hero (see here)
3. Are we in or heading for a civil war? (see here)
4. A summer of rioting, Southend affected, peacemakers needed, and a Christian response (see here)
5. A summer of attacks and riots in Britain and unravelling the ‘narrative’ (see here)

On the issue of “Islamophobia” embarked on by of those deemed as racist, something often brought up by the British Prime Minister, while ignoring more pressing concerns, like going after the Muslim rape gangs, I agree this is unacceptable. Among my own Christian values is a call to welcome foreigners, irrespective of their religion or ideology, into Britain, doing so with respect and compassion. At the same time, we do need to control our borders, limit immigration and deport those who come in from overseas who go onto break our laws, and not feel compelled to change the traditional British way, including freedom to speak as we find, merely in order to accommodate immigrants who may take umbrage. I believe we have been seeing a two-tier policing and a judicial system that fails to prosecute Muslim felons because of not wanting to appear racist or Islamophobic, yet goes after those who speak out on things that concern them. I get the impression that our political class is fearful of upsetting Muslims but are less concerned when it comes to upsetting Christians. I can’t help feeling there is something wrong when genuine asylum seekers, especially among persecuted Christians, are not allowed in but those who don’t respect our laws and customs, including military aged men who are Muslims, are.

Just as I deplore misdirected Islamophobia, I abhor the prospect of my country becoming an Islamist as opposed to a Christian one (in dealing with the moral and spiritual vacuum limbo that clearly exists). I don’t relish the prospect of Islam being the controlling ideology, made possible because our leaders and the people they lead allow it. While I acknowledge the good character of many Muslims I know, I have also seen the downside when Islam control countries and some of what I have seen in my own country. Put simply, the teachings of the Christian Gospel found in the Bible, e.g. the Sermon on the Mount, is far superior to the teachings contained in the Koran, promoted by influential Islamists.