In this mailing:
- Soeren Kern: Multiculturalism and the Transformation of Britain in 2018: Part I
- Jiří Payne: The European Union: An Authoritarian Body with a Humanitarian Face
by Soeren Kern • January 1, 2019 at 5:00 am
"We demand the legal right to Free Speech, in an Act which will bring an end to the ludicrous notion that 'hate speech' and 'offensive speech' deserves people be imprisoned or charged. In short, an Act to codify the citizens' right to freedom of speech without government intervention." — Petition (ultimately rejected) to the British government calling for codifying free speech.
"A hate crime is any criminal offense, for example assault or malicious communications, which is perceived[emphasis added] to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity." — From the British government's response to the petition.
A Home Office review proposed legislative changes that would require Muslim couples to undergo a civil marriage before or at the same time as their Islamic ceremony. Such a requirement would provide women with legal protection under British law. The review said that nearly all those using Sharia councils were females seeking an Islamic divorce. As a "significant number" of Muslim couples do not register their marriages under civil law, "some Muslim women have no option of obtaining a civil divorce."
Paul Song, a 48-year-old pastor, was fired from his job as a chaplain at Brixton prison in London after the managing chaplain, Imam Mohammed Yusuf Ahmed, accused Song of promoting "extreme" Christian views. Song said he was ousted on the basis of false claims by a Muslim prisoner. (Image source: Christian Concern video screenshot)
The Muslim population of Britain surpassed 4.2 million in 2018 to become around 6.3% of the overall population of 64 million, according to data extrapolated from a recent study on the growth of the Muslim population in Europe. In real terms, Britain has the third-largest Muslim population in the European Union, after France, then Germany.
The rapid growth of Britain's Muslim population can be attributed to immigration, high birth rates and conversions to Islam.
Islam and Islam-related issues, omnipresent in Britain during 2018, can be categorized into several broad themes: 1) Islamic extremism and the security implications of British jihadists; 2) The continuing spread of Islamic Sharia law in Britain; 3) The sexual exploitation of British children by Muslim gangs; 4) Muslim integration into British society; and 5) The failures of British multiculturalism.
JANUARY 2018
by Jiří Payne • January 1, 2019 at 4:00 am
What the Lisbon Treaty actually created was an authoritarian political system that infringes on human and political rights.
Article 4 states in part: "...The Member States shall facilitate the achievement of the Union's tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives." In other words, the interests of the Union are above the interests of individual states and citizens.
In a democratic system with a healthy balance of power, a ruling coalition can be challenged or replaced by the opposition. This is precisely what is lacking in the EU, as the Treaty of Lisbon requires that European Commission members be selected on the basis of their "European commitment." This means, in effect, that anyone with a dissenting view may never become a member of the Commission. As history repeatedly demonstrates, where there is no opposition, freedom is lost.
The Treaty of Lisbon considers the interests of the European Union to be above the interests of individual states and citizens. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, complained in 2016: "Too many politicians are listening exclusively to their national opinion. And if you are listening to your national opinion you are not developing what should be a common European sense..." (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The Treaty of Lisbon -- drafted as a replacement to the 2005 Constitutional Treaty and signed in 2007 by the leaders of the 27 European Union member states -- describes itself as an agreement to "reform the functioning of the European Union... [it] sets out humanitarian assistance as a specific Commission competence."
What the Lisbon Treaty actually created, however, was an authoritarian political system that infringes on human and political rights.
Take the mandate of the European Commission (EC), for instance. According to Article 17 of the Treaty:
"The Commission shall promote the general interest of the Union... In carrying out its responsibilities, the Commission shall be completely independent... the members of the Commission shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government or other institution, body, office or entity."
Then there is Article 4, which states in part:
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