-Forced Muslim Segregation of Sexes at London University Event?
by Dr. D ~ March 16th, 2013
(University College London: Wikipedia)
It is common in Muslim countries to segregate the sexes and seat woman in the back at public events but now this also seems to happen occasionally in the UK, particularly at college events sponsored by Muslim organizations.
An American scientist/atheist who was a recent guest at University College London for a debate nearly left in protest of the forced seating arrangements that discriminated against women. Here’s the story from The Telegraph (UK):
Professor Lawrence Krauss said he had been shocked when taking part at a debate hosted by an Islamic group at a leading British university to find that men and women were segregated.
The professor, a leading physicist and prominent atheist, threatened to walk out unless organisers agreed to let men and women sit together, which was eventually agreed – but was then astonished to find himself being accused of intolerance by angry members of the audience. …
The professor said: "I think the notion that these cultural norms should be carried out within a broader society that not only doesn’t share them but that is free and open is a very serious problem."
Response: Apparently no one wishes to ‘offend’ Muslims but offending women is OK? Obviously we agree with the atheist American professor on this issue.
Is this where PC avoidance of ‘Islamophobia’ is going to eventually take us in America? I realize that the event above happened in ‘Londonstan’ but already closer to home in Canada there are public schools in Muslim dominated communities which segregate the girls from the boys and put them in the back during prayer time in deference to Muslim tradition. Also, just last year in Michigan there was a public high school that sponsored a ‘girls only’ sharia prom.
What is next? If Islam continues to grow exponentially in America will the rest of us some time or another be forced to respect their traditions at community events in the future or be labeled as ‘intolerant’ like professor Krauss was? The same seating arrangements are traditional among Orthodox Jewish groups but we have never felt compelled to make changes in respect to the traditions of that group.
It will eventually come down to which ‘rights’ are considered to be more important to society as a whole. Woman’s civil rights verses Muslim demands and sensibilities? I can’t imagine Islam winning that battle in America but stranger things have happened in the last ten years or so.
I am giving notice to my secular friends which are currently giving Islam a pass. Eventually they may be forced to take the threat of radical Muslims far more serious than they ever anticipated. *Top
March 18th, 2013 at 10:59 am
“The same seating arrangements are traditional among Orthodox Jewish groups but we have never felt compelled to make changes in respect to the traditions of that group.”
Orthodox Jewish (and other Jewish groups) have never attempted to impose their ways upon the broader community, even where they are in the majority. This includes not only seating arrangements, but diet. The Islamic view, however, is that their ways/viewpoint/preferences must be imposed upon all, because their way is the will of Allah.
Consider that, when Jewish groups were concerned about the implications of joining the YMCA/YWCA, their response was to organize a YMHA/YWHA as a Jewish alternative. I predict there will never be a Young Mens’ (or Womens’) Islamic Association but we may someday face Islamic demands that the YMCA/YWCA change their name/change policies and rules to be “more inclusive” – – and to accommodate Islam.