http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3850
by Damian Thompson
A http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3416, vicar of Hawksmoor’s magnificent St George-in-the-East, Wapping, as a “faith hate” crime. But was it?
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.
The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme and a friend of Canon Ainsworth, reacted to the attack by calling for “condemnation of this cowardly behaviour by senior Muslims”. There may well have been some condemnation – I haven’t tracked it down so far – but can you imagine how much louder the outcry from would have been from church leaders if a Wapping imam had been kicked in the head by Christian youths? As it is, Bishop Lowe could not even bring himself to ask for condemnation from Muslim leaders without adding that he hoped there wouldn’t be “an over-reaction from the white community”. Well, we all hope that, but why insult white residents by raising it as a possibility? Mind you, I can’t say I’m surprised. When Rowan Williams called for the extension of Sharia law in this country, it was Bishop Lowe who popped up on Radio 5 to say what a jolly useful suggestion that was.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/mar08/christianophobia.htm