{"id":211,"date":"2025-10-21T07:15:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T07:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=211"},"modified":"2025-10-21T07:15:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T07:15:33","slug":"politicians-scapegoat-muslims-by-targeting-political-islam-but-never-any-other-religions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=211","title":{"rendered":"Politicians scapegoat Muslims by targeting \u2018political Islam\u2019 \u2013 but never any other religions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Just like in the height of the \u2018War on Terror\u2019 era in the early 2000s, it seems like Muslims have once again become the ultimate scapegoat for all the nation\u2019s problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the weekend,\u00a0Claire Coutinho<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the shadow minister for, rather ironically, equalities \u2013 spoke on\u00a0Sky News<\/a>\u00a0about how \u2018political Islam\u2019 is one of the biggest problems our country is facing.<\/p>\n

She later backed this up with a post on X stating: \u2018If we can\u2019t name a problem, we can\u2019t deal with it. Political Islam is a growing problem in Britain.\u2019<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right \u2013 not crippling poverty, a buckling\u00a0health<\/a>\u00a0system, or a housing crisis.<\/p>\n

No, tackling \u2018political Islam\u2019 is apparently where our priorities should lie. Whatever that is supposed to mean.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the point. There is rarely ever any attempt to explain what a nonsensical phrase like that actually means \u2013 and that\u2019s because its effectiveness as a rallying tool is precisely because it holds no meaning at all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We never hear politicians gravely warning about the risks of \u2018political Christianity\u2019, \u2018political Judaism\u2019, or \u2018political Hinduism\u2019.<\/p>\n

But members of those faiths, like people of all backgrounds, hold a whole host of political opinions \u2013 some of which will undoubtedly be considered \u2018extreme\u2019.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I believe phrases like \u2018political Islam\u2019 aren\u2019t supposed to make sense \u2013 they are supposed to scaremonger.<\/p>\n

They are designed to frighten the public, sow discord, and rally support around the type of\u00a0far-right politics<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0wants any iteration of Islam<\/a>\u00a0to be kicked out of Britain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And above all, to create a perception of Muslims in the public imagination as an organised group scheming against the country.<\/p>\n

Unlike other members of British society, if we engage in politics \u2013 particularly if we dare to voice concerns that challenge the establishment \u2013 then we are somehow dangerous or antagonistic. That\u2019s what was so alarming about Claire Coutinho\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

As a visible\u00a0Muslim<\/a>\u00a0in the UK \u2013 I\u2019m used to hearing Islamophobia go\u00a0completely unchecked, while Muslims<\/a>\u00a0and migrants are blamed for the failings of successive governments. The result of this is that we feel less safe than ever and that\u00a0Islamophobia<\/a>\u00a0is at a record high.<\/p>\n

But what was so chilling about Coutinho\u2019s comments was that she seems to be portraying any Muslim with a political opinion that happens to go against the status quo as extreme and, therefore, a threat to Britain.<\/p>\n

She referred to \u2018a movement of people\u2019 who elected five independent MPs last election \u2018simply on sectarian politics\u2019 and goes on to say that these MPs were elected solely based on \u2018foreign conflicts\u2019 and \u2018issues that only spoke to the Muslim community\u2019.<\/p>\n

This implies that their democratically elected mandate is essentially less than any MP elected from one of the major political parties.<\/p>\n

This is why a blanket, obscuring term like \u2018political Islam\u2019 is so dangerous.<\/p>\n

Even when we Muslims participate in the machinery of democracy, we are presented as a nefarious force to be curtailed and controlled.<\/p>\n

If we dare care about anything \u2013 least of all what the UN Commission last month deemed a genocide by a close ally of the country we live in, then we are somehow \u2018sectarian\u2019 and putting foreign nations above Britain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Coutinho disingenuously portrays how five independent MPs came to be elected as a mandate that only speaks to the Muslim community, which sounds like a convenient dogwhistle to the Islamophobia of the far-right who already see us as a nation within a nation.<\/p>\n

But an ounce of common sense will tell you that it is simply the result of local parliamentary politics.<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t all MPs ultimately elected on the issues that are important to their constituents?<\/p>\n

And if your constituents happen to be overwhelmingly Muslim, then those concerns will naturally mirror that community \u2013 just like any number of constituencies with high numbers of certain religious or ethnic groups.<\/p>\n

Moreover, why wouldn\u2019t a community elect someone who comes from their area and shares their values, rather than a wealthy career politician who had likely never set foot in their constituency before being placed there by their party?<\/p>\n

It exposes a stunning double standard.<\/p>\n

And they are certainly never accused of putting one issue above all else.<\/p>\n

What this is really about is making sure that it\u2019s not previous governments that are blamed for the country\u2019s problems, but Muslims and migrants.<\/p>\n

We are the bogeyman that almost the entire political spectrum is increasingly rallying against.<\/p>\n

And while politicians make a name for themselves and win votes by vilifying us, we become ever more unsafe in a country that is supposed to be our home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just like in the height of the \u2018War on Terror\u2019 era in the early 2000s, it seems like Muslims have once again become the ultimate scapegoat for all the nation\u2019s problems. Over the weekend,\u00a0Claire Coutinho\u00a0\u2013 the shadow minister for, rather ironically, equalities \u2013 spoke on\u00a0Sky News\u00a0about how \u2018political Islam\u2019 is one of the biggest problems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t