How to get on the BBC

On the Science/Nature page of the BBC website, I was surprised to see this story. The headline was "Balancing Act: Islamic Perspective on the challenges facing the world". In the Science/Nature section? Whatever. I did, as a brief mental challenge, run through other likely headlines to find in the Science/Nature section of the BEEB website- "Balancing Act: Judaic Perspective on the challengs..."; "Balancing Act: Presbyterian Perspective on the challenges..." etc. And it made me wonder why, when the followers of Mohammed have declared low-level warfare on Britain, our taxpayer-funded news organisation would care what the Islamic perspective on melting glaciers was; Especially as no other religion would EVER be given such a platform to pontificate on matters so far away from theology. What next? The Islamic perspective on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy? The Islamic perspective on manned exploration of Mars? The Islamic perspective on the The Police getting back together?

Islam has contributed virtually nothing to modern Britain other than a series of expensive lawsuits about clothes and a pile of dead bodies on wrecked public transport. But that seems to have elevated it to a lofty position, indeed a unique position as a religion in Britain. Nobody at the BBC would ever DREAM of inviting the Catholic Archbishop to contribute a blurb about global warming- in fact, apart from the vicious anti-Opus Dei propaganda pieces, it would be impossible to detect the Catholic church's existence from BBC output. Same goes for Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Seventh-Day Adventism, the Baptists, the Ecumenicals and every other religion. The BBC disdains religion in general. But it seems that Islam has literally blasted its way into the limelight.

There is the pleasant story we tell children about how the world works- and then there's actually what happens. In the pleasant story, we never deal with terrorists, violence brings no rewards, and blackmail only brings disaster on the blackmailer. But what has happened in Britain is that Islam has gone from invisible on the radar of British people, including journalists, to one of the most discussed topics between them. It has forced millions of people to try to 'understand' Islam, solicit their ideas on everything from foreign policy to prison toilet design, and give them a voice even on the Science/Nature page of the BBC website. I am not the first person to point this out but it bears repeating- we have set up a system of rewards and payoffs for Muslim aggression that will come back to haunt us in a big way unless we get to grips with it.

The Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher deprived Sinn Fein of the 'oxygen of publicity' to the greatest extent possible, even banning Jerry Adams voice from being broadcast. In 2007, the BBC has plumped for the exact opposite. Are you an Imam with a view on Cheese production in the Limoges? Come on down! Are you an Imam with strong opinions about garden gnomes? We have a half-hour slot we need filling. Muslims are constantly paraded before us, as if they were the majority and we were the minority. You can't get away from them! Why? Because they have made Britain sit up and pay attention. By ruthless violence, by a constant drizzle of mendacious media pieces, by an aggressive and singleminded campaign to dominate, Muslims have fought their way to the top of the pile, certainly at the BBC.

Have you learned your lesson yet?