On a day when Donald Trump tells us that ISIS terrorists should be returned to their countries of origin and then prosecuted, we learn that Shamima Begum, the woman who went to Raqqa in order to live the dream with maniacal islamic fascists, has given birth to a baby. Her family have issued a statement through their lawyer (!) which says: “We, the family of Shamima Begum, have been informed that Shamima has given birth to her child, we understand that both she and the baby are in good health.”
I am not so hard-hearted that I do not wish the baby well. It is not her or his fault to be born at all, let alone in what appears to have been grisly circumstances in which, shall we say, the decision to procreate may not have been entirely hers alone. Nor has the baby been born into a particularly stable situation. Even in ‘normal’ circumstances, the baby would soon be proselytised into believing all the tenets of islam, the reality for children of all religions being forced to embrace the religion of their parents. No freedom for the children of theists.
It’s far worse now, though. Ms Begum remains in a refugee camp in Syria, a victim of her own stupidity and the failure of everyone around her, especially her family. When her family call on our government to ‘bring her home’, do they not have even the briefest concern that actually their actions or inactions were, in some part, relevant to their daughter cooking up an elaborate plot to escape to Paradise? You know, that Paradise where women are routinely raped and abused, where people are beheaded by crazed lunatics; a perverse kind of Hotel California where you can check out but never leave. Yes, that one.
Trump demands we take back those men who took off to help build the Caliphate. “The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial,” he tweets. So simple. Just take back ‘our share’ and put them on trial. On trial for what? Has the USA carried out intensive investigations and interviewed the ‘fighters’ and charged them with any crimes? This is not clear from Trump’s tweet, but it’s worse than that. The reason it’s not clear is because there is currently little actual evidence of illegality other than these men being there in Raqqa. In terms of natural justice, maybe Trump is right, but when these people left Europe to head to the Caliphate, they knew exactly what they were doing. I need to be persuaded that there is a single reason and justification for taking them back for any reason at all.
As for the baby, I can see a day when Mr Begum brings it ‘home’. Whilst home secretary Sajid Javid talks tough, not least because he has leadership ambitions, read his actual words: “My message is clear – if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.” What if it turns out that the authorities can find no evidence of her supporting terrorist organisations beyond fleeing to Raqqa? Javid is being deliberately vague here, allowing for a U-turn for which he, of course, cannot be blamed because he adds: “If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.” You can see what he has done here. He is covering every angle, allowing for every possibility, so that when and if Mr Begum returns to Britain, as I am sure she will (and soon), he is still being tough.
Quite frankly, I don’t buy all this stuff about Begum and others being ‘groomed on-line’ and becoming ‘radicalised’. Read any holy book and follow it literally and you will find that the God/Allah character is a nasty piece of work. The God of the Old Testament was the biggest mass murderer in the history of fiction. And he’s supposed to be the good guy. Who is to say that when Ms Begum was studying the Qu’ran she found it literally radicalising? Maybe she worked it out herself?
I don’t want the fighters back, I don’t particularly want Ms Begum back, either. However, I expect both to happen.
Now I come to my broken record conclusion: Britain must become a secular state as a matter of absolute urgency. We should stop pandering to all religions and we should end religious privilege. There should be one law of the land and no religious sub-divisions. Of course, theists should be free to practice their religion but that their religion can never impact on those of other religions or to people with none.
There are consequences with secularity and it will not be popular with some. But what’s the alternative? If people want ‘faith’ schools, cruel methods of killing animals for food, laws against blasphemy and any other activities outside the secular mainstream, then this cannot be their country. We can have a secular country or we can carry on as we are. What’s it to be?
