Please assume my normal warnings about reading the Daily Mail. Yes it's worrying, you know the line in that that really worries me?

'Meanwhile, the liberal position is to let people be and do what they wish within the law.'

Yup, that's my position, what's wrong with that? If people want to worship whatever beard in the sky they can, I also don't mind what they chose to stick in any of their orifices in private.

The thing is the line seems to imply that such a liberal would ignore these actions, that we would turn a blind eye but that's complete hokum. As a liberal (heck I even voted for them in our last election) I'm appalled. The first case (children boycotting a birthday party) is sad but people will do stupid things.

But a mother beating up her child? That's against the law, a pretty good law if you ask me beating up children == bad. So the mother and the Iman should be arrested, her for child abuse and him for accessory to child abuse.

I'm pretty sure trying to strangle your wife is against the law too.

My point here is that wishy washy liberals like myself are outraged by such things because they step over the bound from personal belief and freedom into being (to coin a simple brit phrase) a dick.

Yes it's a problem, and it's going to continue being a problem for a while but I hope that as a country Britain can make it through yet another period of religious dickery, preferably without having to burn too many people at the stake.

Heard on Bill Bennett show this morning per Former senator Rick Santorum. The current administration just came out with there new list of terror groups and the Taliban is NOT on it.

I really liked her article, actually. My jaw was hanging open when I read about the ban on music classes. And asking librarians not to lend out books to their children. What enriches life more than music and literature? It boggled my mind. You can read about the oppression all day long, but a specific example like that made a deep impression on me.

It's not all that different from what the Palestinians do to their children. They're raising them to be haters and killers.

@Simon: I have every confidence that you are as sickened by these actions as I am. Unfortunately, most "politicians", liberal or conservative, turn a blind eye towards this type of abuse because they don't want to be seen as religious bigots. I agree with Yasmin when she says:

"...politicians do nothing for cynical reasons - best, they think, not to antagonise possible voters."

But the problem with: "If people want to worship whatever beard in the sky they can," is that Islam is a religion that has a totalitarian political system tightly integrated. The two cannot be separated. Islam without Sharia law is merely in a holding pattern until such time as Sharia law can be enacted. I agree with the sentiment that people can worship whatever they want, but only as long as said worship doesn't limit my rights by force. Islam fails that test.

It might be simpler to separate these abuse issues from Islam. I am reminded of the article a few years back about the Amish girl abused and raped by her family members.

The point is: rather than getting all wrapped up in complicated, just treat these issues according to the law: as child abuse, as crimes, or whatever is appropriate. Skip the whole religious issue.

"The point is: rather than getting all wrapped up in complicated, just treat these issues according to the law: as child abuse, as crimes, or whatever is appropriate. Skip the whole religious issue."

I have to agree with this. As much as I despise Islam, the fact is, nothing can be done to change their minds or get them to convert to another religion, so, do what you can. Punish the crimes as they are committed. It won't change them, but it will get them off the streets.

It might be simpler to separate these abuse issues from Islam. I am reminded of the article a few years back about the Amish girl abused and raped by her family members

I want a link on that one bradley13

When life on earth sucks, people turn to imaginary friends. And that's not the worst part - it's the imaginary friends' self-appointed armies you gotta watch out for. Make life better for all people on earth and I bet there'd be a lot less dickery. How to make life better? Get off your ass and do something real. Take action. Send protest postcards. Raise hell. Stay visible. Vote. Clicking on facebook is ok but it doesn't really count, sorry. You can do better than that.

Lujlp: Here is a link about the Amish girl who was raped by her relatives, and had all her teeth pulled as punishment when she tried to report it.

The point is: there are bad apples, and sometimes entire bad crates of apples. This can happen in any culture (granted, in some more than others), but it is the crime that is punishable. Justice is supposed to be "blind", in the sense of being applied equally to everyone, and that's all that is really required.

Free thinking muslim is a contradiction in terms.

I just hated any islamic people that tried to make use of their islamic abuse stories to threaten us nonbelievers.

If those islamic people can't even change for the better when living in a western society and still persist in imposing their abusive totalitarian system in a democracy, then there is no point them migrating to the western world.

Yasmin should blame her own backward islamic people and not anyone else.

It seems those islamic people have intention to control the world via talibinasation and via making a big aggressive show about their slavelike mentality towards their god.

Theeir own islamic people should take take the initiative to ban the burka and not expect us outsider nonbelievers to do the work for them or slave over their problems which was due to their own islamic greed and which was created by their own islamic community.