by Ben Sixsmith, The Critic
Britain should not continue devolving into civic fragmentation
“He’s offending our prophet,” says an aggrieved man in footage that went viral over the weekend, as a group of Muslims confronted a police officer in an attempt to make her silence a street preacher whose words had vexed them.
“This is East London, this is Whitechapel,” mumbles another man in response to the police officer’s reply that no one was obliged to listen to the preacher.
“He’s not in your home,” shrugged the officer.
“No,” protested yet another man, “But at the end of the day this is our community.”
Good for the police officer! It’s nice to hear the police defending speech for once. Still, I can’t blame the Muslim lads for being taken aback. It must have been strange to hear that the law, on this occasion, was not on their side.
Muslims have a disproportionate likelihood of believing that religiously provocative perspectives should not be allowed to be expressed. More than half of British Muslims, for example, according to a J.L. Partners poll from 2024, believe that mere depictions of the Prophet Muhammad should be banned. According to a poll from ComRes, a quarter of British Muslims believe that violence against people who publish images of Muhammad can be justified.
It would be understandable to think that the state is generally receptive to religious prohibitionism. People are convicted for burning copies of the Quran. Schoolboys are excluded for damaging a copy of the Quran. Street preachers are arrested for disrespecting Muhammad. MPs openly advocate for blasphemy laws.