Ramadan: The Islamisation of Britain
by Frank Haviland, The New Conservative:
Last week witnessed the inaugural illumination of London’s West End to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, was on-hand to switch on the 30,000 sustainable lights coalescing into crescent moons and stars, which will be on display along Piccadilly Circus until April 21st. The initiative was organised by Ramadan Lights UK, in a first not just for London, but for Europe itself. Khan was quick to tweet his enthusiasm: ‘I was delighted to officially switch on the West End’s first #Ramadan lights earlier this week. London is the first major European city to have a spectacular lights display like this. They are a beautiful expression of our capital’s inclusive values and diversity.’
There has been no discernible criticism of Khan for this latest show of Islamic strength within the British media, which concerns me more than the display itself. While the lights certainly look good, in fact I’d say substantially better than London’s Christmas illumination, I’m curious as to how far Khan’s ‘inclusivity’ stretches? Are we to expect a similar enlightenment for Yom Kippur later in the year – I suspect not. Moreover, an ever more visual Islam inevitably necessitates a continued erosion of our Christian heritage to accommodate it in the public square. And it is an inheritance already dangerously depleted.
It is no coincidence, for instance, that the celebration of Christmas is something UK authorities are increasingly unwilling to embrace. Last year’s Christmas lights did go up in London, but they were time-limited due to the energy crisis. Meanwhile, other councils are frequently taking the easy option of cancelling them altogether. These are not isolated incidents. Nativity scenes are increasingly banned in Britain, to ‘avoid causing offence’. Whitehall employees have been instructed for years to avoid saying ‘Merry Christmas’, under the same pretext. London universities consider banning the sale of alcohol on parts of the campus, on the grounds of ‘cultural sensitivity’, Christian preachers are arrested in heavily-populated Muslim areas, to avoid conflict, and police are banned from asking for ‘Christian names’. In short, the more Islam you allow, the less Christianity you feel comfortable with. A decade ago, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, warned of a Christianity crisis, arguing that the Church of England was ‘one generation away from extinction’. He may have had a point.
See also: Open Iftar 2023 at Manchester Cathedral
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