Democracy . Is it under grave threat.

[sgtkate]

We had the clearest possible warning about the dire threat to liberal, Enlightenment values including freedom of speech at the time of the Rushdie incident. And the forces of law and order utterly failed to defend these values by failing to prosecute any of the thousands in our streets who were indulging in the serious criminality of inciting the murder of a fellow citizen.

 

Oh and in a poll about 30% of uk Muslims supported the Fatwa.

 

And how about this:

the OIC's (an organisation of over 50 Islamic countries) attempts to get the UN Human Rights Council to declare that freedom from insult to one's religion should be a human right.

With legal punishments for offenders. Translate all that to - make anything other than the mildest criticism of Islam a punishable offence world-wide.

How's that for the criminalisation of blasphemy and the death of free speech?

 

It has been 16 1 post(s) since the last negative mention of Islam.

[johncocker]

It has been 16 1 post(s) since the last negative mention of Islam.

 

 

It should be registered as a mental illness....positive enough for you?

[L00b]

answer to the question of the thread, provided independently by Poland's Law & Justice party (their version of UKIP/Front National, handed a Parliamentary majority late last year on the back of the EU's many crises in 2015, not least the migrant and Ukraine-next-door ones). Edited January 19, 2016 by L00b

[RonJeremy]

answer to the question of the thread, provided independently by Poland's Law & Reform party (their version of UKIP/Front National, handed a Parliamentary majority late last year on the back of the EU's many crises in 2015, not least the migrant and Ukraine-next-door ones).

 

So what is this party like?

You compare it to UKIP/front national. These two parties are streets apart.

[L00b]

So what is this party like?

You compare it to UKIP/front national. These two parties are streets apart.

They're not.

 

Don't fall into the trap of mistaking Jean Marie LePen's hardline 'BNP/EDL-like' FN of old, for Marine LePen's cleaned up, lightweight and socially-acceptable (well, as much as UKIP here) current version.

 

Both the same nationalist-cum-socialist rhetoric, hinged about a telegenic soundbite-wielding master populist: out of the EU (and out of the € for the FN), put a wall around the country, strong police and state, natives first.

 

Same with Law & Justice, and this article gives you an insight about how they go about their business once elected.

Edited January 19, 2016 by L00b

[RootsBooster]

Given the rise in religious fundamentalism. Is "Western Democracy" under serious and grave threat of being overthrown and replaced by Theocracy ?

 

The enemies of secular society are many . in the time of the "Enlightenment ", they were representatives of the institutional Church who drew inspiration from, the likes of "Bossuet" who wrote, "I have the right to persecute you because I am right and you are wrong". In my opinion, the enemies of secularism are out there,and they are legion.

 

"Modern European history from the, Renaissance to the Enlightenment , from Erasmus to Rousseau, is the history of the strengthening of the separation between public institutions and religious traditions, and the growth of individual freedom" (In Defence of The Enlightenment.Tzvetan Todoro)". Are "Western Democracies" in danger of being toppled -from without and within- and replaced and governed by

"Theocratic" regimes,

peddling a: moral and ethical belief system that predates the "Enlightenment" ?

I'd just like to say, as you made a big deal out of grammar on another thread, you've missed a question mark out from your title

[Zamo]

They're not.

 

Don't fall into the trap of mistaking Jean Marie LePen's hardline 'BNP/EDL-like' FN of old, for Marine LePen's cleaned up, lightweight and socially-acceptable (well, as much as UKIP here) current version.

 

Both the same nationalist-cum-socialist rhetoric, hinged about a telegenic soundbite-wielding master populist: out of the EU (and out of the € for the FN), put a wall around the country, strong police and state, natives first.

 

Same with Law & Order, and this article gives you an insight about how they go about their business once elected.

 

The most common misconception is that these parties fuel anti-immigration sentiment... it is the other way around. There parties have gained support because mainstream parties have ignored public concerns.

 

Mass immigration (especially from the dysfunctional Muslim regions of the world) has turned the political tide and we are moving away from liberal politics and towards a far less tolerant right. None of the disapproving liberal voices make any difference. We are heading towards a nationalist dominated Europe and the only thing that is going to stop it is for mainstream political parties to stop mass migration themselves. We need a period of pause, catch-up and reflection. We need the NHS and schools to catch-up with demand. We need to see immigrants make a (genuine) positive contribution. We need to see Islamic extremism fading instead of increasing. When people see those things then the appetite for more immigration will return and support for more extreme politics will disappear.

[petemcewan]

The most common misconception is that these parties fuel anti-immigration sentiment... it is the other way around. There parties have gained support because mainstream parties have ignored public concerns.

 

Mass immigration (especially from the dysfunctional Muslim regions of the world) has turned the political tide and we are moving away from liberal politics and towards a far less tolerant right. None of the disapproving liberal voices make any difference. We are heading towards a nationalist dominated Europe and the only thing that is going to stop it is for mainstream political parties to stop mass migration themselves. We need a period of pause, catch-up and reflection. We need the NHS and schools to catch-up with demand. We need to see immigrants make a (genuine) positive contribution. We need to see Islamic extremism fading instead of increasing. When people see those things then the appetite for more immigration will return and support for more extreme politics will disappear.

 

Zamo.

I agree with your observation of a lurching towards nationalist politics. The haven of nationalism is reserved for political scoundrels . The breaking up of Europe into enclaves of nationalism ,would be like a Balkanisation of Europe.

[RonJeremy]

They're not.

 

Don't fall into the trap of mistaking Jean Marie LePen's hardline 'BNP/EDL-like' FN of old, for Marine LePen's cleaned up, lightweight and socially-acceptable (well, as much as UKIP here) current version.

 

Both the same nationalist-cum-socialist rhetoric, hinged about a telegenic soundbite-wielding master populist: out of the EU (and out of the € for the FN), put a wall around the country, strong police and state, natives first.

 

Same with Law & Justice, and this article gives you an insight about how they go about their business once elected.

 

I appear to be wrong. My apologies.

[petemcewan]

I'd just like to say, as you made a big deal out of grammar on another thread, you've missed a question mark out from your title

Good work . I'm glad you spotted the deliberate mistake (chuckle ).

 

I'll rely on you to keep me on my toes.

 

"Big deal " I don't think it is. It's hardly obsessive. It's the first time I've tried to help somebody out by suggesting an alternative sentence structure (smiley tongue in cheek or whatever they are ). Grammar is a nightmare.All those : nouns, pronouns, adjectives,verbs, irregular verbs -and all the rest.

It's a wonder anybody can communicate at all.

I'll occasionally drop in the deliberate mistake for you two find (another smiley what's it ).

 

Long live Democracy ! So it goes.

Edited January 19, 2016 by petemcewan