Monday, July 18, 2005
Britain's Most Righteous Man: Peter Tatchell
Tatchell tells it like it is on Islamist terrorism.
Peter Tatchell has a better claim to being right all the time, and, as often as not, being dramatically right, than anyone alive.
His attempted arrests of Mugabe in 1999 (England) and 2001 (Belgium) were both thwarted illegally. Those responsible for preventing Tatchell's lawful action should be found and arrested whoever they are. It is utterly tragic how firmly Mugabe's actions since have brought the truth to a less clear-sighted world.
Equally righteous, less celebrated, and much funnier, was his protest in favour of equal rights for gay people and women at a pro-Palestine demonstration in London. Read the comments of those who lambasted him.. totally fucking amazing. They called him a racist and a zionist.
Can anyone have ever condemned themselves more completely? It was Tatchell who turned the spotlight on.
Again we find the man just goddamn right, this time regarding Islamist terror attacks: Human rights are non-negotiable. (Interesting comments of eg Christopher Hitchens also available through that link).
Footnote No. 1: I have always been dubious about such concepts as 'moral relativism'; especially as they most commonly appear, as critiques of the imaginary 'liberal'. However, it is real, and not as rare as I thought. Tatchell once again exposes a drastic and dreadfully disappointing example - Ken Livingstone's support for Qaradawi.
Not only did he welcome this vile* man but he also instinctively resorted to the same pathetic name-calling slander of 'Islamophobia' when his actions were criticized: Read the criticism and judge for yourself.
*see here Qaradawi's support for female genital mutilation (the cruellest thing imaginable, when a little girl's mother and family - those she relies on and trusts - suddenly turn on her, hold her down, and inflict terrible pain for the purpose of permanent mutilation designed to emphasize her enduring inferiority and society's disregard for her experiences and self-determination: "whoever finds it serving the interest of his daughters should do it, and I personally support this under the current circumstances in the modern world" says Mr. Q.
see here Qaradawi's absolutely crazy anti-gay manifesto of murder, which is no less reprehensible for being typical.
Footnote No. 2: I don't agree with everything Tatchell says: He once said that 'Islamophobia' is as bad as homophobia. That's just too ridiculous to comment on. He also has made rather too sweeping defences of pornography: people get hurt and it has to be regulated; fair enough that the laws shouldn't discriminate against gays. His comedic but well-intentioned concern about 'heterophobia' in relation to the recent law on gay partnerships was a harmless error in legal analysis.
Peter Tatchell has a better claim to being right all the time, and, as often as not, being dramatically right, than anyone alive.
His attempted arrests of Mugabe in 1999 (England) and 2001 (Belgium) were both thwarted illegally. Those responsible for preventing Tatchell's lawful action should be found and arrested whoever they are. It is utterly tragic how firmly Mugabe's actions since have brought the truth to a less clear-sighted world.
Equally righteous, less celebrated, and much funnier, was his protest in favour of equal rights for gay people and women at a pro-Palestine demonstration in London. Read the comments of those who lambasted him.. totally fucking amazing. They called him a racist and a zionist.
Can anyone have ever condemned themselves more completely? It was Tatchell who turned the spotlight on.
Again we find the man just goddamn right, this time regarding Islamist terror attacks: Human rights are non-negotiable. (Interesting comments of eg Christopher Hitchens also available through that link).
Footnote No. 1: I have always been dubious about such concepts as 'moral relativism'; especially as they most commonly appear, as critiques of the imaginary 'liberal'. However, it is real, and not as rare as I thought. Tatchell once again exposes a drastic and dreadfully disappointing example - Ken Livingstone's support for Qaradawi.
Not only did he welcome this vile* man but he also instinctively resorted to the same pathetic name-calling slander of 'Islamophobia' when his actions were criticized: Read the criticism and judge for yourself.
*see here Qaradawi's support for female genital mutilation (the cruellest thing imaginable, when a little girl's mother and family - those she relies on and trusts - suddenly turn on her, hold her down, and inflict terrible pain for the purpose of permanent mutilation designed to emphasize her enduring inferiority and society's disregard for her experiences and self-determination: "whoever finds it serving the interest of his daughters should do it, and I personally support this under the current circumstances in the modern world" says Mr. Q.
see here Qaradawi's absolutely crazy anti-gay manifesto of murder, which is no less reprehensible for being typical.
Footnote No. 2: I don't agree with everything Tatchell says: He once said that 'Islamophobia' is as bad as homophobia. That's just too ridiculous to comment on. He also has made rather too sweeping defences of pornography: people get hurt and it has to be regulated; fair enough that the laws shouldn't discriminate against gays. His comedic but well-intentioned concern about 'heterophobia' in relation to the recent law on gay partnerships was a harmless error in legal analysis.
