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Sudden concern for Muslim sensibilities is a cynical ploy to advance Nile's goals

Reader comment on item: Australian Cultural Conservative Relies on Muslims

Submitted by David (Australia), Jan 6, 2009 at 09:15

Fred Nile is an extreme cultural conservative, highly unrepresentative of the general population of Australia. He was elected to New South Wales Legislative Council, a house of review with limited powers, with a primary vote for his group of 4.42% in 2007. Election to the Council is via a complex proportional-representation system.

Most noted for his public pronouncements against homosexuality, in 2007 he called for a 10-year moratorium on Muslim immigration. In 2002 he argued for a ban on full body coverings such as the chador on the basis that they could be used to conceal bombs and the like.

His sudden concern for the sensibilities of Muslims is just a cynical attempt to take advantage of the fact that his and their interests coincide on the issue of topless bathing and public "modesty" in general. If anything, he's hoping to exploit a tendency to dhimmitude in the general population (presented as "tolerance"), to try to impose his prudish standards (relative to the Australian norm) on the general population. Since his original intention in calling for a moratorium on Muslim immigration was largely to shield Australia from its adverse consequences, and thus to some extent was a fight against dhimmitude, this latest action must be seen as a disgraceful, short-term and ultimately pointless attempt at political manipulation.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (9) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
No need for Ban [130 words]anonymousJan 16, 2009 14:18148218
If wearing clothes makes us different.... [80 words]SteveMar 5, 2009 01:30148218
topless on aussie beaches [47 words]BeemaJan 14, 2009 13:44148025
To each his own [159 words]Rebecca MouldsJan 15, 2009 09:26148025
Australian Cultural Conservative Relies on Muslims. [47 words]Irene BonneyJan 9, 2009 18:20147600
Sudden concern for Muslim sensibilities is a cynical ploy to advance Nile's goals [217 words]DavidJan 6, 2009 09:15147128
From Scotland [187 words]Adam the Scot.Jan 7, 2009 16:15147128
topless on aussie beachers [119 words]rodney allsworthJan 5, 2009 06:31146960
Australian Cultural Conservative Relies on Muslims [227 words]Puzzled personJan 4, 2009 06:56146842

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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