LOCAL taxpayers’ money is being squandered in Gwent so public-sector workers can be indoctrinated into aspects of Islam.
Social workers, police officers and a whole bunch of others went from all over the South Wales county to the Shah Poran Bangladeshi Jame mosque, which also known as a masjid, in Maindee.
“The day incorporated all aspects of the Islamic faith,” proclaims the South Wales Argus, “including a talk about Muslims in Britain, jihad and the portrayal of terrorism as well as a question and answer session with a female Muslim about the status of women in Islam.”
Yes, we’ve heard about the status of women in Islam. Unfortunately, the Argus story doesn’t tell us just what impressions the public-sector workers came away with, because local and regional journalism tends – with the odd exception, no doubt – to be a rewrite of the press release and about as searching, as probing, as in-depth as a nursery rhyme.
The story does not tell us, either, how much it all cost in terms of lost time, when employees who are paid out of the public purse, in an age of rising council-tax bills, could have learned as much with half an hour’s reading of a briefing document.
What we do get is a bland paragraph saying how much they enjoyed it:
Mike Davies, a community safety coordinator at Newport Central police station said: “We found the course very informative and very engaging – an excellent course about Muslims and the Islamic faith.
“It should enhance the way the police can provide service to the Muslim community.”
What a difference a day makes!
If you read the comments at the bottom of this story, though, you’ll see that many of the Argus’s readers are as sceptical of the idea as this blog is. They make entertaining reading.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
October 20th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Shame on them, if they wish to learn about the moslem faith then read a book on islam in their own time.
October 21st, 2007 at 9:14 am
I disgree about this one. I think that folk like the police and social workers who deal with Muslims on a daily basis do need to familiarize themselves with their culture. Turning the matter the other way around, would you want to be treated by a Muslim doctor or nurse totally ignorant of your culture and your views? The answer must surely be no. Misunderstandings that can easily arise through ignorance can often be avoided by understanding.
And no, “read[ing] a book on islam in their own time” doesn’t do it: I have read books on Islam I wouldn’t claim on that basis to understand Islam and Muslims. We read with the eyes of our own culture and need informed people to put us on the right track.
To study and learn about people doesn’t mean approving of their culture or, more to the point, of the abuses they they perpetrate in the name of their culture. Ignorance is not a valid way to deal with problems as has been shown by those foolish people who refuse to allow their children to receive sex education.