The UK government has “banned” the anti-democracy extremist group Islam4UK.
Not suprisingly, Islam4UK’s Anjem Choudary seeks to simply rename their group, and plans to continue the extremist promotions of the group under another name.
This was predictable. Some have called for futher actions, including removing the British citizenship from Anjem Choudary.
I think there must be another focus.
Even if you strip this one person of their citizenship, silence them temporarily, you will still not have begun to deal with the real issue. Too many focus on Anjem Choudary as the “most hated man in Britain.” How does this further a useful dialogue on human rights?
Of course, it doesn’t, because too many have not yet realized that defense of our universal human rights are the strongest offense against any extremist ideology and their adherents.
No matter what the UK government does with Islam4UK and Anjem Choudary, there will be another and another and another to take their place. Muting, imprisonment, even hate, does not counter ideas. In a struggle of ideas, you can’t use counterterrorism tactics, you can’t use gag orders, and you can’t use demonizing to effectively challenge ideas. Even if the ideas are ones of extremism and hate.
You need to fight ideas with other ideas.
In July 2008, I met with the UK Home Office RICU’s representative in Washington DC. I urged him to reconsider RICU’s approach, and learn from the U.S. human rights movement in challenging white supremacism in their country during the 1960s. I believe that extremism, like white supremacism, must be acknowledged as an identity-based supremacist ideology that defies equality, defies liberty, and defies our universal human rights. The lesson to learn here is that we must be consistent in how we approach any supremacist ideology in the public, the media, and the government. That is the thing I believe too many still have not yet learned.
We need to fight extremism and supremacism by defending our universal human rights, honestly, freely, openly – and fearlessly.
I believe that our goal must be to be consistently Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
