London is one of the world's centres of Arab journalism and political activism. The failure of left and right, the establishment and its opposition, to mount principled arguments against clerical reaction has had global ramifications. Ideas minted in Britain – the notion that it is bigoted to oppose bigotry; 'Islamophobic' to oppose clerics whose first desire is to oppress Muslims – swirl out through the press and the net to lands where they can do real harm.
Be possessed, not with the evils of selfishness and bigotry, but with the values and vigor of humanhood. Be possessed with courage. Be possessed with conscience. Be possessed with the power of reasoning. And above all, be possessed with tremendous confidence in the self.
If a god, deity or scripture commands that being in love with a person of the same gender is a sin, then such god, deity or scripture is more dangerous to the wellbeing and progress of the human civilization than a dog with rabies.
Be one and be civilized. By civilized I don't mean that phony kind of civilized pretense where you pretend to be egalitarian, yet the moment your kid brings home a partner of color, or of a different religion, you instantaneously burst out in shock and try either to break them apart by all cheap means available, or to convert your future in-law into your own religion. Such primitive act is no different from the acts of terrorism.
Fear of the lord makes a person a medieval idiot, nothing more. If you must be afraid of something, then be afraid of turning into a hateful bigot. Be afraid of being a blind follower to dogmas. Be afraid to become a deluded monster beneath the skin of a human being.
When you've grown up mis-educated, surrounded by fear and hate, unaware of your privilege, lies can sound like the truth.