IS IT "ISLAMOPHOBIC" TO CARE ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY?

Following the heated exchanges on my blog about the proposed mega-Mosque in London, I have been struck by another aspect of the debate about Muslims in Britain.

People on the radical Left have been accusing commentators like me of suffering from "Islamophobia".

Lefties like Ken Livingstone use the term all the time. It is meant to carry the meaning that anyone worried about the impact of Islamic values upon our society is a senseless bigot and should shut up.

A phobia is a fear of something. According to the dictionary the term does carry overtones of irrationality. But basically it means you are scared of a particular phenomenon.

So I hold my hands up and say that yes, I am certainly deeply concerned and worried by forced marriages, honour killings, book-burning, fatwas, electoral fraud, veil-wearing and all kinds of other alien customs associated with Muslim ghettos in Britain.

I am fearful about the fundamentalists who wish to establish an Islamic caliphate across the United Kingdom and truly scared of the lunatic fringe who are prepared to engage in murderous acts of terrorism to pursue that end.

But what I do reject is the implication that any of these opinions are irrational. Following the attacks of 7/7 and the many attempted attacks since, it is quite logical to be worried about the separate Islamic communities in our midst which do not share mainstream British values.

By using the term "Islamophobic" Mr Livingstone and his supporters are unfairly smearing the majority of the British public. They are also giving Britain's Muslim communities carte blanche to avoid changing their ways. They are giving them the impression that, somehow, the rest of us are being unreasonable for wanting to stand up for our democratic, modern society.

This is doing a grave disservice to everyone, Muslims most of all. The truth is that our so-called multicultural society is breaking down. There is no popular consensus in favour of British Islam developing along the lines it currently is heading.

If core common values do not soon reassert themselves then we are heading for civil strife on a major scale in our big cities. Communities are living cheek by jowel with nothing in common and with increasingly contradictory values and aspirations.

In my book trying to dismiss this all and shut down debate by flinging around the term "Islamophobia" is both misconceived and dangerous.

What do you all think?