27 October 2006

Intolerance of intolerance

Paul Routledge has got this spot on:

"TOLERANCE, the openmindedness that we show to each other, is what makes British society tick. "Live and let live" could easily be the nation's motto.

"That is the spirit in which I approach the row over Muslim veils, multiculturalism, integration, and all the other long words used about living together.

"Aishah Azmi, the Muslim teaching assistant suspended for refusing to take off her veil in her Dewsbury classroom has done us all a favour - by forcing us to confront the real issues.

"Kirklees Council says she cannot do her job properly. Mrs Azmi says she is the victim of religious discrimination.

"I do not envy the Employment Tribunal members who had to rule which of the two is right, but they would have done well to consider the words of philosopher Karl Popper, who wrote The Open Society And Its Enemies.

"He said: "We should claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant."
"To my mind, it is intolerant to refuse to show your face to children. And we should not tolerate this intolerance. "

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