General Sir Richard Dannatt revisited

Militant Islam has a lot to answer for...

I'm one of those people who has never bought into the old 'religion is the cause of all wars' cliche.

It really isn't.

However, as long as useful idiots like General Dannatt are on hand, religion can serve as an excellent smokescreen for what's really going on. On top of that, if you can work a religious angle into a conflict it's a damned fine way of neutering potential opposition from the, usually secular, Left.

Afghanistan is a fine example.

The invasion of Afghanistan was all about women's rights you see, so that was alright.

In fact, you can say pretty much anything you like about Muslims at the moment without few, if any, of the usual suspects playing the race card against you. After all, if you speak up for 'The Veil' that must mean you're tacitly supporting religiously-sanctioned wife-beaters. So, as a card-carrying Secular Leftie, you're bollocksed whatever you say.

No such problems for General Dannatt.

He's been coming out with some right pearlers without so much as batting an eyelid or blushing ...

"It is said that we live in a post Christian society. I think that is a great shame. The broader Judaic-Christian tradition has underpinned British society. It underpins the British army."

"Our society has always been embedded in Christian values; once you have pulled the anchor up there is a danger that our society moves with the prevailing wind."

"There is an element of the moral compass spinning. I think it is up to society to realise that is the situation we are in."

"We can’t wish the Islamist challenge to our society away and I believe that the army both in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably wherever we go next, is fighting the foreign dimension of the challenge to our accepted way of life."

Maybe I'm missing something but Sir Richard's thoughts appear to boil down to...

We need to restore traditional values in our own country by blowing up some Heathen Wogs in another country

As fantastically appealing as that sounds, Sir Richard and his supporters will probably need to refine their line of thinking a little as it contains a few teensy weensy flaws.

First off, I'm not too sure what Sir Richard means by 'Judaic-Christian tradition'. There is undoubtedly such a thing as an Abrahamic tradition, shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike - belief in a single creative entity, personal responsibility and accountability, a broadly agreed code of what constitutes right or wrong . All of which could and, on occasions, have served as a basis for followers of all three religions living together peacefully.

but 'Judaic-Christian'?

The last time I looked the No.1 shared belief between all branches of Christianity was a belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ (The clue's in the name).

And, I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell Orthodox Judaism discounts Jesus as a fraud whilst Islam doesn't go so far as to recognize him as the Son of God but does credit him with being a prophet and respects his teachings.

Islamo-Christianity?

The fact that Western Christendom spent most of the last 2,000 years trying to exterminate, expel or convert Jews for their (supposedly) sinful ways is also a bit of a give-away. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe all that race hate and all those theological differences were just a wee misunderstanding all along and now we're bestest buddies who share exactly the same beliefs. Not like those Heathen Wogs...

Second off, Sir Richard really hasn't done a very good job of connecting his perceived collapse of Western Morality and Values with the supposed rise of Militant Islam. Blowing the bejesus out of some foreigners because your daughter's tattooed arse crack is showing out of the back of her jeans and she's maxed out on her credit card buying shit that doesn't make her happy doesn't strike me as being exactly fair, or logical.

The scary thing is that this arsehole is in charge of our army.

Now if Sir Richard would like to reconsider which individuals and institutions need blowing up in order to make things Righteous again I'd be more than happy to help him out