Anyway, as we have noted many times, “Islamophobia” is used to refer both to vigilante attacks against innocent Muslims, which are never justified, and honest analysis of the motivating ideology behind jihad violence, which is always necessary. Welby doesn’t know to or care to make the distinction, and so his words will certainly be used to inhibit and silence discussion of how jihadis justify their actions by reference to the texts and teachings of Islam.

Welby makes matters even worse by basing his argument against Pakistan’s blasphemy law on the fact that it is used against Muslims as well as non-Muslims. In arguing in this way, he accepts the Islamic premise that Muslim lives are more valuable than those of non-Muslims.

“Muslims are victims of blasphemy law as well: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby,” by Jamal Shahid, Dawn, March 1, 2022:

ISLAMABAD: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Monday said though there was a clear commitment by the Pakistani government to religious freedom and belief, minorities of all sorts, and also the Muslim majority, remained suppressed in their daily lived experience.

“There are very clear misuses, as is recognised, of the blasphemy law against minorities; however most of the misuses — well over 50pc — are Muslims misusing it against Muslims,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said during an interview with Dawn….

“The law clearly prevents racism but lived experience of many minorities in the UK is of racism. There remains a deep commitment from many religious leaders, to peace and harmony, to building good communication and making it work. There is a long way to go,” he said.

In his impression of the blasphemy law, Justin Welby argued: “If you are going to have blasphemy law, it is so important that it cannot be misused. One of the things that many religious leaders, including Muslims, are saying is there needs to be a balance between the blasphemy law and its misuse. If one person accuses someone of blasphemy falsely and with malicious intent, they should have a criminal penalty, in the same way as when there has been blasphemy, and the blasphemer should have criminal penalty.”

In response to a question, Justin Welby shared concerns of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was worried about Islamophobia in the West.

“As in all communities there are religious leaders who are Islamophobic. They are not major religious leaders and not well known, but it exists. There is also racism and the two were often interlinked in a really bad way but there was genuine Islamophobia,” he said, explaining how it had now gotten worse in recent years along with anti-Semitism and racism.

“One of the roles of the Church of England was to combat Islamophobia, which the Queen and I often speak about following her example, is that the church exists to protect minority faith. Our job is to speak up for the minority faith,” he said.

The archbishop said he and his wife joined the Muslim community in Central London to reject the attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“When people express Islamophobic views in the church they are told how wrong they are in no uncertain terms,” he added.

Source: Jihad watch. Image: The defender

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.