Andrew Brown of the Guardian accuses Richard Dawkins of “anti-Muslim tweets” for criticising the absurd beliefs of journalist Mehdi Hasan.

Now I know the likes of Andrew Brown and Mehdi Hasan have made playing the victim card into a business wherever Islam or Islamism are concerned but in the real world, a criticism of one’s religious beliefs are not bigotry. Full stop. If they were, then Brown’s criticism of Dawkins would be deemed bigotry against atheists. What applies to everyone else also applies to Mehdi Hasan.

Brown and Hasan conveniently forget the distinction between having the right to a belief (however absurd) and the expectation that others respect your beliefs.

In response to Dawkins, Mehdi Hasan tweeted:

@RichardDawkins thanks Richard. Now, can you pls clarify, should NS stop publishing me because of my Islamic religious beliefs? Yes or no?

Of course Dawkins made it very clear that he was not saying that religious journalists should not be allowed to publish but that is besides the point. The shrill cries of Islamophobia and further attempts at scaremongering people into silence continue unabated.

Now whilst Dawkins says Mehdi Hasan’s views should not prevent him from publishing in the New Statesman, I am not so forgiving.  Not because Hasan is a “Muslim” but because he is a proponent of Islamism – a far-Right movement.