Category Archives: Liberal

One of the most popular sports media debates of 2017 has been the existence, or lack thereof, of ESPNs liberal agenda. The extremelypolarizing election cycle of 2016has bled into pretty much every aspect of our culture and sports is no different. And with ESPN at the top of the mountain and FS1 attempting to dethrone Bristol, some of their personalities have tried to cling on to this polarization to create an us versus them mentality to divide and conquer ESPNs audience.

FS1, namely led by Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock, have repeatedly tried to paint ESPN as having a liberal agenda. It hasnt really done anything to improve FS1s ratings, it cant really be blamed forESPNs business struggles, but the narrative now definitely exists. ESPN has tried to discount the narrative with surveys of their own, but sometimes narratives are all that matter in media.

Finally, an ESPN executive has gone on record swinging back on FS1 after taking it on the chin for several months. In Mondays Sports Business Journal, ESPN Executive VP of Programming Burke Magnus calls the FS1 narrative false and in a very calculating move, refuses to even mention FS1 by name.

One of ESPNs top executives accused Fox Sports of advocating what he called a false notion that the network operates with a liberal bias.

The whole narrative is a false one that was seeded and perpetuated primarily by a direct business competitor, said Burke Magnus, ESPNs executive vice president of programming and scheduling. We have no political agenda whatsoever.

Fox Sports has given voice to many of the accusations of ESPNs liberal bias. For example, Fox Sports 1s afternoon studio show co-host, Jason Whitlock, wrote a May 7 editorial for The Wall Street Journal in which he accused ESPN of adhering to a strict obedience to progressive political correctness.

Magnus went on to tout ESPNs talking point when it comes to allegations of the networks liberal bias, that it wouldnt make sense to step into politics and alienate half of their audience. He hits back at FS1 for trying to take advantage of the hyper-partisan political scene themselves to make a splash.

It would be foolish in the business that were in to take sides on the political arena, Magnus said. Our business competitor perpetuates this narrative because in this highly partisan time, it suits them to highlight this distinction, even when it doesnt exist.

As is usually the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Theres no denying that ESPN has become more liberal. Just look at the facts and their decision making over the last few year when it comes to programming, on-air talent, how that talent speaks out on social media, and so on and so forth. However, the result of ESPN leaning left has been more organic from a drive to become more diverse versusa top-down conspiracy to try to align the networks philosophy with MSNBC. FS1 would have you believe that ESPN is dedicating the 5th inning of Sunday Night Baseball to do an Elizabeth Warren 2020 infomercial and its just not true.

FS1s brazen personalities have overblown it for sure, butthe narrative that exists has definitely had an impact on ESPN as rare as it is to see them come out and swing back at FS1. And you can tell how fed up ESPN is with it when one of their top executives refuses to call them by name. Who knows, perhaps the decision to bring back Hank Williams Jr. is a way to try to prove that ESPN is not in fact leading the deep state resistance to Donald Trump.

It hasnt brought FS1 any closer to actually competing with ESPN, but it hasmade a lot of people annoyed and upset on all sides.

[Sports Business Journal]

More here:

ESPN exec slams FS1 for trying to create liberal agenda narrative - Awful Announcing

TwoLiberal MPs havebeen secretlyworking on a plantolegalise same-sex marriage in Australia as soon as August, with a draft copy of the laws well advanced and consultation with advocates underway.

Fairfax Media can reveal WAsenator Dean Smith and NSW lower house MP Trent Zimmerman are working ona private members' billthey hope willbe presented to Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage through a conscience vote, rather than the Turnbull government's stated policy of a national, non-bindingplebiscite.

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Liberal minister Christopher Pyne has reportedly been caught on tape saying marriage equality would happen "sooner than everyone thinks."

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Research by the Obesity Policy Coalition found food packaging which used cartoons was often unhealthy.

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Irish forecaster with a giant umbrella is blown away by a gust of wind and everyone can't stop laughing about it.

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One of Australia's most-wanted fugitives has been caught hiding under a child's bed, after police forced their way into a home in north-west Sydney on Sunday. Vision: Seven News

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Lee Rhiannon has spoken out against claims she derailed her party's school funding negotiations with the government, rejecting claims from colleagues accusing her of betrayal.

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The Australian government is offering support to the Philippines as its military battles Islamist militants aligned with Islamic State. National Security correspondent David Wroe explains.

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In a bid to limit any further jail time, Crown Resorts staff will plead guilty to gambling-related crimes at their trial in Shanghai on Monday.

Liberal minister Christopher Pyne has reportedly been caught on tape saying marriage equality would happen "sooner than everyone thinks."

It's understoodcabinet ministers Christopher Pyne and GeorgeBrandis- both of whom support same-sex marriage - are aware of the existence of the bill, which is designed to end the politicalimpasse over the issue and get it off the political agenda before the next federal election.

Senator Smith and Mr Zimmermanhave been consulting with the director of legal advocacy at Melbourne's Human Rights Law Centre,Anna Brown, who is also the co-chair of Australians for Equality, on the details of the legislation.

In keeping with the recommendations of a February Senate committee report, the draft bill would allow exemptions for religious and other celebrants who did not wish to marry two people of the same sex.

While the bill is unlikelytobe selected fordebate by thegovernment-controlled parliamentarycommittee that choosesbills, it wouldtake only a handful of Liberal MPsto side with the opposition and cross bench, reach an absolute majority of 76 votesand force the lawto be considered.

Once that happens,Liberal MPs who support same-sex marriage could team up with Labor and the crossbench onthe floor ofParliamentto legalise same-sex marriage.

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The bill would almost certainly then sail through the Senate with the support ofLabor, the Greens, the crossbench and some Liberal senators.

Senator Smith was unavailable for comment because he is travelling, while Mr Zimmerman and Ms Brown declined to comment when contacted by Fairfax Media. Senator Brandis and Mr Pyne were also contacted for comment.

In a statement, Mr Pyne said "the government has no plans to alter the policy".

However, in an interview with Huffington Post Australia, Senator Smith said there was a "natural symmetry" about having a free vote in Parliament on the two-year anniversary of government adopting its now-defeated plebiscite policy in August.

Liberal moderates are frustrated by the lack of action on same-sex marriage following the defeat of the plebiscite earlier this year, and believe Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should stand up to the conservative wing of the Liberal Party and allow a free vote on the floor of the parliament.

However, Mr Turnbull will face pressure from the conservative wing of his party not to allow a free vote to occur.

MrTurnbull - who personallysupports same-sex marriage but is concerned about keeping the conservative wing of his party onside -said on Monday his government'sposition ofa non-binding national plebiscite on the matter was clear and that "we have no plans to change it, full stop".

Those comments were made after a leaked audio recording of Mr Pyne emerged on Monday, in which the Leader of the House predicted same-sex marriage could be legalised "sooner than everyone thinks".

Mr Pyne's remarks were made at a gathering of Liberal moderates on Friday night in Sydney as the Liberal federal council met. The recording wasleaked to conservative News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt.

He told the gathering of moderates that "we [Liberal moderates] are in the winner's circle but we have to deliver a couple of things and one of those we've got to deliver before too long is marriage equality in this country".

"Your friends in Canberra are working on that outcome."

That leak prompted former prime minister Tony Abbott, who introduced the plebiscite policy nearly two years ago, to accuse Mr Pyne of not being fair dinkum and suggesting he was disloyal to the government.

"To dump the plebiscite, to do anything without a plebiscite would be a breach of faith with the people," Mr Abbott told radio station 2GB.

-with Fergus Hunter

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Liberal MPs secretly drafting private members' bill to legalise same-sex marriage - The Sydney Morning Herald

Actor James Woods is more outspoken than ever about his conservative political and cultural beliefs. Hes earned nearly 700,000 followers on Twitter thanks to his sharp and constant commentary about the news and about the Left.

Surprisingly, the actor doesnt often take his opinions beyond social media. He doesnt pop up in many interviews or throw himself at the press. It appears this is for a very good reason.

A writer at Independent Journal Review recently attempted to interview Woods to get the artist's opinion about Johnny Depp's assassination "joke" and Woods politely declined. He explained why he generally avoids the press these days even press of which he approves.

"Well, I'm deeply flattered, but turn down hundreds of requests to do interviews. I'm a big fan of IJR, but I must graciously decline. I find that Twitter makes it impossible for the sleaze liberal press to take my words out of context. If I were to do an IJR interview, surely CNN and NYT would misrepresent my thoughts and words. As honorable as IJR may be, they can't stop others from engaging in malicious behavior. Sadly, free speech is dead in liberal America," wrote Woods to the reporter who requested the interview.

For the record, Woods was one of the first and only celebrities to condemn Depp's commentsand his attacks on liberals haven't stopped or slowed since then.

His reason for declining interviews is understandable, yet it's a sad commentary on how far gone the mainstream media are today. The actor has worked with everyone from Martin Scorsese to John Carpenter, but he can't share whatever expertise or viewpoint he has because the press is so blatantly biased against people like him.

Related: James Woods, Culture Warrior, Returns to Fight

Woods even admitted in 2013 that his outspokenness would likely lose him future opportunities and end his career in Hollywood. He may have been right. His last major role was in 2013 on Showtime's "Ray Donovan," which also starred conservative actor Jon Voight.

Other than that, Woods has done mostly sporadic voice work.

While it's easy to miss his work as an actor, his commentary on Twitter is something people can enjoy each and every day.

Read the rest here:

James Woods: 'Free Speech Is Dead in Liberal America' - LifeZette

Younger Republicans have more liberal opinions on immigration than do older members of the GOP, according to a new poll.

Forty-one percent of all Republicans in a pollconductedby the Public Religion Research Institute says immigrants face a lot of discrimination in the United States, The Associated Press reported.

Sixty percent among Republicans between the ages of 18 and 29 answered the same way, however, compared to only about one-third of voters ages 65 and older.

The poll found that 63 percent of Americans overall say there's a lot of discrimination against immigrations.

A slight majority of Republicans of all ages, 55 percent, say immigrants in the U.S. illegally should have a path to citizenship "if certain conditions are met."

But among younger Republicans, 62 percent responded that immigrants in the U.S. should have a legal path to citizenship.

Republicans of different ages also have opposing views on gay rights, according to the poll.

Fifty-four percent of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 29 say gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry, while just half that percentage of older Republicans responded the same way.

The poll was conducted with 40,509 interviews from May 18, 2016, to Jan. 10, 2017. The margin of error is 0.6 percentage points.

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Poll: Younger Republicans have more liberal opinions on ... - The Hill - The Hill

Tim Farron explained that his resignation was due to his conservative Christian beliefs having hampered the liberal views of his party. Paula Zoido Oses analyses this argument and explains how liberalism can work in public life.

Tim Farron,recently stepped down as the leader of the Liberal Democrats due to a conflict between his Christian Faith and the liberal values defended by his party. This event has raised important questions about the lines between religious belief and public policy, with some commentators going even as far as stating that it signals the decay of liberalism. For this reader, however, Farrons resignation does not symbolise the decay of liberalism, but rather an action that unveils a high-definition picture of its otherwise usually concealed flaws.

What we mean by liberalism is a long and contested issue, too long to explore here. However, in a very basic sense we can probably agree with Rawlss later definition of liberalism as a political stance depending upon a capacity to set clear boundaries between the political arena, and everything else. That is to say, liberalism is not necessarily a moral doctrine with contents of its own that tells us how to act. Instead, liberalism is a vessel that allows citizens with different backgrounds, each carrying their own moral doctrines and personal beliefs, to find an area of consensus for the sake of peaceful coexistence, without having to renounce to their moral beliefs.

If we want liberalism to work, we should maybe understand it more as a set of rules (the domain of politics) than as a set of values (the domain of morality). But what is crucial is to never overstep what seems to be the only rule of liberalism to never impose our comprehensive, private views on to others, for that would go against what seems to be the only clear value attached to liberalism: liberty.

To this extent liberalism presents itself as a political doctrine, and not a moral one. In this pretence lies its most powerful and enigmatic promise: that you can be a liberal and not be one, if that is what you want, as long as you find ways of making sure that your illiberal beliefs do not become an obstacle to the correct functioning of the liberal state. In other words, and as I like to put it, liberalism lets you be anything you want to be as long as you are a liberal, too. This is also the reason behind the liberal stress on the distinction between the private and the public. The idea of a private sphere where individuals are allowed to act according to whichever moral doctrines they choose makes the liberal demand of keeping the political arena separate from our comprehensive beliefs considerably more bearable.

If Farrons resignation is truly the result of his impossibility to combine both his role as a political leader and his commitment to the Bibles teachings, then this can hardly be seen as a sign of the decay of liberalism, but instead as an honest and brave admission of his incapacity to comply with the rules of the liberal game. And yet, it seems unfair that someone would have to leave politics simply for holding religious beliefs. Even if not acting as a politician, Farron will surely continue to live as part of a liberal political community within the United Kingdom. Does this mean that all Christians like him or even all those holding religious beliefs of any kind, by extension should be excluded from the liberal sphere of politics? The answer is as simple as yes and no. If it truly is the case that one cannot compromise a part of their private beliefs when entering the political arena of liberalism, then surely one has to be excluded from it.

But also, as stated above, the main promise of liberalism is precisely that its arena should be ample enough for everyone to be able to step in without having to leave too much of their private moral beliefs outside it. However this promise is not always fulfilled. Farrons decision is a good example of this. It points directly at the greatest weakness of liberalism, namely the big question mark that hangs over the expected capacity of individuals to split themselves in two. For instance, nobody seems to have questioned whether, in fact, what drove Farron to quit was the impossibility to keep his faith a private matter and separate from his job. Farron may have felt, and rightly so, that by being a liberal politician he was betraying his Christian faith.

One commentator on the issue pointed at Jeremy Waldrons work, which connects the birth of liberalism to Christian values, and used this to argue that Farrons faith made him a better liberal and not a worse one. There is nonetheless another key element that has shaped liberalism which seems to have been forgotten in this debate, and that is the secular revolution that transformed Europe from the Enlightenment onwards. It is only when we imagine citizens as able to conceive the world in a secular way that liberalism makes sense. That is to say, liberalism only works when we can expect individuals to at least act as if they recognise the existence of a common ground outside religion where we can still communicate with each other in a way that makes sense.

This common ground, in the case of liberalism, is what since the Enlightenment has been known as reason. Regardless of whether we are religious or not, we are also expected to be rational individuals. I would go as far as to say that above all, what liberalism expects from us is to be rational. That is what allows us, in theory, to engage with others in the public sphere, to reach consensus in public matters that can be accepted by all regardless of their religious faith, and to be able to mould our private beliefs in order to fit with the demands of our public life. If we are rational enough, too, we will do this voluntarily, for we will understand that the trade-offs of liberalism are better than merely living in a society that allows no space for our private selves at all, as happens with non-liberal societies.

However, Farrons resignation reminds us that the big problem of liberalism may in fact be its strong reliance on a secular idea of universal reason. For as far as we know the evidence of reason being a universal trait is far from solid, and historically this is a concept tied more to Western Imperialism than anything else. After all, even the leader of a so-called liberal political party is left struggling to make sense of liberalisms way of managing value pluralism through rationality. Does this mean that liberalism is bound to fail? Not necessarily. Yet it is certain that by admitting his impossibility to disentangle his Christian faith from his political actions, Farron has reminded us all of the usually hidden limits of liberalism.

______

About the Author

Paula Zoido Oses is Visiting Tutor at the New College of the Humanities.

Excerpt from:

Tim Farron's resignation and the hidden limits of liberalism - British Politics and Policy at LSE (blog)

Sen. Dean Heller (R., Nev.) / AP

BY: Alex Griswold June 26, 2017 4:38 pm

Liberal activists in West Virginia accidentally flew an aerial message attacking a Republican senator representing a completely different state on the other side of the country.

Reporters at the Charleston Gazette-Mailon Monday noticed a plane flying around West Virginia's capital city with a banner reading, "SEN HELLER: KEEP YOUR WORD VOTE NO ON TRUMPCARE."

The only problem? Republican Sen. Dean Heller represents Nevada. The GOP senator representing West Virginia is Shelley Moore Capito.

The Gazette-Mails executive editor, Rob Byers, identified UltraViolet, a liberal women's advocacy group, as the organization responsible for the embarrassing mixup.

UltraViolet appeared to be using its aerial message to pressure Senate Republicans to vote against the chamber's health care bill under consideration to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Aerial messages appear to be a favorite tool of UltraViolet. The groupflew an anti-Donald Trump banner over the men's U.S. Open golf tournament earlier this month to protest the women's U.S. Open being held at a Trump-owned golf course this year. UltraViolet also recently flew a banner in Kansas City, Kan. attacking the Royals for accepting a pro-life advertisement.

View original post here:

Liberal Activists Accidentally Fly Banner Attacking Nevada Republican Over West Virginia - Washington Free Beacon

Whenever the Left pushes for sharp increases in the minimum wage (which has intrinsic populist appeal and tends to poll well), conservatives argue that such plans would kill jobs, stifle entry-level opportunities, and end up hurting many of the very people it was ostensibly meant to help. Liberals' rhetoric about the minimum wage does not align with the data, critics contend, citing evidence about the types of workers who actually seek and fill those positions. Many supporters respond, in turn, with slogans and smears: It's time to "give America a raise," to end "starvation wages" and promote "fairness," they claim, attacking "mean-spirited" and "greedy" opponents for protecting "the rich" at the expense of the poor. Which brings us to Seattle's hard-left city counsel -- home to such lovely characters as this woman -- deciding in 2014 toignore pleas from the business community and hike the minimum wage within their jurisdiction to $15 per hour. The Left celebrated, the Right braced for impact. The new law took effect two years ago, and basic economics has now rendered a verdict:

In other words, even before the full $15-per-hour mandate was phased in, thousands of jobs were killed, and low-wage workers' hours were significantly reduced -- taking money out of their pockets. Behold, the (ahem)wages of "fairness."A rival study conducted by a progressive, pro-union organization was commissioned by the Seattle Mayor's office (after preliminary data from UW's respected, nonpartisan team of economists appeared politically unhelpful to the city's policy), predictably declaring the move a big success. Unsurprisingly, it is being criticized asbought-and-paid-for propaganda. Its liberal authors are counter-attacking by alleging that the more credible study by mainstream economists is methodologically flawed, drawing this strong rebuke: "When we perform the exact same analysis as the Berkeley team, we match their results, which is inconsistent with the notion that our methods create bias," one UW professornoted. It turns out that when you raise the cost of creating new jobs and sustaining existing ones, fewer jobs are created, and employers find ways to stay in business. Hardest hit are low-skilled, would-be workers looking to get a foot in the door -- as well as low-income workers whose hours were slashed after the government artificially mandated a spike in their hourly pay. Based on the data, the harm outweighed the benefits:

But hey, at least a bunch of liberal politicians were able to congratulate themselves on being "compassionate." National Review's Charles Cooke joked that the study's conclusions simply indicate that the minimum wage must be goosed even higher:

Even though he obviously meant this in jest, there are undoubtedly left-wing activists re-writing their talking points demanding precisely this "solution" at this very moment. Hell, why not make it $150 per hour? By the way, the Democratic Party enshrined a national $15 minimum wage in its 2016 platform. To borrow the Left's lazy, bullying preferred framing on so many policy debates, why do Democrats hate poor people? Especially those who actually work for their party? Parting thought: Between California's dashed single-payer fantasy and Obamacare's continued implosion, it's been a rough stretch for liberal policy schemes. Not that it will deter the true believers for one nanosecond. Onward, for "fairness!"

Original post:

Settled Science: On Minimum Wage, Basic Economics Again Rudely Intrudes on Liberal Dreams - Townhall

WASHINGTON Young Republicans hold significantly more liberal views of immigrants and immigration than their older counterparts, reflecting a difference consistent with white Americans regardless of which political party they identify with, according to the latest American Values Atlas, a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute survey.

While 41 percent of Republicans of all ages believe immigrants face a lot of discrimination in the United States, the percentage increases to 60 percent among Republicans between 18 and 29 years old, the survey found. That's a stark contrast to GOP voters 65 and older only a third of that group says immigrants experience discrimination.

Researchers also found that 74 percent of young whites believe that immigrants are targeted for discrimination a lot, compared to 57 percent of white Americans of all ages. However, among Republicans, only for the youngest group, between 18 and 29, is that view in the majority. Even 30-to-39-year-old Republicans are evenly split, 48 percent to 48 percent, on whether immigrants undergo a lot of discrimination.

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Poll: Younger Republicans more liberal on immigration - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Seyran Ate (right) introduces Friday prayers during the opening of the Ibn-Rushd-Goethe mosque Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The founder of a new liberal mosque in Berlin that allows men and women to pray side by side has vowed to press on with her project even though the institution has been issued with a fatwa from Egypt and attacked by religious authorities in Turkey within a week of its opening.

The pushback I am getting makes me feel that I am doing the right thing, said Seyran Ate, a Turkish-born lawyer and womens rights campaigner, who does not wear a hijab. God is loving and merciful otherwise he wouldnt have turned me into the person I am.

The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque, named after a Muslim philosopher who defended Greek philosophy and a German writer fascinated by the poetry of the Middle East, opened its doors in Berlins Moabit district a week ago on Friday.

Housed in the side-building of a Protestant church, the mosque is open to Sunni, Shia, Alevi, Sufi and other interpretations of Islam but rejects visitors wearing the burqa or the niqab, which founder Ate has describes as a political statement. On its opening day, a male and a female imam jointly led Friday prayers to a crowded room.

A week later, the white-walled prayer room was noticeably emptier, with the seven-strong congregation almost matched by the number of security staff who guarded the exits and entrances with blue plastic covers over their boots.

Ate, 54, said many of the previous weeks worshippers had decided to stay away because they feared incrimination against themselves or their families. Her own relatives in Turkey had asked her to drop the project because they worried about arrests.

The lawyer, who is currently training to become an imam, said she had received 300 emails per day encouraging me to carry on, including from as far away as Australia and Algeria, but also 3,000 emails a day full of hate, some of them including death threats.

Egypts Dar al-Ifta al-Masriyyah, a state-run Islamic institution assigned to issue religious edicts, issued a statement on Monday declaring that the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosques practice of men and women praying side by side was incompatible with Islam, while the legal department of Egypts al-Azhar university reacted to news from Berlin with a fatwa on the foundation of liberal mosques per se.

Turkeys main Muslim authority, Diyanet, said the new mosques practices do not align with Islams fundamental resources, principles of worship, methodology or experience of more than 14 centuries, and are experiments aimed at nothing more than depraving and ruining religion.

A social media post circulated among Germanys Turkish diaspora community showed a photograph of a foot hovering over three copies of the Quran scattered across the floor at the mosque, claiming that they had been placed there by Ate and her accomplices. One visitor at the inaugural event told the Guardian that she saw the books being placed on the floor by a man purporting to be a journalist.

Some Turkish media have even accused the project of ties to the movement of Fethullah Glen, subject to a crackdown in the country after the attempted coup of 16 July 2016.

In my darkest dreams I wouldnt have expected that Turkey would try to portray us as Glenists, claiming that I had praised Glen in my speech, said Ate. I have nothing to do with their movement. On the contrary: they represent an interpretation of Islam that is too conservative for us.

She started Fridays prayer session with an appeal for those critical of the mosques mission statement to say so in the open, saying: I hope that this time people are brave enough to show their true face. Allah knows their true face anyway. And it is Allah to whom they are accountable, not us.

Ate, who moved to Germany as a child and came of age during Berlins counterculture scene of the 1980s, narrowly survived a shooting at an advice centre for Turkish women in the citys Kreuzberg district when she was 21.

Describing the founding principles of Ibn Rushd-Goethe, she said: Our idea of liberal Islam is that unlike orthodox and conservative practitioners, we do not believe that the written records of the Quran should be transferred word-for-word to the 21st century. We ask ourselves what the intentions were at the time and which parts can translated and explained in the 21st century.

We want to work together with conservatives to do something against Islamist terror, to show that Islam is also a very peaceful, mystical and spiritual religion. Many people adhere to the Muslim faith not because of Isis or the Taliban or whatever, but also because it is a beautiful religion.

One of the worshippers at Fridays prayer was a British Sufi called Umar, who is usually based in south-west England but was visiting Berlin for the weekend and decided to visit the mosque after reading an interview with Ate.

The 30-year-old said he did not have a problem with men and women praying side by side: Its dangerous to say there are definitive rulings, he said. We do not have the prophet anymore. These are confusing times for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Anything we can do to improve accessibility is a good thing.

Originally posted here:

Liberal Berlin mosque to stay open despite fatwa from Egypt - The Guardian

Was it something I said? Sensitivities abound, and opportunities to put ones foot in it are correspondingly boundless. Photograph: Alamy

A rare carouse in a louche Glasgow wine bar one night last week was enchanted briefly by a nervous proposition. The stranger had approached me gingerly from the side and asked if I was gay, straight or bi. He was young, beautiful, immaculately groomed and thin as a packet of condoms. Im straight, as a matter of fact, I answered in what I felt was my deepest Glaswegian timbre.

I hope you dont mind me asking, he added politely. Absolutely not; youve made my night, I replied. May I ask you a question in return? I asked. Go right ahead, he replied.

What was it that sparked your interest? Well, he said. Its just that youre wearing a pink shirt; youre sipping a French martini and your legs are crossed.

This is not the first time an encounter like this has occurred in recent years. After each one, I have fretted over what ought to have been the most appropriate response in such situations. Some people are blessed with an instinctive liberalism that allows them to glide through the ever-changing landscape of modern manners without giving offence. Others, perhaps a little older and usually white and male, can experience difficulty in adjusting their footing to keep up with these intricate manoeuvres.

Its not that they are ignorant or lazy on the contrary; they aspire desperately to say and do the right things its just that they can, on occasion, be a little clumsy and maladroit at finding the appropriate words in unfamiliar situations. I fall into the latter category.

For most of our adult lives we lived a monochrome existence in which morals and social mores were well signposted and came colour-coded in either black or white.

Raised awareness of issues around feminism, sexual identity, the environment, ethnicity and multiculturalism have given a voice to many who had previously been denied one. The response by many on the right is to group these under the collective heading Political Correctness Gone Mad.

A more human approach might simply be Live and Let Live.

We possess good intentions, yet find we are let down in unorthodox situations by a form of social dyslexia

There is no users manual available for those of us who aspire to be liberal and possess good intentions yet find we are let down in unorthodox situations by a form of social dyslexia.

Nevertheless, in a spirit of shared humanity rooted in sympathy for my fellow aspiring but clumsy liberals, I offer the following short extract from my Good Liberals Guide to Modern Etiquette.

It is based on my own experience and the shared testimony of others who have reached uncertainly for the right words and yet found themselves shunned and resented.

You may have found that an increasing number of people are embarking on a transgender journey. This is a good thing as the misery of feeling trapped in the wrong body must be almost unbearable. Please avoid asking So hows your journey been so far? or Are you near the end? as if it were a day-trip to Girvan.

Instead, show interest and dont interrupt. Do not say: One of my friends is on a similar journey because youll probably be lying.

The young folks increasing knowledge of where we source our food has led to many of them embracing veganism in disgust at the vile practices and unhygienic methods that are often involved in getting farm animals on to our plates. When your daughter announces that she is a vegan, please, under no circumstances, make Spocks famous split-fingers sign from Star Trek. Instead, listen politely; make a mental note to Google vegan restaurants, and say youve heard that a lot of tasty curry recipes are vegan.

Look, lets be mature about this: everybody likes a good swear now and then, and as Moses is reputed to have said to Aaron in one of the as-yet-undiscovered Dead Sea Scrolls, an elegantly deployed profanity is a blessing to us all. Now some enterprising feminists have reclaimed the c-word. And, indeed, in some west of Scotland taverns the term is often used to express admiration. Tams a good...

There is, though, a risk of becoming desensitised to all this bold new use of the word. I would advise caution and stick to old standards such as bastard, bawbag, dickhead and tosser.

Admit it weve all encountered these wretched characters. There you are merrily WhatsApping away in the back of the cab when your driver insists on having a debate about Brexit. I dont know about you but I voted Leave, he says. Were letting too many immigrants in, and theyve declared sharia law in Pollokshields.

As an aspiring liberal, you know what you want to do. You want to tell the racist bawbag where to go. Instead, you try to give him a meaningful stare and pretend to have a conversation on your mobile. Id suggest waiting until you are within walking distance of your destination and tell him to stop, then disembark while studiously refusing to give him a tip. Hell get the message.

One of the most challenging dilemmas for the aspiring-but-not-quite-there-yet-liberal male is reconciling a love of AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Ted Nugent with a desire to be empathetic and sensitive to feminism. Songs such as Whole Lotta Rosie and Cat Scratch Fever can cause embarrassment when they crop up on your cars iTunes as youre giving your daughter and her pals a lift into town.

I tried telling them once that Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter was a thoughtful warning about what can happen if a father fails to play a significant role in his daughters life. They werent buying it. Have a playlist handy for these occasions with fey acts like Sohn or the Chemical Brothers or that George Ezra.

I know these are just baby steps, but its a minefield out there.

More here:

A clumsy liberal's guide to saying the right thing - The Guardian