A Scoutmaster in the UK, Brian Walker, complained about a niqab-wearing canoeist: “Canoeists don’t dress like this; they need all-round unobstructed vision so they protect the group. They will most likely drown wearing that Darth Vader tent.” The Scouting Association fired him, saying that “inclusivity is at the heart of modern scouting and is a value we hold dear.”
“Inclusivity” means everyone, but in the current Western climate, the word has mutated to mean “exclusive to Muslims.” Anything that is considered offensive to Islam is “Islamophobic,” a punishable offence.
While Brian Walker may have been offensive in his comparison of the niqab to Darth Vader, he did not deserve to be fired for it. In the West, it is still acceptable to insult and offend Christianity and other religions, but Islam is increasingly exempt. Yet even though Walker did not insult Muslims, he was still deemed to have committed an offence worthy of firing for making a negative reference to a garment that is a symbol of female inequality and oppression.
(Quran 24:31) And tell the believing women to reduce of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
If a woman does not cover, she may be assaulted:
(Quran 33:59) O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused.
Is this a value that the Scouts would like to embrace? Also, Walker pointed out valid safety concerns. While Iranian women who seek equality and liberty are burning the hijab, Western leftists are hailing it and even proclaiming its “virtues,” and now the Scouts are joining them in the name of inclusivity. It is a shame that these Scouts are trusted with the impressionable minds of children, who should be taught to be sensitive to the feelings of others, but also to be independent and consistent thinkers.
Of course “Zainab from Yorkshire” worked this “offence” to the maximum, referring to Walker’s “insult” as an offence to her very humanity. It was not; it was only criticism of Sharia. The problem is that the Scout Association also yielded to the Sharia. It severely punished a dedicated member who pointed out valid safety concerns posed by the full niqab in its obstruction of vision, and sent a public message of its allegiance to “exclusivity,” not “inclusivity.” Parents also have the right to see who is working with their children, as do the children themselves.
The Scout Association has failed to uphold justice and failed in its commitment to recognizing the equality of men and women. Even worse, it has delivered a dangerous message to its youngest members.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, backing Walker, said: “Scouting used to be about doing our best, doing our duty to God, serving the Queen, helping others and keeping the Scout law. It would seem that the culture this created has ceased and the scouting movement has become another great movement infiltrated and ruined by the new political dogma that cannot stand any whiff of dissent.”
Parents should revolt.
“SCOUT OF ORDER Scout master fired for comparing Muslim leader wearing a full face veil to Darth Vader”, by Ellie Cambridge, Sun, February 11, 2018:
A SCOUT master was expelled after comparing a fully-veiled Muslim leader to Darth Vader.
Brian Walker, an assistant Explorer Scout leader, complained to Scouting magazine after the keen canoeist was featured wearing a niqab, The Sunday Times reports.
The 63-year-old said: “Canoeists don’t dress like this; they need all-round unobstructed vision so they protect the group. They will most likely drown wearing that Darth Vader tent”.
The woman, named as Zainab from Yorkshire, told the magazine: “It’s not about being Muslim, it’s about being human.
“A couple of times we’ve been out on hikes in our hijabs and neckers, and people have come up to us and given us lots of positive comments.
“It’s not a barrier; it doesn’t stop me from doing anything. I’m bossy. Nobody can say I’m repressed.”
But Walker – a Scouts member for more than half a decade – said her “outward appearance is enough to frighten children and animals”.
Following this he was expelled last March for breaching the movement’s values of integrity, respect, car and co-operation and could bring the Scouts into disrepute, the newspaper reports.
The ex-SAS and armed forces man said that, as a father of disabled children, he understood the point of inclusivity and would have no problem working in a Scout group with Muslim or LGBT children.
In an appeal hearing last year Walker, from Bristol, said “I did not mean to offend anyone personally, but was making a wider point about the values of Scouting”.
He is taking legal action for discrimination against him, which the Scout Association will reportedly contest.
A spokesman for the Scout Association said: “We are aware of the issues raised with us by Mr Walker. However due to legal reasons we are unable to comment specifically on this case.
“Inclusivity is at the heart of modern scouting and is a value we hold dear….