THE AUSTRALIAN: It is not always easy working out the limits of our cherished liberalism. Western liberalism’s greatest achievement is the contest of ideas that thrives in a free market of ideas. We know from experience that an open and rigorous debate about ideas means the bad ideas tend to get flushed out and replaced by better ideas. So it’s not easy saying this: it is time we banned Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group that operates freely in Britain and Australia.
Some of the London suspects arrested for the attempted bomb blasts in London and Glasgow socialised and prayed with members of this radical organisation - an organisation that rejects democracy and Western values and is aimed at uniting 1.2 billion Muslims under a global caliphate ruled by sharia law.
Under normal circumstances, the West would say live and let live. Air your grievances, express your ideas, let’s talk this over - the hope being that an open debate would reveal such an ideology as inferior to Western ideas and values.
But we’re not living in normal circumstances. Those to whom we say live and let live are planning and preaching our downfall. Those espousing an Islamist ideology are strapping bombs to themselves, or filling their Mercedes and four-wheel drives with bombs, to kill Westerners. It is time we banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (more) By Janet Albrechtsen
Mark Alexander
