Why do I need Warsi?

Baroness Warsi (the person in the photo who most resembles Liza Tarbuck) is our (unelected) "minister for faith and communities", she recently attended and spoke at a meeting of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) an organisation that has previously hosted some highly undesirable characters including people who openly support suicide bombing, one of the three people said to have inspired the 9/11 attacks and many other extremists. Warsi's own party (and the Lib Dems) boycott this organisation and condemn it as "failing to fully challenge terrorist and extremist ideology" so its rather surprising that the Baroness chose to speak there and also that her talk was rather apologetically on the subject of media demonisation of Islamic students, something which given the evidence and history of late is a pointless question with a rather obvious answer.

Warsi is famously anti-secular, and from the point of view of her efficacy and qualification to govern hides behind her superstitions; she is after all a token (middle class) Muslim in a Government keen to tow an apologetic line. Like a lot of religious politicians she seems keen to fight aggressively for a level playing field for religion when it comes to hand-outs and access to political power and yet demands special privileges for them against the cultural and political forces of equality, secularism and reason. For me she represents one of the most objectionable faces of religion today, the sickly sweet façade of respectability and liberal reasonableness that attacks hard won secular values (like freedom of speech) from the comfort and security of enlightenment institutions.

We don't need to scratch very hard to expose the true colour of metal below the surface of Warsi, its the same old privileged arrogance that pays lip service to the truth of religion and faith and really just rides the audience, utility and influence that it delivers. No contradiction illustrates this better than Warsi's own position, in this BBC report she comments on how Islam is perfectly compatible with "British values" and visits an Islamic centre in the North West. Like most TV reports of this ilk the images carefully depict Women visiting the centre but if you look closely you can read the sign above the door, it says "Women's entrance". With such glaring cognitive dissonance regarding her own position and the attitude toward Women and free speech of the tradition she defends it's very difficult to take Warsi seriously, in fact I would question why in a modern, secular country like ours we need a "minister for faith" at all?