Is Gay-Bashing Again a Religious Crime?

Our Bangkok correspondent H. Numan, who doubles as a commentator on Dutch affairs, sent us this essay today about the resurgence in the Netherlands of attacks on homosexuals.

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Is Gay-Bashing Again a Religious Crime?
by H. Numan

In the past, gay-bashing was a vile crime of hatred against defenseless victims. God had ordered it, according to the interpretation by the churches of their holy books. The mere accusation was enough to get one lynched. The accused had to prove his innocence. Even if he did so, the victim was stained for life, if lucky enough to escape alive.

From an offense against God it was downgraded to an offense to common decency. Times changed for the better, fortunately, and the authorities put in a lot of effort into stopping it entirely. In The Netherlands, at least, it was almost completely eradicated in the early 80s’ of the last century.

But the times, they are once again a-changin’. In The Netherlands, and very likely in all European countries, more and more religiously inspired acts of hatred are taking place. It is commonly assumed that the recent outbreaks of gay-bashing are the result of an intense religious dislike by Muslims about gay behavior. Newspapers and other media always state convenient Koran quotes to support this point of view. So do imams. But is this correct? I don’t really think so.

If the Muslim religion is violently opposed to homosexuals — and be in no doubt that it is — something rather strange is going on. Not one devout Muslim has been arrested or charged with this crime. A devout Muslim would perhaps have been arrested for this and similar religiously inspired crimes. But certainly not for theft, drunken behavior or drug-related crimes. Almost all arrested Muslim juveniles have extensive criminal records with exactly those crimes. Hardly devout religious youths by anyone’s standard, including that of devout Muslims.

Another point to ponder is entrepreneurial: a successful criminal seeks high yield with low risk, just like a successful businessman. Beating up gays carries very little risk. Many men looking for some company are actually ashamed of their behavior, and will not report their maltreatment to the police. Not even if not too severely injured. Not even if they are robbed.

Many of these attacks take place when the victim is utterly defenseless: it’s kind of hard to defend yourself with your pants either down or unzipped. You can beat your victim to pulp and rob him of his possessions, with little worry of him resisting or going to the police. Afterwards you can even blackmail your victim, with a bit of luck. And best of all: your crimes will be hushed up by the authorities, so as not to offend the extremely sensitive religious feelings of Muslim communities.
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One last point to support my position: the gay behavior of Muslim juveniles themselves. In the early eighties I noticed that many sometimes extremely young boys of “South Mediterranean” origins started prostituting themselves in public parks. Nobody forced them into this revolting business. For them it’s a very easy way to make a lot of money. Walk around in such a park, and you will see a disproportionately large number of Muslim youths trolling for business. They see nothing wrong in their behavior, as they — according to their culture — are not engaging in homosexual sex at all! In Arab culture, the ‘top’ is not gay. Only and exclusively the ‘bottom’ is gay. Thus, they are not gay themselves nor do they participate in gay sex by any means, provided they take the ‘top’ position. It may not be your logic, but ask any Arab and he will tell you exactly this. Only the passive partner is gay, the active one is not.

Is Islam perniciously anti-homosexual? It certainly is. It is also virulently misogynistic, anti-democratic, and utterly intolerant. If only for these reasons, it should be monitored very closely by Western societies. Those gay-bashing juveniles receive without any doubt religious justification for their behavior. However, the current outbreak of gay-bashings is in my opinion much more based on pure profit and power projection rather than religion.

I don’t think Islamic organizations — as yet — actively support gay-bashings. That’s not to say they condemn or disapprove of it. It is a highly convenient indirect means of creating an atmosphere of fear. It shows the unbelievers in a crystal clear fashion that Islam is not to be mocked in any way. And at the same time they can claim full innocence.

Compare this with the situation in the late 20’s in Germany: not that many people had a big problem if the SA brown shirts beat up an undesirable. In some cases the NSDAP even denied any involvement, more or less as mosques do now. One couldn’t claim the NSDAP was violent or responsible just because some of its members were acting violently, could one? However, behind the rhetoric the NSDAP actually liked this kind of fear and terror. It strongly supported their position, just as happens with the mosque authorities now.

There is another problem: it clearly shows others that crime not only pays, but rewards richly as well. Before the last Gay Pride a gay couple in Amsterdam was attacked in a gay area of the city by a gang of Moroccan, Antillean and Surinam youths. They were arrested (not the couple, but their assailants; almost a unique event in Amsterdam!) and received minor sentences. Merely the time spent in arrest, a few months’ probation, and 180 hours of communal services. That’s all.

The court apparently did not see this as something to worry about. They definitely should: normally Moroccan youths don’t get along with Antillean and Surinam youths at all, whilst Surinam and Antillean youths don’t get along with each other well either. The mere fact that they operated together shows clearly that they understand that the end (rich rewards) justifies the means (operating with hated compatriots in crime). Their arrest is irrelevant. They probably see it as a risk of the trade. It also shows abundantly clearly that in some way multicultural integration is working. Not really the ideal society being preached by our left wing politicians, what?

What we also should question is the absurdly lenient position the authorities take. As is commonly stated by the media these youngsters are motivated by religion and culture, which can (of course) not be questioned. Far too much is allowed to take place just to prevent charges of racism and to allow freedom of religion.

This is actually backwards. Suppose a gang of intolerant Lutheran (in Scandinavia), Dutch Reformed (in Holland), or born-again Christians (in the USA) youths acted in a similar way. Would this be tolerated? Would the authorities accept their religious or cultural excuses?