I found this one of the most moving articles I’ve read for ages – neatly juxtaposing the liberty of a section of the community against the liberty of the individual.
The unspoken story is that some of the things Rowan Williams talked about are already happening! There was a R4 programme last night that detailed a Somali court that produced their own punishment for what would be considered a serious crime – probably a more lenient punishment than they would have got in the courts.
It could be argued, and it was, by a member of the Somali community that the shame of the youths going to the `court` was enough punishment (in a cultural context) but this wasn’t sanctioned by the wider community. And for the Muslim community it could be the other way round.
This, in my opinion, is difficult and dangerous territory – not aided by Labour’s complete disregard for our personal liberties as well as their complete lack of control of what’s going on in the Police around bugging etc.
Liberal Revolution 
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