Muslim bad, christian good, liberal, what's that?

Philip Ruddock, attorney general in the Howard government (reputedly once an actual small `l' liberal) is looking into the status of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, apparently a muslim group that advocates the introduction of sharia law and rejects liberal democracy, capitalism and Western values.

At the very same time more and more information is being unearthed about the links between the the very same Howard government plus various other Liberal Party of Australia (LiPA) types and the Exclusive Brethren, a christian group that advocates strict following of the bible and rejects liberal democracy and Western values.

Just to recap, there are only two obvious differences between Hizb ut-Tahrir (HUT) and the Exclusive Brethren (EB). Firstly HUT are muslims while the EB are christians though they seem to have more in common with each other than most of their respective coreligionists.

Secondly HUT are reportedly against capitalism (not to be confused with the Hutts) whilst the EB seem to be of the opinion that the accumulation of wealth is the ultimate form of worship (not like that other EB who is a giver).

It is therefore no wonder the Howardites are looking into HUT but not EB... obviously HUT are communists. They'd be under the bed but they're not really into that type of thing, and, bed and Hizb ut-Tahrir doesn't really rhyme. Also as there are apparently only about 12 of them in the whole country they would have difficultly hiding under any significant proportion of Australian beds.

The Howardites obviously have no problem with advocating ridiculous laws or rejecting liberal democracy or western values, indeed these are defining characteristics of this government. Thus their getting into the bed with the EB was inevitable given the ability of the EB to pay and the willingness of LiPA to prostitute themselves (sincere and heartfelt apologies to any prostitutes reading this).

We can all appreciate why LiPA would want to keep private the fact that they are in bed going at it with a bunch of christian loonies. It isn't a pretty picture. Can't really blame the HUT for not wanting to be under the bed with what is apparently going on in there.

It is bad enough that the Liberals sell themselves to their regulars, a horde of corporate sponsors, but to do so to the EB is a new and disturbing perversion. These are people who are deeply suspicious of anything thought up after the Bronze Age, which includes the new testament and liberalism. Even the LiPA should have standards higher than this.