by Thommo wrote:It doesn't say a lot to me. So there's doubt as to his actual state of mind when he left prison. For all I know there was doubt in his mind at that time, I've heard plenty of people go through struggles when they change deeply held beliefs.
As long as he's standing up for genuine liberal principles in debates, such as defending gay rights and secular freedoms, I feel no need to cast aspersions. Clearly the bloke is only human and needs to be taken with a pinch of salt like any politician does, but I'm not all that comfortable with discrediting him by insinuation as the article seems to be doing.
I am sure a lot of his criticism of aspects of Islam and connection of Islam with Islamism is uncomfortable for some people. I am not sure that means he's not worth listening to.
What are genuine liberal principles and how do we know when we have one? I ask because liberalism has been around for a long time now, but it is only very recently that gay legal rights have gained a lot of traction. The intellectual heavyweights and fathers of classical liberalism, for example, show no recognition of gay rights.
