BMW reviewing Muslim rugby superstar’s sponsorship due to photo with Mufti Menk

[Luffy 500]

This is another example of the inherent intolerance present in a liberal secular society.....specially towards Muslims. The rugby player in question is white Muslim convert and bonafide Kiwi but his sponsorship is now in question because his views on certain social issues and views of those he associates with, is NOT the same as the liberal majority of New Zealand. Mufti Menk is a renowned Orthodox Islamic Scholar and Speaker who preaches orthodox normative Islam that all muslims identifies with. This incident shows that the liberal secular post-modern western society has a clear unambiguous hatred for Islam and Islamic principles and the people leading their society would like nothing less than complete intellectual and cultural lobotomization of Muslims even if they are native white Muslims. Freedom of thought, freedom of association, and freedom of speech goes out the window when it comes to Muslims just because they don't conform to the social expectations and norms of a liberal secular majority.


BMW reviewing Muslim rugby superstar’s sponsorship due to photo with Mufti Menk

BMW has confirmed that it is “re-looking” its sponsorship deal with New Zealand’s rugby superstar Sonny Bill Williams due to a photo he took with the prominent Muslim speaker Mufti Ismail Menk.

The luxury car company was allegedly inundated with complaints from customers, in particular members of the Jewish and LGBT communities after a photo emerged of Williams posing with Mufti Menk on Twitter.

The furore was sparked due to Mufti Menk’s position on homosexuality – which is the mainstream normative position – that it is a major sin and crime against God.



Williams, a Muslim convert, has taken many photos with Mufti Menk and has tweeted about his encounters with the cleric.

BMW New Zealand’s head of corporate communications, Paul Sherley, told Yahoo News that Williams’ original contract remained unchanged.

However, the company confirmed they would be “re-looking” at his role.

There is currently no mention of Williams on BMW’s website but the car company profiles its other brand ambassadors such as shoe designer Kathryn Wilson and chef Josh Emmet.

Zimbabwe-born Mufti Menk was banned from six UK universities in 2013 due to his views on homosexuality, a common trend for many Muslim activists and scholars in the university circuit.

 

[Respect4Respect01]

To "DESI Liberals"...Freedom of Speech? Freedom of Expression?

 

[krakatoa]

Mufti menk is an awsome human being. if they have problem with this sheikh then ...........

 

[Stannis Baratheon]

To "DESI Liberals"...Freedom of Speech? Freedom of Expression?

The Western freedom of speech and freedom of expression is hypocritical. You have access to all those if you agree with them and will make headlines on how bad Muslim countries are for not having them.

 

[Luffy 500]

To "DESI Liberals"...Freedom of Speech? Freedom of Expression?

Good question. Lets tag some desi liberals. There is deafning silence for some reason. Make no mistake most of them hates what Mufti Menk stands for i.e orthodox Islam.

@haviZsultan @Kaptaan @Zibago @PersonasNonGrata @SHK @SecularNationalist @waleed3601

Mufti menk is an awsome human being. if they have problem with this sheikh then ...........

They have problems with anyone preaching or believing in orthodox classical islamic principles and values i.e they have a problem with the whole muslim world. All mainstream muslim charities and Orgs in UK - legitimate charities are harassed eg. IERA, CAGE etc. IERA (abdur raheem green's organization) just came out clean of a long investigation on baseless allegations by the UK charity commission. CAGE according to UK government is a "non-violent extremist group" just because they are yet to break the law in any way. There are travel restrictions on big name mainstream islamic scholars and activists like Dr. Bilal Philips, zakir naik etc.

I think western governments want their citizens to be sheep and not question their government's injustice in the muslim world. To be considered model & well integrated citizens they must water down Islam to a set irrelevant rituals and cultural symbols/identity, hold liberal sociology-political views and become good polite consumers of their capitalist economy.

 

[EasyNow]

How is this against freedom of speech / expression?

The mufti is free to speak, the player is free to hug the mufti and BMW is free to choose who it wants representing it. What's the problem?

It's none of your business who a company gives its money to. You don't like it, don't buy BMW.

Ps. Mufti menk is a very moderate person (as far as I know). So it makes me laugh to suddenly see extremists like @Luffy 500 try to take ownership of him here.

 

[Providence]

BMW doesn't want to have relationship with the cleric's worth a tinker's damn !

Sue BMW

 

[patero]

Most New Zealander's are ambivalent to this story, it's a small group of people complaining. Nobody from the New Zealand government or race relations commission has commented, it's a commercial agreement between SBW and one of his sponsors at issue.

And technically SBW isn't white, he has a Polynesian father and identifies as Samoan. Not that it makes much of a difference I suppose.

Under the New Zealand human rights act, which prohibits religious belief as a grounds of discrimination, he may have legal recourse with BMW if it can be proven that they terminated his sponsorship agreement as a result of these complaints.

 

[patero]

The question posed by the OP in the poll is an interesting one, do western liberalism and society allow freedom of thought, speech and right to disagree to Muslims?

I cannot speak for other Western liberal democracies, but New Zealand law includes the Human Rights Act 1993 which I mentioned in the above post, which prohibits religious belief as a grounds of discrimination. There is also the New Zealand bill of rights act 1990 (section 14) which states "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form".

Under the Human Rights Act a Muslim in New Zealand clearly holds the legal right to their belief, and therefore their freedom of thought. Where there may be conflict of course is in the practice of that belief where such practices conflict with New Zealand law.

Less clear is the extent to which the Bill of rights allows freedom of expression, given that New Zealand legislated the ICCPR (international covenant on civil and political rights), of which article 20 requires state bodies to ban “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence”, in other words hate speech. There are also two provisions in the human rights act which limit freedom of speech concerning race.

In simpler terms, a Muslim in New Zealand has the legal right to freedom of speech, and the legal right to protest, but with certain restrictions against hate speech. Conversely, these restrictions would serve to prohibit hate speech against Muslims. However it did not prevent the republishing by several newspapers and two television studios of the Danish Jyllands-Posten cartoons in 2005.

I think western governments want their citizens to be sheep and not question their government's injustice in the muslim world. To be considered model & well integrated citizens they must water down Islam to a set irrelevant rituals and cultural symbols/identity, hold liberal sociology-political views and become good polite consumers of their capitalist economy.

All governments want their citizens to be sheep (to some extent) and not to question anything.

Incidentally, New Zealand's human rights act does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. Mufti Menk for example would be permitted under the bill of rights to express his position on homosexuals in New Zealand. However, Article 20 of the ICCPR (anti-hate speech) might apply to public statements regarding the Jews.

 

[TMA]

Why is this in the Europe section?

 

[patero]

BMW is a European company I suppose.

 

[maximuswarrior]

You can't hide bias and hatred. It always surfaces one or the other way.

 

[waz]

Oi leave our bro Sonny alone! He's a Kiwi and he's Muslim, a double for me lol.

 

[Penguin]

Uhm, before all start screaming bloody murder, has BMW actually changed anything in its sponsorship deal with New Zealand’s rugby superstar Sonny Bill William?

 

[patero]

Uhm, before all start screaming bloody murder, has BMW actually changed anything in its sponsorship deal with New Zealand’s rugby superstar Sonny Bill William?

Doesn't look like it, I saw him today at the Auckland Blues season launch still driving his X-5. He's still just as popular with the fans here, I don't think there is much to this story.