Fitzpatrick Walks Out!

News that Mr Jim Fitzpatrick MP has walked out of a Muslim wedding.

Now this is one of those stories which seems to conflict with two liberal views. One, the freedom for religious groups to practice in peace. Two, the freedom for a man and woman to sit together without segregation.

Reading this story, perhaps the point that swings it for me, is the point that, "the segregation was at the request of the couple getting married."

To me, it is about choice. It was the choice of Fitzpatrick to attend the wedding. It was the choice of the couple to hold the wedding in the way they want (when my sister gets married in a couple of weeks, we'll have the groom guests segregated from the bride guests). It was the choice of Fitzpatrick to leave.

I really have a dilemma about this. Should the couple have told guests in advance that it was going to be a segregated wedding? That probably would have been sensible. That way, Fitzpatrick's choice could have been more well-informed.

However, I don't see this as some example of the Muslim faith discriminating against women. I see this as a couple exercising their choice in how they guide their wedding.

Of course, if that choice was not mutual between husband and wife, there is something wrong. If that choice was enforced by the Islamic Forum of Europe, there is something wrong.

It is a complex issue. I await with trepidation what the Sunday Express makes of this. I wouldn't be surprised if they wrote, "Evil Islam forces MPs' wife to sit alone" If that's true, its deplorable. Fortunately, I doubt it is.

Maybe I'll talk about the introduction of sharia law at a later date...