Words still fail us when we attempt to talk about Muslims in Britain | Kenan Malik

Open, rational discussion is all too rare in the polarised ways in which we discuss millions of Britons. Instead, debates get trapped between hostility towards Muslims and a fear of giving offence

Court cases involving children being taken into care are inevitably messy. There are deep emotions involved and conflicting viewpoints. Parents are often angry, children confused and fearful. Those outside the process can find it difficult to discern the facts, as much of the decision-making takes place behind closed doors.

Given all this, it was perhaps inevitable that the explosive report in the Times last week – about the distress of a five-year-old girl in east London placed in foster care with a Muslim family – should unravel. What was not inevitable was the way in which it unravelled or the way that the story was framed to begin with. From the opening headline – “Christian child forced into Muslim foster care” – this was a polemic in the guise of an investigation.

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from Children | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2iSdiBz