It Will All End In Tears, Blears

Two hundred Muslim scholars are to be appointed by Hazel Blears in order to interpret Islam definitively for British Muslims. No, please don’t laugh. Please.

Of course, the civil power in this country has form here. Many moons ago, it tried to do something similar to Catholicism, only for an initially (and, for other reasons, later) substantial body of people to insist, at whatever cost to themselves, on the real thing instead. The whole enterprise opened the door to strongly anti-Catholic, and in some cases also anti-Erastian, elements, some of which subsequently went into outright schism, others into various degrees of internal schism. That story is by no means concluded yet.

So please don’t laugh. Please.