Audio and text from Lindsay's Radio Pacific Editorial. The interview with Flemming Rose has been postponed, I believe, until next week due to problems with phone lines.

The last day of Islam Awareness Week: a good opportunity to recap. Of what are we aware about Islam? That it is indeed what I called it—a stinking, stupid superstition. In the words of one of my supporters on the Salient website:

“A set of laws and traditions that, at the very least advocates, or in more extreme interpretations demands, violence against non-believers, subjugates women, and requires you to bow your head in subservience, all for the appeasement of a non-existent sky fairy IS a stinking, stupid superstition. For Mr Perigo to call it such is not unreasonable, although it is not very nice either; it’s bound to offend such people as believe. Too flippin bad! Believe and advocate such utter drivel (as you are free to do) and you will find that people will point out, with varying degrees of politeness, the stinking stupidity of your superstitions.”

We are aware that the adherents to this stinking stupid superstition in New Zealand are flexing their muscles, as when demanding the removal of a Salman Rushdie book from an Auckland secondary school library display. We are aware that the cowardly principal rolled over.

We are also aware that pointing out the stupid, stnking, superstitious nature of Islam brings out the forces of evil on talkback. Here’s an e-mail from an apologist for evil to Chris Gregory:

“I refer to Lindsay Perigo''s tirade on talkback this morning: A caller was trying to point out that few people supported Saddam Hussein, but that the invasion of Iraq by the USA was never going to be the answer. Before the caller could finish Perigo lost control of himself and called him ‘filth’ and discontinued the conversation.”

Now, I did not lose control, I got angry. I’m proud of that. If filth didn’t make me angry, I’d be ashamed. We need more angry people. The caller, probably the e-mailer, was pretending to oppose Saddam and Osama and Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taleban, yet he opposed any action by America against these entities. He opposed America, period. Terrorist force was fine by him; retaliatory force was not. He was, and is, filth. Appeasing Saddamite filth, with a smart-ass, supercilious demeanour to match. Pure evil. The kind of maggotry on whom the likes of al Qaeda rely. But, I let him have his say.

For the umpteenth time this week, I extend this invitation to the local, so-called moderate Muslims who object to my characterisation of Islam: renounce and denounce Jihad, fatwa and Sharia Law; commit to respecting the rights of those of other faiths, or no faith, to our beliefs; join with me and every other freedom-lover in a chorus of, “I disagree with what you say but defend to the death your right to say it.”

The publisher of the Danish cartoons will join me later in the programme. He’ll remind us just how cosmic, as things stand, is the chasm between Islam and Voltaire.