Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth explains why she became a Muslim

It’s in an article by her in the Mail.

What would be perfect: that Blair’s Israel-hating wife Cherie Booth follows in her sister’s footsteps. Let Blair, the hopeless liberal fool, try to sort that out.

Liberal England is dead. If England is to live again, it can only be as a non-liberal England.

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Richard P. writes:

I noticed in her article and a previous one that Lauren Booth had only read about 60 pages of the Koran before converting, and has only read about 100 pages to date. She says she has a “relationship” with a couple of mosques and hopes to eventually “make a routine of going at least once a week.” Her entire article on converting to Islam is about as thoughtful as an explanation for why she has decided to take up gardening.

To borrow a phrase from Oscar Wilde, you must have a heart of stone to read that article without laughing.

Leonard D. writes:

Let me second Richard P. in a good horse-laugh at Lauren Booth. Rationality had nothing whatsoever to do with her conversion (if it may be called that). I am very much reminded of Chesterton’s famous quote: “When people cease to believe in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.” I guess anything can include an alien deity! (What she makes of her new God, she does not say; He doesn’t seem to enter her mind at all. Instead, it is the status of women that seems to consume her. She’s a Protestant Muslim!)

By her account, it appears that she has always been spiritual (“I have always liked to pray”), and thus a seeker for something religious. She never found it in her own society. Finally coming into contact with a self-confident patriarchal religion and society, she eventually submitted to it. I hate to say it, but: how womanish!

The whole article is something to be read and treasured by any connoisseur of human folly. I am particularly partial to her jarring and narcissistic intrusion in the text to inform the reader she is praying; her offhand mention of her divorce, even though her “most important relationships remain strong”; and her narcissistic and clueless ending discussing her breasts.

Amit G. writes:

Lawrenve, you are a very, very good man. By posting the lauren booth article where she shows everyone how her noew religion is benefiting herself and her daughters, this si a very positive note for vfr. Thank you very much for hi-liting how a religion can be a positife force in the life of a woman who was alienated from life before and now has the sunshine shining on her and lighting up the dark path. You balance the negatif with the positive outstandingly.

A. Lee writes:

Having read the entirety of her article, I believe it is easier to explain her conversion as psychological coping strategy for rejection by her father, having been upstaged by her sister, and divorced from her husband. In the article, she freely admits to her children’s delight at her declaration that she would abstain from smoking, drinking, and decolletage. She takes passing shots at her father’s alcoholism, and mentions her broken marriage. By the secular-Western standards, she is a failure, an aging single mother desperate for sexual attention, whose children are ashamed of her behavior. She receives no consolation from the feminist sisterhood, as she has accomplished nothing noteworthy in her professional career, unlike her sister. Indeed, even in this article she is identified as Tony Blair’s sister-in-law. Her primary identity comes through her sister.

In Islam she has found a parallel universe where she can be the center of attention. Her novelty, as a high-profile white female convert, will guarantee her a warm reception throughout the Muslim world, and fame will protect her from the predations of more shadowy elements. Also, she has been instantly catapulted to the apex of politically correct status. Having been subjected to criticism, derision, and pitying glances her entire life, the ability to wrap herself in martyr-victimhood, to shield herself from all criticism must be immensely appealing. She can enrage and shame her father. She can also redeem herself from her past behavior. Look at the contrast between her frivolous “free” pass, and her beatific poise as a Muslim convert.

I think we are witnessing the metastasis of a dangerous new phase in the Islamization of the West. In previous generations, alienated and peripheral individuals would seek self-validation by re-aligning themselves with the anti-establishment. This would include New Age beliefs, Buddhism, yoga, Satanic worship, or by simply dressing like vampires. In today’s world, what could be more anti-establishment than Islam? We have already seen alienated American youths turn into home-grown jihadists. Perhaps we are seeing the next faze: washed-up middle-aged women, having comprehensively screwed up their own lives, seeking to push the reset button by removing themselves from the Western world and immersing themselves in Islam. Having witnessed the vehemence with which some American-expats denounce their homeland, I can easily imagine them becoming the most fanatical of all.

LA to Daniel F.:

Thanks for this.

Daniel F. replies:

You’re welcome. Incidentally, and not surprisingly, you and the First Things site (not that there’s any connection between you, other than being traditiionally Christian) are both far more supportive of Israel than the majority of non-Orthodox American rabbis. I note this sadly, as my late father was a Conservative rabbi.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 01, 2010 09:52 AM | Send