TOO.LITTLE.TOO.LATE

"[The UK government is] not to meddle in religious affairs or to expand the state's involvement in deciding on religious and theological issues."
"The government needs to concentrate on ensuring that safeguards are in place to protect the public and treating all faith communities equally."
Malulana Shah Raza, imam, founding member Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board

Rob Stothard / Getty Images   People arrive at the East London Mosque to attend the first Friday prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on June 19, 2015 in London, England. Registration will be compulsory for all faith leaders who wish to work with the public sector, including universities, the document says.

Well, in fact, facing both the emergency within, finally, in acknowledging rather than continuing to ignore the fact that London has become Central Station for Islamist and jihadi-terrorist activities, conflicted with the British propensity to overlook such inconvenient facts and attempt to avoid wherever possible giving offense to Muslim sensibilities, this is precisely what the government is doing; treating all faith communities equally.

In the sense that imams, priests, rabbis and all other religious figures in Britain will henceforth be expected to enrol in a "national register of faith leaders", subjected to government-specified training and security checks. This represents the hitherto-lax Home Office's latest enterprise in acting on the extremism that has become the hallmark of British inactivity and disinterest in the presence of jihadi groups headquartered in London where they have traditionally counted on their presence being ignored.

The proposal is understandably controversial, and extremely bold for Britain which has never much bothered itself that terrorist groups and the leaders within them have never been inconvenienced by British Intelligence or the government agencies tasked with ensuring the safety of Britain and its people. According to The Daily Telegraph, the strategy being undertaken will "require all faiths to maintain a national register of faith leaders".

The government is prepared to "set out the minimum level of training and checks" that all such faith leaders must be prepared to undertake to qualify for the new register. This is not voluntary, but rather compulsory for all faith leaders whose work takes them into the public sector. Universities are also included, and presumably, prisons as well, where conversion to Islam finds such fertile ground.

This really does break new territory, with the state dedicating itself to strengthening its involvement in religion as it is practised in the country. Unless the government decides to pull in its horns in reflection of the response it is certain to be on the receiving end of. In any event, the sensitivity of the issue can be seen reflected in its inclusiveness.

For it is obviously not 'priests and rabbis' who concern the authorities, but rather exclusively imams and clerics dedicated to Islam, not Judaism and Christianity. Senior Catholic Church spokespeople insist that state supervision of priests would be "firmly resisted". While Prime Minister David Cameron, finally taking on the authority vested in him has responded by stating that Islamist extremism represents the "struggle of our generation", and must be overcome.

"For far too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens that as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone. This government will conclusively turn the page on this failed approach", he stated without equivocation. Except for the fact that equivocating did occur, in lumping Christianity and Judaism in with Islam; and a corrective is required there.