UK anti-Muslim blogger Paul Ray (“Lionheart”) has made another appearance on American radio – this time on Southwest Radio Ministries, which offers a dose of good old-fashioned Southern fundamentalism. SWRM, which is based in Oklahoma, has been going since 1933, and is currently run by Noah Hutchings, author of apocalyptic tomes such as Y2K=666? (1998 – “We are living in the most perilous times since the flood in Noah’s Day…”), and The Persian Gulf Crisis and the Final Fall of Babylon (1990). Hutchings is assisted by Larry Spargimino, who co-penned The Chronicles of Narnia: Wholesome Entertainment or Gateway to Paganism? (guess which…).
Ray didn’t have a great deal to say – there was some confusion over the phone number, so his session was cut short. The last occasion he appeared on American radio, as I noted at the time, he explained how there was a Muslim plot to make people think the word “Paki” was offensive; nothing so inflammatory this time, just a whinge about how the Luton protest march had been cancelled because the organiser feared (as I blogged here) that he and his friends (whom I blogged here) were right wing extremists.
The subject of his arrest last year on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred was also touched on; in January 2008 Ray had been briefly held up by the American right as a “free speech martyr”, although he was quickly dropped when statements in support of the BNP came to light (“the Living God is on the side of the BNP”) – leading to a bitter dispute with Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, who took the view that “Lionheart” was “off his rocker”. Ray had claimed that he was being targetted for speaking out against Islamic extremism; Sadly No! drew attention to some sanguinary quotes which suggested it was a bit more complicated than that. The issue has apparently still not yet been resolved. The radio show made only passing mention of the controversy, but there was a bit of extra information; last year Bedfordshire on Sunday reported that
Paul Ray, who ‘blogs’ as ‘Lionheart’, left Britain for an undisclosed location in the Middle East two years ago…Bedfordshire on Sunday understands that Mr Ray has been intending to return to Britain for over a year, in order to make preparations to emigrate officially and permanently.
According to the presenters, discussing Ray after his interview, he’s actually in Cyprus. I wonder which side of the border?
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