This is No Way to Win a War! Weakness, Cowardice, and Damn Lies from the Leader of the Free World!

"I send greetings to the many Muslims observing Ramadan in America and around the world.

Ramadan is the holiest time of the Muslim year and an important holiday when Muslims take time for prayer, fasting, and personal sacrifice. According to Islamic teachings, this month represents when God delivered His word to the prophet Muhammad in the form of the Qur'an. Ramadan is also an opportunity to gather with friends and family and show thanks for God's blessings through works of charity.

Ramadan and the upcoming holiday seasons are a good time to remember the common values that bind us together. Our society is enriched by our Muslim citizens whose commitment to faith reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country.

Laura and I send our best wishes for a blessed Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak." - GEORGE W. BUSH

Surely, I cannot be the only one sickened by these goodwill wishes to the Muslim Ummah in the US and throughout the world? Not only do I find this message sickening, but also I find it weak and cowardly! It is also offensive, because such goodwill messages are never reciprocated. Has the West already become the slave of the Islamic world?

With each passing day, President George W Bush shows himself to be weak and growing ever weaker; indeed, in my opinion, he is too weak to be the leader of the free world at this critical time. After 9/11, he gave the impression that he was going to be the political ‘saviour’ of the free and democratic West, for he talked tough. But as the years have passed, we have seen that he has grown weaker rather than stronger.

Can you imagine Churchill issuing such a statement of goodwill to the Nazis during the Second World War? Imagine it! It would have been unthinkable! Winston Churchill was strong, and he had principle. He was no pussycat. He fought the Second World War with one thing in mind: Victory!

“I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized … (To listen to the speech in all its glory, click HERE)

This, Mr Bush, is the way to win wars! Not by sending wishes of goodwill to our enemy!

Doesn’t the President of the United States of America realize that the West is engaged in a war to the death? Doesn’t he realize that such messages of goodwill, especially when they are never reciprocated, will do nothing but appease and embolden the enemy? Doesn’t he realize the nature of the enemy he is dealing with? Doesn’t he realize that Muslims, and Arabs in particular, view such gestures of goodwill as a sign of great weakness? Doesn’t he realize that the war cannot be won this way?

Click here to listen to how Churchill might have reacted:

This was their finest hour

To start with, let him tell us how “our society is enriched by our Muslim citizens whose commitment to faith reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country”. What the hell is he talking about? How do these people enrich our society? As far as I can see, all they do is impoverish it! Only in the past days, it has come to light that an opera, Mozart’s Idomeneo, has been cancelled in Berlin because it might offend Muslims. Two weeks ago, Pope Benedict XVI came under fire for his quotation of the emperor Palaeologos. Earlier in the year, we saw the furore caused by Muslims throughout the world when a few measly cartoons were published in Denmark. And you, Mr President, have got the unmitigated gall to say that Muslims enrich life here in the West. This is a lie. A damn lie, too! They do nothing but impoverish it! And the longer they stay in the West, and the stronger they become, the more impoverished life will be for us all. Moreover, how the hell do you think that Muslims living in the West can possibly remind us of the gift of religious freedom in the US? Of all people, Muslims do not understand the concept of religious freedom. In Muslim countries, people are put to death for converting out of the faith of Islam. Where’s the commitment to religious freedom in that? Don’t you realize that in each and every country that Islam has ever entered, and where it has been allowed to put down roots, that it has eventually taken over, and snuffed out all vestiges of freedom. Look at the evidence: Egypt, Libya, the Lebanon, Syria - these were all once Christian countries! The ultimate aim of all Muslims, Mr President, is not democracy and freedom, but theocracy and totalitarianism.

From what I can see, these goodwill wishes are an exercise in A-licking! Brown-nosing! Call it what you will! With such utterances, you show the Muslim world, and the rest of us, just how weak you are! Weak and craven and cowardly!

You seem to believe with your sophistry that you will somehow be able to change the nature of Muslims and Islam. You seem to believe that you will tame the lion by calling the lion 'a good boy'. You won’t. Be sure of that! The roaring lion that is Islam has never been tamed, and nor will it ever be. This lion can only be slain!

You, Mr President, made a fatal error of judgment the day after 9/11. Probably out of cowardice, you failed to identify the enemy to the citizens of the USA and the world. You had your chance, and you blew it. You should have stated that while, hitherto, America had not been at war with Islam, it is clear now that Islam is at war with your country. That, Mr President, was your first grave error. You should then have asked the citizens of your fine nation for their co-operation and unity. You should have stated that in order to win this war being waged against your country, you would need everyone to pull all the stops out, and to be prepared to sacrifice for the cause of eventual victory.

Further, you should have drawn together all sides in Congress, the right, the centre, and the left, in order to build a government of national unity. In time war, there is no room for divisions between left and right. War is the time when the people need to put aside their political differences in the cause of the war effort.

Furthermore, the people should have been asked to tighten their belts, and war bonds should have been issued to help finance the war ahead. No war was ever won without the sacrifice of the people. This sacrifice also includes the sacrifice of rights such as the right to sue others because of criticism. All those things, manifestations of life in a free and peaceful world, should have been suspended for the duration of the war.

During World War II, Japanese people living in the US at that time were interned. Likewise, Muslim people living in the US post-9/11 should also have been interned. You cannot wage a war with a fifth column spread across the nation. It is just not possible. You, Mr President, might say that it is not just to punish the majority for the sins of the extreme minority. I would say to you, Mr President, that it is always the case in this life that the majority has to pay for the sins of the minority. This is the nature of life, as unfair as it may be.

Because of the way you have tried to wage this war, because you have tried to wage this war on the defensive, Islam in the West has actually gained in strength since the attack on 9/11. Now the average person in the street doesn’t know what to believe. Their leaders are stating that Islam is really a “religion of peace” which has been “distorted” by the likes of the members of Al-Qaeda which, of course, is balderdash; and yet the news, despite the concealing distemper painted on it by the MSM, shows them that Islam is belligerent and malign, and that it is growing apace here in the West. Naturally, this disturbs many, many people.

All this has come about because you, Mr President, and your incompetent administration, have refused to look truth in the face. This is no way to wage a war, Mr President. This is no way to win this war, Mr President. This is no way to victory, Mr President! You are engaged in mendacity, prevarication, and sophistry. Historians will not be kind to you for enabling the enemy to take away our freedom and democracy. Shame on you!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

More evidence 'New Dark Age' is 'Dawning': Freedom of expression ebbing away in Germany
This also goes to prove my point, namely that Islam is the enemy of democracy and freedom!

“It is an act of pure cowardice. We are opening ourselves up to cultural blackmail.” - Peter Ramsauer, the head of the conservative Christian Social Union parliamentary faction

“This self-censorship shouldn’t be happening anywhere, but least of all in Germany. This is where the Nazis burnt books. If you cancel performances because you’re scared, then you’re burning your own books on behalf of the fanatics. You don’t get crazier than that.” - Tenenbom

German politicians and writers have damned ruling as blow to freedom of expression

THE bloodstained King of Crete stumbles onstage and holds aloft the decapitated heads of Poseidon, Jesus, Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad. “The gods are dead!” he calls out to the audience.

German operagoers will not be seeing that scene or, indeed, any scene from one of Mozart’s most powerful works. For fear of Muslim anger, the bosses of the world-renowned Deutsche Oper in Berlin have cancelled performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo. The decision has unleashed a storm of disapproval from politicians and writers, who claim that Germany has fatally compromised the freedom of expression.

Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Interior Minister who is due to open a conference today on Islam and German society, said that the decision to cancel the opera was insane, laughable and unacceptable. Other politicians said it was irresponsible. Opera boss censors Mozart over stage beheading of Muhammad by Roger Boyes

Mark Alexander

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom!
Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness!

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred!

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it ain't gonna happen!

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government!

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world!

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen the recent past, the manifestation of aggression in its cause in France. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidele, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed! It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness!

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. People, in their eyes, who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah, are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah! To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted, and is therefore in the Islamic state, known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam', and that part of the world which has yet to submit, and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state, known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'!

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly! In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts. For facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws! How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it! This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

You see, one of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept and ideal indeed; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: Islam is not just a religion, but a political system also. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish! The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah!

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West! To our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness! Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves!

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Benoît XVI et le dialogue avec le monde islamique

À des ambassadeurs musulmans, Benoît XVI a dit hier chercher «les voies de la réconciliation».

POUR CLORE la polémique suscitée par ses propos sur l'islam, Benoît XVI a proposé hier aux vingt-deux diplomates des pays à majorité musulmane accrédités au Vatican et à une quinzaine de représentants du monde islamique en Italie une feuille de route pour que les «leçons du passé» aident à «trouver les voies de la réconciliation». Le temps des regrets est passé, celui des explications aussi, et pour Benoît XVI le moment est venu d'adresser un discours diplomatique, et non théologique, à ce panel d'ambassadeurs. Son texte a été immédiatement traduit en arabe. Le Pape définit le dialogue avec l'islam par Hervé Yannou

Mark Alexander

Egypt jumps on the bandwagon

BBC: Plans announced recently by Egypt and Turkey that they hope to build nuclear power plants are raising a ripple of concern about the long-term prospect of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

"It is easy to exaggerate and it is true that these countries have a right to seek all sources of energy but it is indisputable that there is also a strategic element to this," said Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow in non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

"Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route," he said.

According to this theory, Egypt and Turkey are worried at the failure of the United Nations to stop Iran from enriching uranium. They consider they might be left behind if Iran, despite its denials, does one day develop as a nuclear armed power. Concern over Middle East nuclear plans by Paul Reynolds

Mark Alexander

"This dwarf pope was wrong", says Sheikh Abu Saqer

YNET NEWS: Sheikh Abu Saqer rejects pope's apologies, calls for holy war against 'this little racist'

A prominent Gaza Strip preacher told WorldNetDaily that Pope Benedict XVI's apologies for worldwide reaction to his remarks about Islam and his invitation today for Muslim leaders to meet with him next week are "mere diplomatic acts" and prove the pontiff does not really regret his words.

Sheikh Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called for holy war against the Pope.

He said Christian leaders such as Benedict XVI are "afraid" because they realize Islam is Allah's favorite religion and that they are going to hell unless they convert. The Gaza preacher declared the "green flag of Muhammad" would soon be raised over the Vatican. Gaza preacher: Flag of Allah to be raised above Vatican by Aaron Klein

Mark Alexander

Castel Gandolfo
Recently, we've been hearing a lot about Castel Gandolfo, the summer palace of the Pope; so I thought it was time to take a look at it. I must say, it looks splendid.

Photos courtesy of Google Images

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Il Papa ai 22 rappresentanti diplomatici del mondo islamico: «Dialogo musulmano-cristiano esigenza vitale. Serve reciprocità»

CASTEL GANDOLFO (Roma) «Assicuro stima e rispetto per il mondo musulmano. Il dialogo musulmano-cristiano è esigenza vitale» Con qualche minuto di ritardo rispetto alla prevista tabella di marcia, Benedetto XVI ha dato il via, con queste parole, all'incontro con gli ambasciatori musulmani e gli esponenti delle comunità islamiche italiane che fanno parte della Consulta. Nella sala degli Svizzeri, nel cuore del palazzo di Castel Gandolfo, sono presenti 22 rappresentanti diplomatici. L'unico paese tra quelli che hanno rapporti diplomatici con la Santa Sede che non è rappresentato è il Sudan. Un applauso ha accolto l'ingresso in sala del Pontefice. Rispetto a quanto precedentemente annunciato i rappresentanti diplomatici delle principali nazioni islamiche sono 22 e non 20. Sono infatti presenti anche Siria e Tunisia. «Stima e rispetto per mondo islamico»

Le Pape exprime son plus grand respect aux musulmans

Versöhnungsgeste des Papstes kommt offenbar an

El Papa insiste en la necesidad de un diálogo interreligioso ante los embajadores musulmanes

Mark Alexander

For God's sake, quit the apologies! It was only the truth!
For God's sake, isn't it about time the Pope quit issuing apologies for quoting that emperor, Palaeologos? Enough is enough! I thought this pope was once known as 'God's Rottweiler'. What's happened?

Islam is what it always was: a political ideology clothed in a deity, intent on taking over the world. The free, largely Christian world is never going to be able to stop this process of Islamization by being so defensive.

The Pope said what he said, and he had every right to say it. Western leaders, as Barroso said over the weekend, should have jumped to the Pope's defence instead of leaving him high and dry. Further, as Aznar asked so shrewdly over the weekend, when did Islam apologize for conquering Spain?

It really is time for the West to grow a backbone. We are living in tough times. The times ahead will be even tougher. Brace yourselves for a rough ride!

©Mark Alexander

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has met envoys from Muslim nations in an attempt to defuse a crisis in relations between the Catholic Church and Islam.

The pontiff expressed "total and profound respect" for the Muslim faith and said inter-faith dialogue was vital for the future.

The meeting aimed at reconciliation after recent remarks made by the Pope caused outrage in the Islamic world.
Muslim leaders have been demanding an unequivocal apology from the Pope. Pope meets Islamic world envoys

WATCH: "Pope meets Muslim diplomats"

Mark Alexander

First Muslim in Congress?

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: MINNEAPOLIS – When Keith Ellison arrives at the Karmel Square, one of Minneapolis's Somali malls, a rock star might as well be walking by the bustling stalls of bright fabrics, jewelry, phone cards, and videos.

People laugh and cheer as they hug Mr. Ellison and pat him on the back. Some speak quickly in Somali as an interpreter translates, and others offer congratulations in fluent English.

"Asalamu aleikum, brothers," Ellison says with a smile. "Thanks for voting."

He is not Somali, or even an immigrant, but for these voters, Ellison is one of their own. After his victory in this month's Democratic primary in the Fifth District, he's likely to become the first Muslim elected to Congress. He would also be the first black congressman to come from Minnesota. Contender may become first Muslim in US Congress

Mark Alexander

Egypt shows its commitment to freedom of expression

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has banned editions of two French and German newspapers, Le Figaro and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, because of articles deemed insulting to Islam, the state news agency MENA said on Sunday.

Under a decree issued by Information Minister Anas el-Feki, the two editions will not be able to enter the country, it said.

"They published articles which disparaged Islam and claimed that the Islamic religion was spread by the sword and that the Prophet ... was the prophet of evil," it added. Egypt bans European papers for comments on Islam

Mark Alexander

Bibi Netanyahu says Iran president more dangerous than Hitler

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Likud chairman tells international counter terrorism conference ‘Hitler went out on global campaign first, and then tried to get nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to get nuclear arms first - therefore it is much more dangerous’

Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be more dangerous than Adolf Hitler.

Speaking at the sixth International Counter Terrorism Conference, organized by the Interdisciplinary Center's (IDC) Institute for Counter Terrorism, Netanyahu told the audience: "Al-Qaeda can't develop nuclear weapons, while the militant Shiite movement is galloping forward towards developing nuclear terror."

He added: "Hitler went out on a world campaign first, and then tried to get nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to get nuclear arms first. Therefore from that perspective, it is much more dangerous."

Netanyahu said he was not downplaying the Holocaust. "Hitler was defeated because he could not develop weapons of mass destruction. But Iran stands close to developing nuclear weapons. Does the world understand? In Europe, where I returned from, there are glimpses of understanding," he said. Bibi: Iran president more dangerous than Hitler by Yaakov Lappin

Mark Alexander

Bravo! At last a politician with courage! Aznar rises to the challenge of Islam

Photo courtesy of Google Images

MOROCCO TIMES: Spain Former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has criticized Muslim demands for pope's apology for his remarks about Islam, suggesting that the Islamic world did not apologize for the 800-year Moorish occupation of Spain.

Aznar has said that when he has heard Pope Benedict XVI being asked to apologise for a speech about the Islamic faith he made in Germany last weekend, he has not heard "any Muslims apologising to me for conquering Spain and staying for eight centuries."

Speaking Friday at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington D.C, Aznar found the UN programme to encourage dialogue between Muslim and Western countries “stupid”, because according to him some Muslim countries like Iran are too radical to deal with. Pope's comments on Islam: Aznar criticizes Muslims' demand for Pope's apology

Aznar defends Pope's remarks on Islam

Mark Alexander

So Barroso: Der Papst hat das Recht zu sagen, was er will

WELT AM SONNTAG: EU-Kommissionspräsident José Manuel Durão Barroso beklagt gegenüber WELT.de den mangelnden Mut der europäischen Politiker, für Meinungsfreiheit einzutreten und Benedikt XVI. gegen die Angriffe von Extremisten zu verteidigen.

Mit Deutschland verbindet José Manuel Durão Barroso eine ungewöhnliche Leidenschaft: die deutsche Juristensprache. Sie sei logisch und präzise, schwärmt der Chef der Europäischen Kommission bei seinem Gespräch mit der "Welt am Sonntag". Und sie ist der Grund dafür, dass der 50-jährige Portugiese sehr gut deutsch spricht: Er hat es für sein Jurastudium gelernt.

WELT.de: Eine der größten Herausforderung Europas ist der islamische Fundamentalismus. War die Reaktion auf den Streit um die Papst-Äußerungen angemessen?

José Manuel Barroso: Den Papst anzugreifen, weil er sich in seiner Rede auf ein historisches Dokument bezog, ist völlig inakzeptabel. Ich war enttäuscht, dass es nicht mehr europäische Führer gab, die sagten: Natürlich hat der Papst das Recht, seine Ansichten zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Das Problem sind nicht seine Äußerungen, sondern die Reaktionen der Extremisten.

WELT.de: Warum waren da viele europäische Politiker so zurückhaltend?

José Manuel Barroso: Vielleicht, weil es Besorgnis über eine mögliche Konfrontation gibt. Und manchmal eine Art politische Korrektheit: Dass man nur dann tolerant ist, wenn man die Meinung der anderen über die eigene stellt. Ich setze mich sehr für Toleranz ein, aber wir müssen für unsere Werte einstehen. "Der Papst darf sagen, was er will"

Mark Alexander

Swiss get tough on immigration

BBC: Swiss voters have backed plans to make it harder for asylum-seekers to get into the country, projections indicate.

The government says the new legislation will reduce abuse of the asylum system, but the UN says it could lead to breaches of refugees' rights.

The laws would require asylum-seekers to have valid identity papers.

They would also cut welfare payments to those whose applications are rejected, and introduce up to two years detention for those awaiting deportation. Swiss 'back tighter asylum laws'

Mark Alexander

Cat digs his claws in the Pope

KHALEEJ TIMES: LONDON, England - Yusuf Islam, the British singer known as Cat Stevens before his conversion to Islam, on Sunday added to the criticism of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks about the religion.

Islam, known for his 1970s hits including “Father And Son” and ”Wild World”, said that the pope quoting from a medieval text, which attacks some of the Prophet Mohammed’s teachings as “evil and inhuman” showed the pontiff was not infallible.

Roman Catholic theology says that the pope cannot err in teachings on faith or morals.

In an interview with BBC television, Islam said that he went to a Catholic school, “so at one point I used to believe that the Pope was infallible”.

But he added that the pope’s comments on Islam showed he was fallible Cat Stevens criticizes pope over Islam comments

Mark Alexander

Dowling no darling of the people of Nottingham

A new cemetery is to have all its graves aligned with Mecca - making it the first council graveyard in the country to bury the dead in Islamic tradition, regardless of their religion.

Headstones in the new £2.5million High Wood Cemetery in Nottingham will face north-east - as Muslims believe the dead look over their shoulder towards Mecca. This is the way in which all followers of Islam in the UK are buried.

But the move has upset the Church and led to complaints that the policy discriminates against the city's majority Christian population. The traditional direction of burial for Christians is facing east. The council cemetery where Christians are given Muslim graves by JO KNOWSLEY

Mark Alexander

The Coronation of 'Charles the Multiculturalist'
Isn't this something the people should say a firm 'NO' to? Shouldn't the voice of the people be heard in a true democracy? Must the people be ignored in this arrogant way? Or is our 'democracy' a sham? Don't these people realize that this would send the very WRONG message at this delicate time, when Islam is flexing its muscles here in the UK and throughout the world? Are the 'powers that be' clueless?

Photo courtesy of The Sunday Telegraph

"We should not pander to political correctness," she said. "There is no way that other faiths should be involved in the service. This is a Christian country and so the coronation service must remain exclusively Christian and we should not apologise for that." - Alison Ruoff, a member of the General Synod, the church's parliament

The coronation of the Prince of Wales will be a "multi-faith" event.

Prayers and readings from other denominations and religions, including from the Muslim, Sikh and Jewish faiths, are expected to be included in the ceremonies marking Prince Charles's accession to the throne.

Canon John Hall, the Dean-elect of Westminster Abbey, said that the traditional Church of England coronation service must be revised to reflect society's changes since the Queen's coronation in 1953. As dean, he will be on the committee responsible for drawing up the service.

"The coronation service needs to find the right way of including people of other faiths," Canon Hall told The Sunday Telegraph. "It must be different in some ways because of the nature of society and how things have changed." Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Jewis: multi-faith coronation for Charles by Jonathan Wynne-Jones

Mark Alexander

The Pope's Lecture at Regensburg University

THE VATICAN:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologos (1350-1425)

LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER: Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections

"Zeig mir doch, was Mohammed Neues gebracht hat und da wirst du nur Schlechtes und Inhumanes finden wie dies, dass er vorgeschrieben hat, den Glauben, den er predigte, durch das Schwert zu verbreiten." - byzantinische Kaiser Manuel II. Palaeologos (1350-1425)

ANSPRACHE VON BENEDIKT XVI: Glaube, Vernunft und Universität. Erinnerungen und Reflexionen

"Montre-moi donc ce que Mahomet a apporté de nouveau. Tu ne trouveras que des choses mauvaises et inhumaines, comme le droit de défendre par l'épée la foi qu'il prêchait." - l'empereur byzantin Manuel II Paléologue (1350-1425)

DISCOURS DU SAINT-PÈRE: Foi, Raison et Université: souvenirs et réflexions

"Mostrami pure ciò che Maometto ha portato di nuovo, e vi troverai soltanto delle cose cattive e disumane, come la sua direttiva di diffondere per mezzo della spada la fede che egli predicava." - imperatore bizantino Manuele II Paleologo (1350-1425)

DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE: Fede, ragione e università. Ricordi e riflessioni.

"Muéstrame también lo que Mahoma ha traído de nuevo, y encontrarás solamente cosas malas e inhumanas, como su directriz de difundir por medio de la espada la fe que predicaba." - emperador bizantino Manuel II Paleólogo (1350-1425)

DISCURSO DEL SANTO PADRE: Fe, razón y universidad. Recuerdos y reflexiones

Mark Alexander

Ist Bin Laden tot?
There are unconfirmed reports emanating from the French secret service that bin Laden died last month in Pakistan from typhoid. The Saudi secret service is said to be convinced of the truth of the reports.

NZZ: Bericht des französischen Geheimdienstes nicht bestätigt

Al-Kaida-Chef Usama bin Laden soll im vergangenen Monat in Pakistan an Typhus gestorben sein. Die französische Regionalzeitung «L'Est Republicain» druckte am Samstag einen vertraulichen Bericht des französischen Geheimdienstes ab. Danach soll Saudiarabien vom Tod bin Ladins überzeugt sein. Frankreich bestätigte den Bericht nicht. Bin Laden an Typhus gestorben?

Chirac weist Bericht über Tod bin Ladens zurück

Les services secrets saoudiens auraient acquis la conviction que le fondateur d'Al-Qaïda est mort.

Si elle était prochainement confirmée, l'information tomberait à pic pour le président américain Georges Bush fortement malmené par les sondages à moins de deux mois des élections.

L'information que nous révélons aujourd'hui résulte d'une note de renseignement classifiée « confidentiel défense » émanant de la Direction générale des services extérieurs (DGSE). Les services secrets français l'ont transmise jeudi 21 septembre au Président de la république, au Premier ministre, au ministre de l'Intérieur et de la Défense. Nous vous en livrons le contenu in-extenso.

« Selon une source habituellement fiable, les services saoudiens auraient désormais acquis la conviction qu'Oussama Ben Laden est mort. Les éléments recueillis par les saoudiens indiquent que le chef d'Al-Qaïda aurait été victime, alors qu'il se trouvait au Pakistan le 23 août 2006, d'une très forte crise de typhoïde ayant entraîné une paralysie partielle de ses membres inférieurs. Son isolement géographique, provoqué par une fuite permanente, aurait rendu impossible toute assistance médicale. Le 4 septembre 2006, les services saoudiens de sécurité ont recueilli les premiers renseignements faisant état de son décès. Ils attendraient, d'obtenir davantage de détails, et notamment le lieu exact de son inhumation, pour annoncer officiellement la nouvelle ». Oussama Ben Laden serait mort

Mark Alexander

The low-down on Muslim moderates

ISRAEL INSIDER: President Bush spoke yesterday at the united Nations. And in his speech, he lauded Iran for its contributions to society.

He also spoke of America's fondness for the Iranian people, making certain to separate the people from the government.

He said a lot of nice and conciliatory things about Iran, which I won't bother writing, because they are essentially not true.

Iran is a TERRORIST state which TERRORIZES its neighbors and the entire world.

Iran is a total Theocracy which treats women with no more or less respect than we in the West treat our pets. The truth about Moslem moderates by Howard Galganov

Mark Alexander

Words of Wisdom

MELANIE PHILLIPS: "If we are ever to defeat the global jihad against free societies, it is vital to tell that truth — that it is the West that is under attack. It is in that context that the Pope’s remarks must be seen — defending Christianity and western civilisation from an onslaught that has not just snuffed out many innocent lives, but seeks to snuff out freedom and truth itself."- Melanie Phillips The jihad against the Pope

Mark Alexander

Islamic "scholars" make unreasonable demands after Pope's lecture on reason and faith

IRNA: About 1,000 religious scholars at a convention organised by the Jamaat ud-Dawa at its headquarters here on Thursday demanded the removal of Pope Benedict XVI for making insulting remarks against Islam, and warned the West of severe onsequences if it didn't change its stance regarding Islam.

According to" The News",The pope should be removed from his position immediately for encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths and making insulting remarks against Islam, said a joint statement issued by the scholars at the end of their one-day convention.

The Pope should know that no Muslim, under any circumstances, can tolerate an insult to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).... If the West does not change its stance regarding Islam, it will face severe consequences,it said. 1,000 religious scholars demand Pope's removal

Mark Alexander

"If you wish to stay, then behave yourselves"

THE TELEGRAPH: One of the marks of our humaneness as a people is that we long ago stopped using the mentally ill as objects of entertainment and derision. We should, however, be thankful that this rule was breached by the BBC on yesterday's Today programme on Radio 4.

In a superb interview, John Humphrys questioned the so-called Islamic radical Abu Izzadeen (né Trevor Brooks, but chacun à son gout, as we say in Essex) about why he had angrily shouted down the Home Secretary, John Reid, during a speech Mr Reid made in east London on Wednesday. Among other insanities and absurdities, Trev said the following things: that Tony Blair is a tyrant, that he and George Bush are on a crusade against the whole of Islam, and that he wants sharia law imposed on this country. Trev would be risible were he not so nasty by Simon Heffer

Mark Alexander

Time for the West to Stop the Apologies

WASHINGTON POST: Already, angry Palestinian militants have assaulted seven West Bank and Gaza churches, destroying two of them. In Somalia, gunmen shot dead an elderly Italian nun. Radical clerics from Qatar to Qom have called, variously, for a "day of anger" or for worshipers to "hunt down" the pope and his followers. From Turkey to Malaysia, Muslim politicians have condemned the pope and called his apology "insufficient." And all of this because Benedict XVI, speaking at the University of Regensburg, quoted a Byzantine emperor who, more than 600 years ago, called Islam a faith "spread by the sword." We've been here before, of course. Similar protests were sparked last winter by cartoon portrayals of Muhammad in the Danish press. Similar apologies resulted, though Benedict's is more surprising than those of the Danish government. No one, apparently, can remember any pope, not even the media-friendly John Paul II, apologizing for anything in such specific terms: not for the Inquisition, not for the persecution of Galileo and certainly not for a single comment made to an academic audience in an unimportant German city. Enough Apologies by Anne Applebaum

Mark Alexander

Do Muslims have nothing better to do than demonstrate?
There are reports from around the world that Muslims have been protesting again in a "day of rage" about the words of the Pope. One cannot help but wonder whether these rabid people have nothing better to do with their time than create trouble and mayhem. Little wonder that they have accomplished little in the past five hundred years!

©Mark Alexander

Spain's cries for help fall on deaf ears

BBC: EU ministers have expressed sharp differences over how to deal with an influx of illegal immigrants to Europe.

At talks in Finland, Spain's justice minister called for help to deal with the surge of mainly African migrants arriving in Spain's Canary Islands.

But Germany's interior minister said Madrid should not be calling for other people's money. EU nations clash over immigration

Mark Alexander

Pope wants to meet Muslims

POPE EXPLAINS

Mark Alexander

Rally held by Hassan Nasrullah

WATCH THE RALLY IN THE LEBANON HERE

Mark Alexander

Torture 'on the rise' in Turkey

BBC: An EU delegation on a fact-finding mission to Turkey has reported a "worrying" increase in allegations of torture and abuse in the country.

The European Parliament's human rights committee members focused mainly on the Kurdish south-east of the country.

They said they had heard reports of a resurgence of torture, abductions and beatings by security forces. Turkey abuse claims 'on the rise'

Mark Alexander

When will we recognize what we are fighting against?

HAL LINDSEY ORACLE: With all the fuss being made about the Pope's comments about Islam, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at Islam's fruits, rather than just its protests to the contrary.

The Pope recently quoted a 14th century emperor who criticized Islam for its practice of forced conversions. Islamic apologists deny Islam teaches anything of the kind.

It is on this basis that they have launched the current wave of violent protests against any suggestion that Islam is a violent religion. The Religion of Peace by Hal Lindsey

Mark Alexander

Pope left high and dry

HUMAN EVENTS: Joseph Stalin is alleged to have asked contemptuously just how many divisions the pope had at his disposal. The answer came after the Soviet dictator’s death when the Berlin Wall came crashing down and Eastern Europe came out from behind the Iron Curtain thanks to Pope John Paul II, my father Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher -- the phalanx that drove a spike through the heart of Soviet tyranny.

Pope John Paul II had no military divisions, but he had a huge army of people yearning for freedom who responded to his message that united they could prevail over a master who commanded vast military forces. Those forces eventually proved helpless in the face of the people’s determination and will.

Today the question might be, “How many supporters does the pope have among the world’s leaders?” Shamefully, the answer is none. Assailed all across the globe by millions of Muslims for quoting a few passages from a debate featuring the 14th Century Byzantine emperor Manuel Paleologos II -- next-to-last emperor of what had been the Eastern Roman empire -- Pope Benedict XVI has been left standing alone among the leaders of the Western world despite his warning that they face a foe determined to subjugate them and their citizens. How Many Divisions Has the Pope? by Michael Reagan

Mark Alexander

Dhimmitude or diplomacy? Pope calls Muslim ambassadors to his summer residence

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has invited envoys of Muslim nations for talks on Monday to try to smooth relations following a speech that offended the Islamic world.

The talks at his summer residence near Rome will be aimed at explaining that the pontiff's recent speech in Germany was misunderstood, the Vatican said.

The Pope has said three times that he regrets the offence caused, expressing "deep respect" for Islam. Pope to meet Muslim ambassadors

Papst wirbt um Versöhnung

Le Pape réunit les ambassadeurs musulmans au Vatican

Il Papa lunedì incontrerà i leader musulmani

Mark Alexander

"Life as an Iranian Jew"

WATCH THE BBC VIDEO HERE

Mark Alexander

Back to the Stone Age!

THE INDEPENDENT: The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, reveals in an interview to be aired at the weekend that, soon after the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, the United States threatened to bomb his country "back into the Stone Age" if he didn't offer its co-operation in fighting terrorism and the Taliban. Musharraf: US threatened to bomb Pakistan

Mark Alexander

Another sane voice from the Roman Catholic Church
I have argued consistently and all along that Turkey should not, under any circumstances, be allowed to join the EU. I feel that my viewpoint is vindicated by the calibre of people who share my viewpoint: the Pope, and now Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

President Bush and Tony Blair are simply WRONG to back Turkey's accession to the EU. If this goes ahead, it will end in disaster and tears for Europe. We need to pull ourselves back from the brink. KEEP TURKEY OUT OF EUROPE!

THE TIMES: THE Archbishop of Westminster entered the row over the Pope’s comments on Islam yesterday when he questioned whether Turkey should be admitted to the European Union.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O’Connor, spiritual leader of the four million Catholics in England and Wales, echoed concerns shared by the Pope when he argued that the predominantly Muslim state was not culturally part of Europe. Catholic leader voices doubt on Turkey in EU

Mark Alexander

Was will Ahmadinejad?

Foto dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung

Wenig konkrete Aussagen von Irans Präsident Ahmedinejad in New York

Der iranisch Präsident Ahmedinejad hat erneut auf das Recht seines Landes auf Atomtechnologie gepocht. Er forderte den Westen auf, seine Haltung in dieser Frage zu ändern. Nur so könnten die Nukleargespräche zwischen beiden Seiten in einer besseren Atmosphäre geführt werden, sagte er am Donnerstag an einer Medienkonferenz im Rahmen der Uno-Generalversammlung. Härte und Gesprachsbereitschaft

Mark Alexander

Another Muslim country shows its commitment to freedom of expression and free speech

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: TUNIS - Tunisia has confiscated Tuesday's edition of French newspaper Le Figaro because its content insulted Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, an official source said on Wednesday. Tunisia seizes French newspaper over Islam remark

Mark Alexander

Remarkable Parallels with the Fall of Rome

September 11, 2001, is frequently compared to December 7, 1941, as a day that will "live in infamy." But a more appropriate analogy might be August 24, 410, when the city of Rome was besieged and pillaged by an army of 40,000 "barbarians" led by the Osama bin Laden of late antiquity, a wily warrior named Alaric. One can still see the effects of this cataclysmic event when walking through the ruins of the Roman Forum today. The Basilica Aemilia was the Wall Street of ancient Rome, a beautiful structure in the Forum with a marble portico. One can still see the green stains of copper coins melted into the stone from the conflagrations set by Alaric and his marauders.

Before then, Roman coins bore the legend Invicta Roma Aeterna: eternal, unconquerable Rome. It had been more than 800 years since the Eternal City had fallen to an enemy's attack. In many ways, Rome was like America prior to 9/11, the world's only superpower. But in 410, Rome's military power could not prevent its walls being breached, its women raped, and its sacred precincts burned and sacked.

When Jerome heard about the fall of Rome in faraway Bethlehem, he put aside his Commentary on Ezekiel and sat stupefied in total silence for three days. "Rome was besieged," Jerome wrote to a friend. "The city to which the whole world fell has fallen. If Rome can perish, what can be safe?" The British monk Pelagius, who was in Rome when the attack occurred, gave this report: "Every household had its grief, and an all-pervading terror gripped us."

Responding to those who said Rome fell as the gods' punishment against the ascendant Christians, Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in North Africa, began writing The City of God, an opus magnum et arduum, as he called it—a "great and laborious work." Augustine completed the book shortly before his death in 430. Its influence extended to the Reformation and beyond. For 1,500 years, it has been the bedrock of a Christian philosophy of history. Theology for an Age of Terror

Mark Alexander

Queen Rania of Jordan Talking Baloney
Photo courtesy of ABC News
Queen Rania of Jordan believes that recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI underscore the prejudice many people feel worldwide against the poor, downtrodden Muslims. She says that the West misunderstands Islam.

No, Your Royal Highness, Westerners don't misunderstand Islam at all. I think they are beginning - though it has taken some time, I have to admit - to get to grips with the totalitarian nature of the world's most belligerent, most narrow-minded, most irrational, most dangerous religion.

You say that your religion should not be judged by some of its misguided and extreme followers. Then what other yardstick can Westerners use, Your Royal Highness? How would you feel if your children were threatened by the sword, if your children were the target of Muslim violence, if your family members were disallowed from converting out of the faith?

Yes, there will always be extreme elements in any religion. But isn't it funny that Islam fosters more than its fair share of extremists? Don't you think there is a simple reason for this? You say that Americans say that they will never understand Islam, and add that Muslims say that they will never understand the West. So be it! Let the two worlds, for the sake of peace, live their lives separately! Why do the two worlds have to be thrown together like this? Most sane Westerners don't want Muslims in their midst because of all the problems they cause them; most Muslims, seemingly, also don't want Westerners in their midst because they cannot understand them, and feel that Westerners are polluting their Islamic purity. Okay, as I stated in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age, let an "Iron Veil" drop between the two worlds. That's the best way forward, that's the best way to ensure a peaceful world.

These two worlds are definitely not compatible. Westerners don't want your way of life here in the West; and you don't want the way of life of Westerners in the Islamic world. Let the two worlds, then, live separate lives. After all, this is what happens when a husband and wife cannot get along. They divorce. Though, it has to be said, that divorce can be amicable: There can be some co-operation.

Westerners do not like to see veiled women walking around the streets, nor do they do like to see bearded men in long robes walking around the streets, either. They do not like the ways of Muslims. If allowed to stay here, they would want them to assimilate, and live like them. But they will not. It's an article of your intemperate faith that they shouldn't, isn't it?

It is plain to see that Islam harbours desires to take over and Islamize the world. Westerners don't want your religion. They prefer the system they have, and the lifestyle and liberty and democracy it offers. Muslims believe that their religion is superior to Christianity; Westerners believe that their religion is superior to yours. There you have it! Right from the heart of Christendom! - ©Mark

ABC NEWS: Sept. 21, 2006 — Jordan's Queen Rania Al-Abdullah believes that Muslims have been victims of stereotypes and that Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments about Islam underscore the prejudice many feel worldwide.

In a Sept. 12 address at the University of Regensburg in Germany, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pope said Wednesday he did not mean to malign Islam when he quoted the emperor, but did not issue a direct apology.

Some Muslim leaders who were offended by his remarks still want a apology from Benedict.

Rania, the world's youngest queen, said she believed that the pope's comments and the reaction they sparked reflected an ongoing misunderstanding of Islam and Muslims. Jordan's Queen: Pope Controversy Reflects Prejudice Against Islam: Rania Says Controversy Indicative of Worldwide Misunderstanding of Islam

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Praying like the hypocrites
Do the following verses from the New Testament call to mind any particular group of people?

5. Et cum oratis, non eritis sicut hypocritae, qui amant in synagogis et in angulis plataerum stantes orare, ut videantur ab hominibus. Amen dico vobis: Receperunt mercedem suam. 6. Tu autem cum orabis, intra in cubiculum tuum et, clauso ostio tuo, ora Patrem tuum. qui est in abscondito; et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi. 7. Orantes autem nolite multum loqui sicut ethnici: putant enim quia in multiloquio suo exaudiantur. 8. Nolite ergo assimilari eis; scit enim Pater vester, quibus opus sit vobis, antequam petatis eum.

Novum Testamentum Latine, Secundum Matthaeum, 6, 5 – 8

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before he ask him.

New Testament, St. Matthew 6, 5 – 8

5. Lorsque vous priez, ne soyez pas comme les hypocrites, qui aiment à prier debout dans les synagogues et aux coins des rues pour être vus des homes. Je vous le dis ex verité, ils ont leur recompense. 6. Mais quand tu pries. Entre dans ta chamber, ferme ta porte, et prie ton Père qui est là dans le secret; et ton Père, qui voit dans le secret, te le rendra. 7. En priant, ne multiplies pas de vaines paroles, comme les païens, qui s’imaginent qu’à force de paroles ils seront exaucés, 8. Ne leur ressemblez pas; car votre Père sait de quoi vous avez besoin, avant que vous le demandiez.

Le Nouveau Testament, Evangile selon Matthieu, 6, 5 – 8

5. Und wenn ihr betet, sollt ihr nicht sein wie die Heuchler; denn sie beten gern in den Synagogen und wenn sie an den Ecken der Strassen stehen, um sich vor den Leuten sehen zu lassen. Wahrlich, ich sage euch: Sie haben ihren Lohn dahin. 6. Du aber geh, wenn du betest, in dein Kämmerlein und schliess deine Tür zu und bete im Verborgenen zu deinem Vater; und dein Vater, der ins Verborgene sieht, wird es dir vergelten. 7. Wenn ihr aber betet, sollt ihr kein unnützes Geschwätz machen wie die Heiden; denn sie meinen, dass sie um ihrer vielen Worte willen Erhöhung finden werden. 8. Seid ihnen nun nicht gleich; denn euer Vater weiss, was ihr bedürft, ehe ihr ihn bittet.

Das Neue Testament, Matthäus, 6, 5 – 8

5. Y cuando oras, no seas como los hipócritas; porque ellos aman el orar en las sinagogas, y en los cantons de las calles en pie, para ser vistos de los hombres: de cierto os digo, que ya tienen su pago. 6. Mas tú, cuando oras, éntrate en tu camera, y cerrada tu puerta, ora á tu Padre que está en secreto; y tu Padre que ve en secreto, te recompensará en público. 7. Y orando, no seáis prolijos, como los Gentiles; que piensan que por su parlería serán oídos. 8. No os hagáis, pues semejantes á ellos; porque vuestro Paadre sabe de qué cosas tenéis necesidad, antes que vosotros le pidáis.

El Nuevo Testamento, S. Mateo, 6, 5 – 8

5. E quando pregate, non siate come gl’ipocriti; poichè essi amano di fare orazione stando in piè nelle sinagoghe e ai canti delle piazze per esser veduti dagli uomini. Io vi dico in verità che cotesto è il premio che ne hanno. 6. Ma tu, quando preghi, entra nella tua cameretta, e serratone l’uscio fa’ orazione al Padre tuo che è nel segreto; e il Padre tuo che vede nel segreto, te ne darà la ricompensa. 7. E nel pregare non usata soverchie dicerie come fanno i pagani, i quali pensano di essere esauditi per la moltitudine delle loro parole. 8. Non li rassomigliate dunque, poichè il Padre vostro sa le cose di cui avete bisogno, prima che gliele chiedate.

Il Nuovo Testamento, Matteo 6, 5 – 8

Mark Alexander

Muslim-Catholic Debate on Pope Benedict's Comments

Video brought to you courtesy of YOU TUBE

Mark Alexander

Fuzzy thinking will not win this war being waged against us!
Islam is the source of all our troubles with 'terrorists', yet political leaders all over the Western world refuse to accept this simple fact.

John Reid has said he "dismissed the idea of 'a clash of civilisations' between the West and Islam, a debate that has been renewed since Pope Benedict's comments last week." How absurd, Mr Reid! If you don't like the term 'clash of civilizations', then how about 'clash of cultures', or 'the clash of civilization with pre-civilization'?

Oh, and from Reid's comments, I think we can now safely assume that the Home Secretary couldn't have been very happy about the Pope's remarks on Islam at Regensburg University, either.

It's a sad fact that we shall never be able to win this war being waged against us unless and until we start to accept a harsh truth: The truth that we have in our midst a religion which does not, and will not, conform to Western values; and, furthermore, is hell-bent on destroying them.

THE TELEGRAPH: John Reid, the Home Secretary, came face to face with the intolerance of militant Islam yesterday as he urged Muslim parents to stand up to the extremists and keep their children from being "groomed" to be suicide bombers.

During a speech in east London he was shouted down by Abu Izzadeen, a well-known fundamentalist who has been linked to a now banned organisation and who praised the ''martyrdom" of suicide bombers after the July 7 attacks in London last year.

The speech had been trailed by the Home Office and protesters were waiting at a youth centre in Leytonstone waving placards with the slogans ''John Reid go to Hell" and ''John Reid you will pay". Reid meets the furious face of Islam

Mark Alexander

A British Muslim being reasonable

WATCH HERE

Mark Alexander

Former Archbishop takes tough stand on Islam

THE TIMES: THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton has issued his own challenge to “violent” Islam in a lecture in which he defends the Pope’s “extraordinarily effective and lucid” speech.

Lord Carey said that Muslims must address “with great urgency” their religion’s association with violence. He made it clear that he believed the “clash of civilisations” endangering the world was not between Islamist extremists and the West, but with Islam as a whole.

“We are living in dangerous and potentially cataclysmic times,” he said. “There will be no significant material and economic progress [in Muslim communities] until the Muslim mind is allowed to challenge the status quo of Muslim conventions and even their most cherished shibboleths.” Carey backs Pope and issues warning on 'violent' Islam by Ruth Gledhill and Richard Owen

Mark Alexander

Pope Benedict XVI: Saviour of Western Civilization?
How blessed the West is to have such a wonderful pope! At the very time the West is in crisis, at a time when many Westerners have lost their faith, at a time when consumerism seems to have surpassed all, at a time when Mammon is many people’s god, at a time when morals are in freefall, here comes the pope we need!

Pope John Paul II was certainly the pope for the time of the fall of communism. After all, he had been raised in communist Poland, so he knew the system inside out. Now, however, communism is not the main threat. Islam is. Pope Benedict XVI is extremely well-versed on Islam. On this subject, he is a man of profound knowledge. He is very well-placed to lead us!

The West needs this pope so badly. In his recent address at Regensburg University, he has shown that he is a man of great courage and strength. Pope Benedict XVI is forthright and steadfast. He doesn’t back down.

Many might have thought that in stating that he regretted the pain caused to Muslims around the world that his resolve had weakened. But make no mistake about it, he didn’t retract his statement. He didn’t back down. He maintained his dignity; and I am sure he will throughout the crisis.

What he stated is absolutely true. Wherever one finds Islam, one finds either violence, or a readiness to take up arms. This is an indisputable fact. Who can argue with it? Who can argue with the fact that Islam fosters extremists? How many examples of acts of extremism do we need before people will be convinced? Surely, thinking about Allah and his prophet night and day is rather inclined to make one fanatical. Surely thinking about all their acts and deeds in terms of acts and deeds for their god is also bound to make Muslims inclined to the fanatical. It is good that in Christianity we are able to separate the mundane from the divine. That’s healthy.

Although the Pope stated the truth, his words hurt Muslims. Is this surprising? Muslims are very easily hurt. They have fragile egos. They don’t take criticism; and they can’t stand hearing the truth about their own religion. They are certainly not given to introspection; and if they are, they are certainly not given to finding and identifying their own faults. The world would be a much better place if they accepted a little criticism now and then. They need to ask themselves what they are doing wrong. They need to ask themselves why they are so disliked around the world, they need to ask themselves why people fear them.

The connection between violence and Islam is something this pope recognizes. He also stated something which should really have been obvious to all; namely, that God abhors violence. How could a sane person be moved to worship Him if He didn’t?

This Pope is disturbed by this link. He is also disturbed that Europe is moving away from its Christian past. He criticizes what he sees is wrong in the West, as well he should. He wishes to turn Westerners back to their Christian heritage. He wants them to become less materialistic, and turn to the spiritual, for he recognizes that there is a spiritual vacuum here in the West, especially in Europe. He wants to pull Europe back from the brink.

There has been vacuous talk emanating from the Middle East that the Pope is starting a crusade. In the sense that they mean, this is nonsense. Utter nonsense!

If he is starting a crusade at all, the crusade is directed at Europe itself. He wants to re-Christianize Europe, for he sees that this is what needs to be done. Middle Easterners need not fear that he is going to call on armies of crusaders to march on the Middle East in the manner of the former Crusades.

There is something else which he holds dear: reciprocity. I wrote of this in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age. Further, Pope Benedict wants there to be no compulsion in religion, as indeed the prophet of Islam spoke of in his early, some say middle, period. The Pope wants reciprocity and mutual respect. After all, true respect can only be mutual. Respect that is not mutual is not respect at all; rather is it fear.

Pope Benedict XVI dearly wants Christians in Muslim countries to be able to worship free of harassment, and in safety. He sees that in the West we allow mosques to be built, whereas few Muslim countries allow churches to be built. He sees how unfair this is. He also wants the Middle East to open up so that missionaries are free to convert people to Christianity, as Muslims are free to convert people to Islam in the West.

This wonderful pope understands the issues. He perceives this imbalance, and he is courageous enough to talk about it. He is trying to correct an imbalance our weak and ineffectual politicians should have been trying to correct long ago, but because of oil and armaments deals were too timid to do.

The Pope displays true leadership qualities: strength, courage, strength of purpose, determination, resolve, understanding, intelligence, and he has a great sense of morality. What more could we ask of a leader, especially at this time?

Many will say he cannot lead me because I am not a Roman Catholic. Nonsense! He can lead all Christians, because he can inspire them. The wise amongst us will take his lead seriously, for even if one is an agnostic or atheist, he is still a blessing. Don’t forget that it’s the tolerance which has been fostered in the West that has allowed people to choose their faith, or none. This tolerance stems from the love inherent in Christianity. If Islam grows too strong in the West, there will be a sea-change in levels of tolerance. People will then not be allowed to choose their faith: The state will decide the matter for them! The choice will be Islam, the jizyah, or tax on the infidel, or death. It will be as simple as that.

I find Pope Benedict XVI a great draw. His intelligence and erudition, for a start, are a great attraction. But more than that, he is a man of great stature. Great stature indeed! But even more than that, he has great charisma. Moreover, he is a handsome man, an elegant man, a warm man (just look at those caring eyes and that warm expression), and something rare to find these days in any man, he is an æsthete. What more could we wish for in a pope?

This pope is head and shoulders above all our other leaders. The Bushes, the Blairs, and the Chiracs of this world simply do not compare. They don’t come up to Pope Benedict’s ankles!

Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I feel it is now time for us to unite behind this marvelous pope. We need to rise to the challenge he has set us. For if there is one man that really can save Western civilization at a time when Christianity and Judaism are under attack, this pope can. May God bless the Pope!

©Mark Alexander

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Stinging Bees
Ubi mel, ibi apes - Plautus
Western editors and journalists need rub their eyes in disbelief no longer. Mullahs, imams, ‘Islamists’, and those always too ready to demonstrate need waste no more energy protesting the ‘painful’ words of the ‘insensitive’ Pope. The lecture is there for all to read, in English, and in the original German. It is benign stuff indeed! Moreover, it is very erudite, and way beyond the ability of the average man in the street to comprehend.

This Pope is perhaps the most learned of popes. In so many ways he is an exalted pope, one who needs no lessons from anyone in how to conduct papal affairs, much less from the media, who love to sensationalize everything they learn of to bolster their ever-dwindling sales.

As the Neue Zürcher Zeitung so correctly stated, his words were “intelligent and necessary”. Indeed! Sadly, yet again, what was said was taken out of context. He used the following quotation from a Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Palaeologos, from the year 1391 …

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

(“Zeig mir doch, was Mohammed Neues gebracht hat und da wirst du nur Schlechtes und Inhumanes finden wie dies, dass er vorgeschrieben hat, den Glauben, den er predigte, durch das Schwert zu verbreiten.”)

… and the whole world breaks out in a frenzy. How absurd!

The Vatican has stated that the actual text of Benedict XVI should be made known in the Islamic world, in full. It wants the text to be explained and elucidated, for the Vatican believes that it has been the victim of much manipulation of the text, so that its true meaning has been changed and distorted.

The Vatican wants dialogue with the Islamic world, but believes that meaningful ‘interfaith dialogue’ can only come about when the violence has stopped. The Pope, rightly, says that God abhors violence, from wherever it comes. Who can argue with that?

It is always helpful to read the text of such an important message in its original language. These things always lose something in the translation. A text as scholarly as this one is prone to lose even more when translated.

It is doubtful that many working in the Western press would have the ability to read, much less to appreciate the meaning and beauty of, the Pope’s address at the University of Regensburg. Even if some were able to read it in its original form, it is highly unlikely that they bothered to read the whole text before reporting on how ‘insensitive’ the Pope had been. Such are the ways of the press.

Instead of criticizing the Pope, I would suggest that people working in the media need to ask themselves some important questions about their readiness to blurt out, and publish abroad, statements out of context. The press should have integrity, especially over such sensitive issues.

We all know how ready the Islamic world is to pick up on anything they perceive to be insulting to their prophet or religion. The Islamic world is like a tinderbox waiting for a match to be struck.

One should bear in mind, of course, that this Pope is not the darling of the liberal press anyway; so they are only waiting to pick up on something to get him into the quagmire. Why? It’s simple! He is against many of the issues the PC apostles espouse: He is against gay marriage, against the ordination of women, against relativism, against the use of condoms even to prevent AIDS, and against Turkey’s entry into the European Union. He is also anti-abortion. Briefly put: He is not liberal.

His grasp and understanding of the teachings of Christianity are profound; indeed, his understanding, naturally, surpasses the understanding of lesser mortals. And that’s how it should be, of course. Furthermore, he sets an extremely high standard in matters of morality. And so he should. After all, how could we hold in high esteem a pope that gave free rein to all that liberals hold dear? Liberals wish to change the very nature of Christianity itself. Aren’t many of these people going to abandon the Church, anyway, once they have achieved their aims?

This Pope has gone further than any previous pope in apologizing for ‘hurting the sensitivities’ of Muslims worldwide; yet many still feel he has not gone far enough. One can only shake one’s head in disbelief! I ask you one simple question: When are Muslims going to apologize to the people of the West for all their violence and beheadings and insults? When are they going to apologize for 9/11? For Madrid? For the London bombings? For Bali? Why don’t we demand of them what they incessantly demand of us? Why should there be this double standard? Do you, for example, like being referred to as an infidel (kafir)? That word alone should send shivers down the spine of any devout Christian. The meaning of the word kafir is actually not simply that one is not one of the faithful. In Arabic, that word has all kinds of pejorative connotations, connotations of uncleanness and inferiority. I, for one, take exception to these people referring to Westerners as inferior. Such arrogance! Such self-importance! And such stupidity!

They think this, of course, because they believe that they are Allah’s chosen people. They believe that anyone that has not yet embraced Islam is living in a backward state of jahiliyyah, the wretched, dystopian, chaotic, pre-Islamic state. Funny, isn’t it, that God has chosen the West to be so much more advanced?

Karen Armstrong, in today’s Guardian (see below), was very critical of the Pope. In an article entitled, We cannot afford to maintain these ancient prejudices against Islam, she surely misunderstood the Pope’s message! She wrote: ”He has, most unfortunately, withdrawn from the interfaith initiatives inaugurated by his predecessor, John Paul II, at a time when they are more desperately needed than ever. Coming on the heels of the Danish cartoon crisis, his remarks were extremely dangerous. They will convince more Muslims that the west is incurably Islamophobic and engaged in a new crusade.”

No, no, no, Ms Armstrong! He hasn’t withdrawn from interfaith dialogue at all! What he has done is try to point out that for there to be meaningful dialogue, the violence has to stop. He is trying to pull the zealots up higher. No moderate, reasonable Muslim can object to that; and after all is said and done, it is with reasonable Muslims that any meaningful ‘interfaith dialogue’ can take place.

The fact of the matter is that everybody has climbed onto the bandwagon. Both non-Muslims and Muslims alike have taken one ancient quotation out of context in the hope of ridiculing this wonderful Pope. Fortunately, and as one would expect, he has responded intelligently, serenely, and with dignity.

Unfortunately, where there is honey, there are bees. Bees sting! If the Pope is guilty of anything, he is guilty of forgetting that.

©Mark Alexander

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