THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The rise of religious fundamentalists with a 'deep intolerance' to other people's views has made Christians reluctant to express their beliefs, Dominic Grieve warns
Christians are increasingly reluctant to express their religious views because they are being “turned off” by the “disturbing” and “very damaging” rise of religious fundamentalism, the Attorney General has said.
Dominic Grieve said that atheists who claim that Britain is no longer a Christian nation are “deluding themselves” and must accept that faith has shaped this country’s laws and ethics.
He said that 1,500 years of Christian values are “not going to disappear overnight” and said that many people remain believers even if they choose not to go to Church.
However, he warned people are being discouraged from openly declaring their beliefs because of the “deep intolerance” of religious extremists of all faiths, including Islam and Christianity.
He told The Telegraph: “I do think that there has been a rise of an assertiveness of religious groups across the spectrum. That is why those with softer religious views find it disturbing and say they don’t want anything to do with it.” » | Steven Swinford, and John Bingham | Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Right Hand of God
NEW STATESMAN: Christian fundamentalists form a noisy wing of the Conservative Party, and their influence is growing fast.
In May 2008, a triumphant-looking Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, adorned newspaper front pages when she launched a campaign to restrict abortion rights. Aided by those who called themselves Christian "fundamentalists", the Tory backbencher was championed by the right-wing press for standing up against "the abortion industry". Dorries and her allies eventually lost the campaign to reduce the legal time limit for abortion, but they were undeterred. This was always going to be a long-drawn-out battle. And they had God on their side.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the David Cameron project has been striking in its unwillingness to say much about faith. None of the inner circle of Cameron, George Osborne, Andy Coulson and Steve Hilton is regarded as particularly religious, and avoiding the subject is part of the Tory detoxification project. Yet there are signs that a change is afoot.
“Historically, there have been splits in the Conservative Party over religion. But the vast majority of the new MPs will be social Conservatives who have similar opinions to myself," Nadine Dorries tells the New Statesman. “I can think of half a dozen Conservatives that don't agree with me, but they're leaving at the next election - people like Andrew MacKay and David Curry. The new MPs that are coming in are all social Conservatives - people like Fiona Bruce, Philippa Stroud, Louise Bagshawe."
Cameron is not oblivious to his party's uneasy coalitions, and has stealthily started to unveil policies designed to shore up its increasingly loud, ultra-conservative Christian base. Recently, he told the Catholic Herald that he was a "big supporter" of faith schools and that there should be a review of the legal time limit for abortion. Is he likely to go further?
The answer may depend on how well the Christian right organises itself. Strong links have emerged between the religious right and some Tories, with support from the media. Some groups in the UK have received funding from US groups. Their aim isn't merely to push certain policies but, in copying tactics from their American counterparts, build a more sustainable, long-term movement that would change the face of British politics. >>> Sunny Hundal | Saturday, April 24, 2010
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Obama Disses Brits, Will Media Miss?
NEWSBUSTERS: Barack Obama loves Lincoln. It seems not a day goes by that he isn't quoting the Civil War icon or comparing himself to that great man. But it looks like we are finding one great leader that Barack Obama doesn't like so much: Winston Churchill.
It appears that President Obama is dissing the Brit's most famous and stalwart leader by quickly returning the most famous bust of the man loaned to this country by the United Kingdom in the aftermath of 9//11. The return of the bust of Churchill flustered the British government because they didn't ask for it to be returned. Our best ally was nonplussed and even quickly told Obama he could keep it in the Oval Office where Bush had displayed the piece of art. Obama told them no thanks which made the Brits even more amazed.
So, Barack Obama, the man that would "fix" our "bad image" with the rest of the world, we were told by the media, has just dissed Churchill after only a month in office? And, according to one of the only stories I can find on this incident, the British government has been made nervous about the relationship between England and the U.S. because of the casual return of their generously loaned Churchill bust. >>> By Warner Todd Huston | Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wilders, who is the leader of the Freedom Party, flew into the UK in the face of a ban from the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith just after 2pm to show an anti-Muslim film at the House of Lords.
He was seized by two border guards who boarded the BMI aircraft as it sat on the tarmac and was marched into a side room in the main Terminal One building.
The politician, who was invited by the UKIP peer Lord Pearson and cross-bencher Baroness Cox, had earlier been warned that Miss Smith viewed his presence in the country as a threat to the “fundamental interests of society”.
The Home Office refused to confirm the flight on which the politician would be placed.
But Mr Wilders’s spokesman in Amsterdam said that he understood that he would sent back to the Dutch capital within two hours.
Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. In den Niederlanden wird gegen Wilders wegen Volksverhetzung ermittelt.
Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. Seine Abschiebung in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders am Donnerstag der Nachrichtenagentur AP. Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. >>> ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009
POLITIKEN: Denmark: Governing Liberal Party Spokesman Lambasts UK
Denmark’s governing Liberal Party Foreign Policy Spokesman Søren Pind has entered the debate concerning a decision by Britain to ban the entry of the populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders because of his extreme views about Islam.
“Unless you’re a terrorist or something like that, you of course should be able to travel freely within the European Union. That’s the whole idea behind European rights and freedoms,” says Pind.
Geert Wilders, who is the leader of the populist Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, is best-known abroad for his film ‘Fitna’ which compares Islam with terrorism and which has caused indignation across the world. The European Parliament has banned the film being shown in the EP.
Wilders was originally invited to the United Kingdom by a peer of the House of Lords to show his film Fitna and take part in a discussion afterwards.
EU rules
Under EU rules, Britain is entitled to deny Wilders entry into the country if he is considered to be a danger to public order.
But Pind says that while it is acceptable to deny large groups of Nazis, squatters and hooligans entry into a country – banning an elected politician from another EU country endangers basic freedoms.
“This case sounds all the alarm bells. When you subject an unimportant Dutch MP to this sort of treatment it shows just how far the authorities are willing to go to put the brakes on his freedoms. That is not gratifying,” Pind says.
Freedoms
“This is an elected politician who has a certain view about an ideology. Some see him as being drastic, but he doesn’t affect the groups that are a danger to public order. This case infringes on our view of freedom,” Pind says. >>> Edited by Julian Isherwood | Thursday, February 12, 2009
PINK NEWS: Gay Humanists Back Dutch MP's Right to Criticise Islam
A gay humanist group has said the Home Secretary was wrong to ban a Dutch MP who is critical of Islam.
Jaqui [sic] Smith said that Geert Wilders, a leading rightwing politician and a fierce critic of Muslims, has been denied permission to enter Britain on the grounds that his presence would damage community relations and threaten public order.
The Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) had declared its opposition to the ban.
"We maintain that in a free society anyone should have the right to criticise religion without being banned, dubbed racist or, even worse, threatened with death as the humanist author Saman Rushdie was over his book The Satanic Verses," said PTT secretary George Broadhead.
"There can be no doubt from reading its holy books, the Qur'an and the Hadith, that Islam is a homophobic religion, which at worst has lead to the barbaric torture and murder of LGBT people in Islamic theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
"But it is also deeply mysoginist and hostile to apostates and unbelievers like humanists. >>> Staff Writer, Pink News | Thursday, February 12, 2009
Britain was once renowned around the world for defending people's right to speak out. Not any more, says Philip Johnston.
The refusal to admit the oddball Dutch MP Geert Wilders to Britain yesterday marks a further retreat from this country's traditions of free speech. It stands in stark contrast to what happened exactly 20 years ago tomorrow, when Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for insulting the Prophet Mohammed in his book The Satanic Verses.
In retrospect, that was a turning point in the country's history of free speech, an event that appeared to demonstrate indomitability, yet turned out to be a defeat. An unambiguous stand was taken on Rushdie's behalf by the government of the day, which denounced the threat to his life and broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. Sir Geoffrey Howe, then foreign secretary, told the Commons: "This action is taken in plain defence of the right within the law of freedom of speech and the right within the law of freedom of protest."
Despite mass book burnings, protests around the world, including in Bolton and Bradford, and threats of violence, the work continued to be published and sold. How could it be otherwise? This was Britain, after all, the citadel of free speech. We would not be brow beaten into denying the rights of one of our citizens, or anyone else for that matter, from having their say, however controversial or offensive their opinion might be.
Sadly, the past two decades have seen a pusillanimous flight into cowering capitulation. We seem to have forgotten what free speech entails, how hard it was fought for and how important it is to defend. It is the value with which this country is most associated throughout the world. It is why Britain has been home, over the centuries, to so many political dissidents who would have been persecuted elsewhere, and why those who live in autocracies that brook no criticism tune into the BBC World Service.
They see this as a place able to accommodate opinions that are obviously crazy, offensive or even seditious, a country where a view can be held and expressed, provided – and this has always been true – that it does not foment violence.
Geert Wilders is an anti-Islamist who regards the Koran as inherently inflammatory and believes he is justified in saying so. He has made a 17-minute film, Fitna – an Arabic word meaning test of faith – setting out this thesis and was invited to show it at a private screening in the House of Lords. The film can be seen on the internet, so there is no question of stopping its dissemination. It contains some unpleasant images of bomb explosions, of captured hostages facing death and of chanting mobs interlaced with passages from the Koran.
Wilders claims that these verses from the holy book of Islam are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically. You may think he is wrong to say this; you may agree with him; you might, like the lords who invited him to Britain, think it is something worthy of discussion, given the obvious problems caused around the world by radical Islamism and the violence perpetrated in the name of the religion. It is hard, in a free country, to understand why it is a view that must be suppressed.
What, then, possessed the Home Office to ban Wilders – an unprecedented action against a democratically-elected politician from a European state, who is entitled to free movement within the EU? By any measure, it was an extraordinary decision; yet it was not even raised in parliament, the supposed guardian of our freedoms, though some MPs have commented on the ban, largely to support it. >>> Philip Johnston | Thursday, February 12, 2009
BBC: Geert Wilders Ban: Your Comments
A Dutch MP who described the Koran as a "fascist book" has been banned by the Home Office from entering the UK amid fears his presence would endanger public security.
Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was due to show his controversial film - which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism - in the UK's House of Lords.
BBC News website readers have been getting in touch with their views on the decision.
Below is a selection [censored, maybe?] of your comments: >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Anti-Islamist Politician Geert Wilders Refused Entry to Britain
The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders was turned away from Heathrow today after testing the Home Secretary’s ban on him entering the country.
Immigration officials denied the Dutch MP entry to the country after the Government decided he should not be allowed to attend a screening of his controversial anti-Islamist film tonight.
Mr Wilders said: "I am in a detention centre at Heathrow ... I am detained. They took my passport. I will not be allowed to enter the country. They will send me back within a few hours.”
On his flight to London, he told The Times that the British Government was “the biggest bunch of cowards in Europe”.
”It is easy to invite people you agree with, it is more difficult to invite people you disagree with and this is the proof of the pudding," he said. >>> David Charter, Heathrow, and Nico Hines | Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Multi-cultural, Islam-loving Charles, Prince of Wales, Heir to the Throne
TIMESONLINE: As he approaches his 60th birthday the Prince of Wales is knowledgeable and at ease in his self-proclaimed role as the ‘Defender of Faith’
He has, famously, declared that he wants to be “Defender of Faith”, rather than defender simply of the established Christian faith. His interest in other religions and denominations is unparalleled in a man born to be king, and his knowledge is extensive. No other heir to the throne has been awarded one of Islam’s highest accolades, spent nights in a Greek Orthodox monk’s cell or insisted that Roman Catholics, Hindus, Jews, Zoroastrians and Sikhs are as important subjects of the sovereign as Protestants.
When the Prince of Wales celebrates his 60th birthday next week he can therefore expect warm tributes from religious leaders across the country as well as from those overseas. They know that when he is crowned king, he will insist — as he has on other state occasions — that all the faith groups now living in Britain are represented in the abbey to accord him the blessings of all his subjects in today’s multicultural Britain.
An interest in religion is almost a prerequisite for the job of king. The British sovereign is, after all, the head of the Church of England and for almost 500 years this has been a defining constitutional function. But no monarch since the Stuarts has taken an intellectual interest in religion, and none has devoted time and respect to other faiths. The Prince, however, counts bishops and moral philosophers, rabbis, priests and Islamic scholars among those whom he regularly meets and with whom he discusses the spiritual dimensions of life in Britain today.
For him, the concept of faith — any faith — is important in the crusade against the rising tide of secular materialism and scientific reductionism, both of which he detests. As Ian Bradley, reader in practical theology and church history at the University of St Andrews, has written: “Prince Charles harks back to a primal understanding of the monarch, as representing order and taking on the forces of chaos, and to the sacrifical dimension of royalty found in primal religion and the Bible. A major theme of speeches and conversation by this ‘heir of sorrows’ is the disintegration of the modern world and the need for it to be rebalanced and reordered”.
The religion that has probably engaged him most is Islam. He has long admired the art and architecture of the golden age of Islam; he has also been fascinated by the totality of Muslim belief — the way it permeates all aspects of life — and has contrasted this with what he sees as the regrettable materialism of Western life that compartmentalises faith and excludes it from the mainstream of daily life. As he said in 1996: “In my view a more holistic approach is needed now.”
As Islam has grown in Britain with the influx of Muslims from the subcontinent, so too has the Prince’s interest. He was an early supporter of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, a new centre that funds scholars to research into Islam. He has spoken of Islam’s respect for the natural order, insisting that: “We need to be taught by Islamic teachers how to learn with our hearts, as well as with our head.” And he has made a point, during tours of the Middle East, of meeting Muslims scholars and clerics. A God-fearing Man with a Taste for Tradition >>> Michael Binyon | November 7, 2008
Sharia Incompatible with Human Rights: House of Lords
THE TIMES OF INDIA: LONDON: The House of Lords on Friday described the Islamic legal code Sharia as "wholly incompatible" with human rights legislation, a comment that could spark an outcry among Muslims in the United Kingdom.
The Upper House of the British Parliament has drawn sharp attention to the conflict between Sharia and UK law, calling the Islamic legal code "wholly incompatible" with human rights legislation.
The controversial remarks came amidst a debate in Britain over the appropriateness of incorporating Sharia courts into the UK's legal system, a move advocated by figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and Lords Phillips, the new senior law lord.
The comments in the House of Lords came today as it considered the case of a woman who, if she was sent back to Lebanon, would be obliged under Sharia law to hand over custody of her 12-year-old son to a man who beat her, threw her off a balcony and, on one occasion, attempted to strangle her. >>> | October 24, 2008
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Slaying Church Attendance among Women, Study Claims
THE TELEGRAPH: The old-fashioned attitudes and hierarchies of churches are causing a steep decline in the number of female worshippers, according to an academic study.
The report claims more than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel the church is not relevant to their lives.
It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books.
The study comes amid ongoing controversy over the role of women in all Christian denominations. Last month its governing body voted to allow women to become bishops for the first time, having admitted them to the priesthood in 1994, but traditionalist bishops have warned that hundreds of clergy and parishes will leave if the move goes ahead as planned.
The report's author, Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, said: "In short, women are abandoning the church.
