This very interesting article, written by Cardinal George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, was drawn to my attention by Warner, a trusted and faithful visitor to my website. I would like to share it with you...
September 11 was a wake-up call for me personally. I recognised that I had to know more about Islam.Mark Alexander
In the aftermath of the attack one thing was perplexing. Many commentators and apparently the governments of the “Coalition of the Willing” were claiming that Islam was essentially peaceful, and that the terrorist attacks were an aberration. On the other hand one or two people I met, who had lived in Pakistan and suffered there, claimed to me that the Koran legitimised the killings of non-Muslims.
Although I had possessed a copy of the Koran for 30 years, I decided then to read this book for myself as a first step to adjudicating conflicting claims. And I recommend that you too read this sacred text of the Muslims, because the challenge of Islam will be with us for the remainder of our lives – at least.
Can Islam and the Western democracies live together peacefully? What of Islamic minorities in Western countries? Views on this question range from näive optimism to bleakest pessimism. Those tending to the optimistic side of the scale seize upon the assurance of specialists that jihad is primarily a matter of spiritual striving, and that the extension of this concept to terrorism is a distortion of koranic teaching[1]. They emphasise Islam’s self-understanding as a “religion of peace”. They point to the roots Islam has in common with Judaism and Christianity and the worship the three great monotheistic religions offer to the one true God. There is also the common commitment that Muslims and Christians have to the family and to the defence of life, and the record of co-operation in recent decades between Muslim countries, the Holy See, and countries such as the United States in defending life and the family at the international level, particularly at the United Nations. Islam and Western Democracy
6 comments:
Hi Mark and bld, good comments. One good thing that may come from the BNP is the realization that the issues they raise must be addressed by the mainstream.
I was in London in '89 and on November 11 watched a march by a right wing white-power group - (can't remember which) from Victoria Station to the Cenotaph. Lots of skin-heads and nasty looking boot wearing types.
I had a flatmate who was a photographer and I just tagged along out of interest.
The "anti-fascist-league" were there in numbers protesting the white-power march and there was a fair bit of agro and biff with the old bill trying to keep them apart.
I remember thinking at the time; which group was worse and more dangerous? Left or right?
Mainstream politics is encouraging the Islamification of the west yet the only oppostion is from the far right, Le Pen, The National Front, BNP etc, and they aren't really my style. So who's going to step up to the plate? There must be a growing number of everyday folk like us who are feeling let down by politics in general.
Leelion:
Mainstream politics is encouraging the Islamification of the west yet the only oppostion is from the far right, Le Pen, The National Front, BNP etc, and they aren't really my style. So who's going to step up to the plate?
Well stated! It's difficult to see who is going to step up to the plate. The far right can rattle the mainstream political parties' cages, though. And perhaps that is necessary. The mainstream parties have become too complacent, too lacking in courage, too PC, and too multi-culti.
This is our country. We need some people to speak for us. As you say: So who, then, are they going to be?
Bld:
I followed the link and found a true tour de force on the subject that plagues our sleep-walking European/Western world.
Yes, it is a tour de force indeed. But he is being lambasted for it by the Muslim community in Australia.
You can show your support for him by emailing the Chancery here. Or you can go to the website and do it here.
I'm sure he'll appreciate all the support he can get right now.
Bld:
I posted my comment as I listened to the successes of the BNP in parts of the UK, during our local elections.
I hear the radionews pundits wringing their hands and calling for the British not to follow these examples and that it is just a protest vote. We shall see.
In time we shall see. It is a warning that the issues that the BNP have campaigned on, must be faced by the main political parties, or maybe face collapse.
Yes, the BNP have made some significant gains. But the Conservative Party has done even better, of course. If the BNP rattles a few cages, then it will have served a good purpose.
I cannot see the BNP ever being a party in power, but it can do damage to the other parties, and, as you rightly say, it can make the mainstream parties face the issues that the BNP have campaigned on - the very issues the mainstream parties have been avoiding all along.
We can now see what the voters really think of Tony Blair's PC, multi-culti agenda; and that's not very much!
The next problem is for the Conservative Party to grow a backbone. I have my doubts about the "media tart" (his words about himself) doing that, though. He is himself very PC and multi-culti!
Bld:
I think they [the BNP] are made the black-sheep because the mainstream politicians are cowards who dare not face the reality of the pig-sty they are turning Europe into.
Yes, but also because - it has to be said - they have traditionally attracted a rather dubious kind of person to their fold. If they want more credibility and more respectability, then they need to attract the middle classes, too.
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