I stated in my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age, that Islam would fill the vacuum in the UK and the West that a decline in Christianity would bring forth. It is gratifying, but very disturbing of course, that the very able, forthright and insightful Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, says the same thing.
I have called for strong leadership in the Church for quite some time now. Leadership in the Church of England is woefully weak. None is weaker than the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. The Bishop of Rochester would make a far better choice for Archbishop of Canterbury; indeed, he would be the right choice for the times.
Islam is now the greatest threat facing the West. We need strong political leadership and strong Church leadership if we are to stand any hope of winning this war. And make no mistake: War it is! There is a great deal at stake, too. Think liberty, think democracy, think humanity, think truth! - ©Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: The decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and has created a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling, one of the Church of England's leading bishops has warned.
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, claimed the "social and sexual" revolution of the 1960s had led to a steep decline in the influence of Christianity over society which church leaders had failed to resist.
He said that in its place, Britain had become gripped by the doctrine of "endless self-indulgence" which had led to the destruction of family life, rising levels of drug abuse and drunkenness and mindless violence on the streets.
The bishop warns that the modern politicians' catchphrases of respect and tolerance will not be strong enough to prevent this collapse of traditional virtues, and said radical Islam is now moving in to fill the void created by the decline of Christianity.
His claims, in an article published in the new political magazine Standpoint, come just days after he accused the Church of England of failing in its duty to convert British Muslims to Christianity.
Dr Nazir-Ali claims in the new article that Britain, previously a "rabble of mutually hostile tribes", would never have become a global empire without the arrival of Christianity.
But he said the Church's influence began to wane during the 1960s, and quotes an academic who blames the loss of "faith and piety among women" for the steep decline in Christian worship.
He says Marxist students encouraged a "social and sexual revolution" to which liberal theologians and Church leaders "all but capitulated".
"It is this situation that has created the moral and spiritual vacuum in which we now find ourselves. While the Christian consensus was dissolved, nothing else, except perhaps endless self-indulgence, was put in its place." Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali: Radical Islam Is Filling Void Left by Collapse of Christianity in UK >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | May 29, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
