Bishop Fears Sharia Bonds Pave Way for More Islamic Law

Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, former bishop of Rochester

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former bishop of Rochester, warns plans by David Cameron to issue a sharia-compliant bond could have "unforeseen consequences"

David Cameron’s plans to issue sharia-compliant bonds open the way to Islamic law being enforced at the heart of government, a senior clergyman has warned.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former bishop of Rochester, said proposals to make Britain the first non-Muslim country to sell a bond that complies with sharia could trigger a series of “unforeseen consequences”.

He also voiced broader fears that Christianity was being increasingly excluded from the administration of law, after one of Britain’s most senior judges said members of the judiciary were “secular” figures serving a “multicultural community”.

Last week the Prime Minister set out plans for Britain to issue a sukuk, a form of debt that is in line with Islamic law, because it avoids the prohibited use of “riba”, or interest.

The bonds, which will be worth around £200 million, would pay a fixed return based on the profit generated by an underlying asset, such as government buildings. » | Edward Malnick, and John Bingham | Saturday, November 02, 2013

My comment:

Cameron is a traitor who is selling the UK down the river for financial gain. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali is about the only sane voice in the wilderness. I have great respect for him. If anyone should understand the potential problems with sharia-compliant finance, he should.

Cameron is a fool. An abject fool at that! He has no right whatsoever to follow this erroneous path down the road of sharia. He has no mandate for that. Only a clown would take this once truly great country down that road, that suicidal path.

I object in the strongest possible terms to my so-called prime minister taking such steps to destroy this great nation, especially without debate, and especially without a mandate.

Only an abject fool could sell the United Kingdom out for such short-term rewards.

The little respect I might have had for David Cameron evaporated the very moment I heard him utter such rubbish at the WIEF. He certainly did not speak for me; and I am fairly sure that he didn't speak for the majority of the British people either. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

British Christianity Dies While Islam Thrives. Why?
TELEGRAM PODCAST: New analysis of the 2011 census makes horrible reading for the Churches – attendance down 15 per cent in a decade. Meanwhile, one in 10 young Britons is a Muslim. In this week's Telegram, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali says politically correct Christianity is to blame, while Damian Thompson argues that part of Islam's appeal is its ability to harness political anger. Listen to the podcast and comment » | Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Lord Carey Backs Christian Psychotherapist in 'Gay Conversion' Row
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leading church figures including the former Archbishop of Canterbury have sparked controversy by championing a psychotherapist who believes gay men can be 'cured' of their homosexuality.

Lesley Pilkington was effectively barred from her professional register after attempting to convert a homosexual man in a therapy session at her home.

Her patient turned out to be a gay rights journalist, who had secretly recorded the sessions and then reported her to her professional body. Mrs Pilkington, a committed Christian, was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct.

The therapy practised by Mrs Pilkington had been described as "absurd" by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and roundly condemned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

But ahead of her appeal against the BACP ruling, Mrs Pilkington has received backing from the Rt Rev Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

In a letter to her professional body, Lord Carey – along with a number of senior figures – suggests Mrs Pilkington is herself a victim of entrapment whose therapy should be supported.

His comments – in a letter co-signed by, among others, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes – will cause controversy in the gay community and beyond. » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, January 28, 2012

My comment:

Lord Carey and Michael Nazir-Ali are talking through their backsides. Clearly, they know nothing about sexuality, so they should shut up. That these people hold – or in the case of Michael Nazir-Ali has held – such elevated position(s) in the Church of England is astounding. Lord Carey should retire from public life forthwith. Michael Nazir-Ali should just plain shut-up and stick to what he knows best: theology. – © Mark

9/11 Anniversary: The End of Islamic Extremism Is Far from Nigh
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It is often described as the day that changed the world but, in fact, 9/11 only brought home to the West what had been simmering, and sometimes breaking out violently, in different parts of the world for nearly half a century.

The effects on America and Europe were nothing short of traumatic. There was an immediate questioning of a growing “globalism” and the emergence of a siege mentality. Heightened security has eased people’s minds, but there still lurks a basic anxiety about when, and where, the next attack will be.

Siren voices sometimes ask us to believe that 9/11 was caused by the pathological actions of a few, and that all Muslims should not be blamed for acts of terror. It is true that there are many moderate Muslims who condemn unequivocally what has been done in the name of their religion and assert that Islam had nothing to do with it. But we still need to ask how terrorism on such a vast scale was possible.

Apologists, both Western and Muslim, claim that Islamist extremism and terrorism have been bred by resentment of Western power. The military dominance of Israel, the roots of the Kashmir dispute, the megalomania of the Shah of Iran, and Suez are all seen to be examples of Western hubris and ill-will towards the Muslim world.

We can acknowledge that these have contributed to anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, but it would be a serious mistake to believe this provides a complete account of the extremism and the terror that has resulted from it.

At the heart of extremism is an ideology, a world-view – and not just concerning the perceived wrong done to the Muslim Umma (or people). Such an ideology expects Islam to dominate rather than to accept a subservient place in world affairs. It promotes pan-Islam and the ultimate rejection of nation-states, even Muslim ones. It may be that some extremists chatter about an Islamic state, in this part of the world or that; however, its ultimate aim is a single Islamic political, social, economic and spiritual entity.

For many, the restoration of the Caliphate is integral to this project and, given past history, we should not be sanguine that Western powers will not collude with it if they believe it promotes a temporary self-interest. Such a vision of pan-Islam is not restricted to the Muslim world as it is now but also includes lands “lost” to Islam whether that be India, Palestine, East Timor, South Sudan or the Iberian countries. » | Michael Nazir-Ali*, former Bishop of Rochester | Sunday, September 11, 2011

*Michael Nazir-Ali is now President of OXTRAD, the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue

Michael Nazir-Ali: Burkas Should Not Be Worn Where It Compromises Safety*
THE TELEGRAPH: The Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the late Dr Tantawi, famously, and provocatively made female students remove the face-veil in the classroom. This was a brave thing to do at the premier place of Sunni Muslim learning. Was he right to do it?

It is clear that the fundamental principle of freedom of belief and of the right to manifest one's own belief must continue to be upheld in a free society, whether for Christians, Muslims or anyone else.

Such a principle does not, however, exist in isolation and has to be balanced against other considerations of the common good and of public order.

As far as the wearing of the Burka is concerned, there are, first of all, questions of safety. >>> Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester | Saturday, July 17, 2010

No, Sir! You've got that wrong. The burqah shouldn't be worn anywhere in public in the United Kingdom. Burqahs are an affront to our way of life and our values. – © Mark

Race Thugs Attack Sons of UK’s First Asian Bishop
MAIL ONLINE: The former Bishop of Rochester's two sons have been set upon in a racial attack, it has emerged.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the first Asian bishop appointed by the Church of England, last night condemned the gang assault.

Pakistani-born Dr Nazir-Ali, who retired last September, said: 'Any act of violence is concerning but it makes it even worse that it was racially motivated.

'My main concern is making sure the boys are OK. >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Friday, May 07, 2010

Michael Nazir-Ali: The Legal Threat to Our Spiritual Tradition
THE TELEGRAPH: The McFarlane judgment raises fundamental questions about church and state, says Michael Nazir-Ali.

Lord Justice Laws's judgment on the Gary McFarlane case in the Court of Appeal – that legislation for the protection of views held purely on religious ground cannot be justified – has driven a coach and horses through the ancient association of the Christian faith with the constitutional and legal basis of British society.

Everything from the Coronation Oath onwards suggests that there is an inextricable link between the Judaeo-Christian tradition of the Bible and the institutions, the values and the virtues of British society. If this judgment is allowed to stand, the aggressive secularists will have had their way.

It also raises a number of fundamental questions to which answers need to be provided. Will there be, once again, a religious bar to holding office? We have already had a rash of cases involving magistrates unable to serve on the bench because of their Christian beliefs, registrars losing their jobs because they cannot, in conscience, officiate at civil partnerships, paediatricians unable to serve on adoption panels… Will this trickle gradually become a flood, so that rather than conforming to the Church of England, the new discrimination tests will involve conforming to the secular religion as promoted by Lord Justice Laws?

Laws mentions the case of the civil registrar Lillian Ladele – who objected on religious grounds to "gay marriage" and refused to conduct ceremonies – as a precedent for his judgment, and believes that the issues in this case are identical to the ones in the other. In that judgment, the court treated the Christian faith and its tenets as on a par with mere prejudice or bigotry. It attempted to distinguish belief from practice and to identify what is "core belief " from Christian moral teaching. This is not a distinction that those who believe in biblical, historic Christianity would recognise.

Such is Lord Justice Laws's enthusiasm for a secular Britain that he charges on with some even more breathtaking assertions. He claims that religious faith is subjective, irrational and incommunicable. There may be some faiths like that, but the Christian faith is not one of them. It is committed to a proper understanding of how the world is and who we are, but also to what makes for a better world and better people. >>> Michael Nazir-Ali | Friday, April 30, 2010

Related:

THE TELEGRAPH: Gary McFarlane: judge's assault on 'irrational' religious freedom claims in sex therapist case: A senior judge has launched a dramatic assault on religious faith, dismissing it as “subjective” with no basis in fact. >>> John Bingham | Friday, April 30, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Special Legal Protection of Christianity 'Divisive, Capricious and Arbitrary' >>> Frances Gibb, Legal Editor | Thursday, April 19, 2010

Christians Launch Pre-election 'Declaration of Conscience' on Values
THE TELEGRAPH: A bid to place Christian values at the heart of the general election campaign has been launched with a 'declaration of conscience' endorsed by senior figures from the Church of England, the Catholic Church and other denominations.

Signatories include Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury (pictured), Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, and the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester. Photograph: The Sunday Telegraph
Thirty-five prominent individuals have signed a statement of values calling on politicians to "protect the right of Christians" to hold their beliefs and "act according to Christian conscience", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Signatories include Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, and the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester.

It comes after six prominent bishops wrote to this newspaper to complain that Christians in Britain are victims of discrimination and are "treated with disrespect". >>> Alastair Jamieson | Easter Sunday, April 04, 2010

Common Sense Trumps Theory and Experimentation
Now we need to find the politicians with enough courage to put this soupçon of common sense into practice. Don't hold your breath while we're looking, though! Please note that I have been calling for this ever since this blog was started, and ever since my book came onto the market. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: All new immigrants should accept Britain’s traditional Christian values and be willing to adapt to them, according to a prominent clergyman.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said the country must never again repeat the multicultural experiment of recent decades.

He also called for an end to the segregation of Muslims in British cities, which he warned provides a breeding ground for extremists.

The bishop made his strongly-worded comments after Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, backed a campaign by the cross-party Balanced Immigration Group to stop Britain’s population reaching 70 million.

Bishop Nazir-Ali, who grew up in Pakistan before joining the Church of England, said in a statement: “Both he and the group are right that every country has limits to the numbers of new arrivals that it can accommodate and the UK, in particular, as a small country cannot take an indefinite number of people who wish to live here.

“Not only is there over-crowding, especially of metropolitan areas, but social, educational and medical services are placed under increasing strain and there is always the concern about jobs and housing for the indigenous population, particularly from its poorer sections.

“The question, however, is not simply one of numbers but also of the quality of would-be immigrants. One of the missing features of the mass immigration of the 50s and 60s was any concern for the congruence of such immigration with the values, culture and language of the host country. We must never again allow this to happen.” Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali: Immigrants should accept Britain’s Christian values >>> Martin Beckford | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Stop the Islamization of Europe! Stop the Islamization of the West! >>> Mark Alexander | Monday, May 28, 2007

We Need a Shared Story to Underpin Our National Life
THE TELEGRAPH: Our future leaders must be taught selflessness in place of greed, and service in place of arrogance

By any reckoning, Britons have had an uncomfortable and anxious year. Even as the implications of the financial crisis sank in and the belt-tightening began, news broke of the ride for which we had been taken by our political masters, via their expenses forms. The war in Afghanistan claimed the lives of more than 100 British soldiers. The Copenhagen summit raised awareness of environmental problems, but left it unclear what would or should be done about them. And attacks on the traditional family continued, with claims by ministers and "experts" that no one form of the family was to be preferred to any other.

It has been tough for everyone, but Christians in particular have found themselves under pressure. Nurses have been told not to pray with their patients; registrars ordered to conduct civil partnership ceremonies in spite of conscientious objections; evangelists forbidden to spread the word in "Muslim" areas; and permission for Good Friday processions refused on the grounds that they are a "minority" interest and do not warrant police time.

Given the sea of troubles with which we are faced – at home and elsewhere – what can we look forward to as we face 2010? First, we need to accept that the financial and political crises are not primarily about the failure of procedures and regulation. The angst about the war in Afghanistan, similarly, is not just about the sad loss of life. The broader problem is that there has been the loss of a common narrative, a story which underpins our national life. In the past, this was provided by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, derived from the Bible. This narrative has been at the root of those values which we regard as particularly British, whether to do with the dignity of the human person, with fundamental freedoms of belief, speech and assembly, or with equality – which is not about "sameness", but a recognition of the image of God in others.

This tradition has also provided us with the virtues for which we have looked in vain in our economic and political leaders. The best of British business and politics has been characterised by a sense – largely derived from the Bible's teachings – of responsibility, of trust, justice, fairness and truth-telling. In recent years, these virtues have been jettisoned, so that we can be more "competitive" in a cut-throat world, or engage in a more adversarial form of politics. We, and the generations to follow, will have to live with the consequences of this dissolution of a moral and spiritual framework for our common life.

But while the task of reconstruction must begin immediately, it cannot be just about tinkering with the expenses system at Westminster, or the regulation of the City. It has to be about moral and spiritual education in our schools and universities. Future leaders must be taught that the public have the right to expect selflessness rather than greed, service rather than arrogance, and even sacrifice for the greater good of the organisation, or the nation. >>> Dr Michael Nazir-Ali | Saturday, December 26, 2009 (Boxing Day)

The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali is president of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue, and was until this year Bishop of Rochester

Britain in Moral Crisis, Warns Bishop of Rochester
THE TELEGRAPH: The Bishop of Rochester has warned that Britain is facing a moral crisis.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said that the rejection of Christian values is having a damaging effect on the country.

Speaking at his farewell service, he expressed particular concern at the breakdown of the family and at growing calls for the legalisation of assisted suicide.

Although he is stepping down as bishop, he vowed to continue to speak out on important issues and to fight for a return to Christian principles.

"I believe that the Christian faith is necessary for the life of our country," he said.

"We need to get away from the constant making of moral decisions by opinion poll.

"We are facing a crisis about affirming the dignity of human purpose.

"It may be at the earliest stage of life or as we are hearing more and more, at the later stages of life."

He added: "It is obvious to many people that the weakening of family life is responsible for what we face on our streets, in our classrooms and in homes. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Bishop of Rochester: Church of England Must Do More to Counter Twin Threats of Secularism and Radical Islam
THE TELEGRAPH: Traditional British society is under threat from the rise of aggressive secularism and radical Islam, one of the Church of England's most outspoken bishops has warned as he steps down.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who ends his time as Bishop of Rochester next week, said the established religion must speak out more to preserve the country’s Christian heritage and offer moral guidance to the masses.

He also claimed that liberal Anglicans around the world who are following contemporary culture rather than the teachings of the Bible are effectively following a different faith.

Dr Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, became the Church’s first Asian bishop when he was appointed to Rochester in 1994 and came to be seen as a contender for the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

However the job went to Dr Rowan Williams and as the global Anglican Communion tore itself apart over the ordination of homosexual clergy, Dr Nazir-Ali instead became known as one of its leading conservative voices.

Last year he claimed some parts of Britain had become “no-go areas” for non-Muslims, and boycotted a once-a-decade gathering of senior Anglicans in protest at the presence of liberal American bishops.

In a final interview with The Daily Telegraph before stepping down on Tuesday, Dr Nazir-Ali said he did not believe the history of the church would have been different had he been given the most important job in Anglicanism.

“This is not about one man – these are currents in culture and they happen in different ages.

“I am happy that I’ve been able to do what I’ve been asked to do.”

But he also said that the Church of England, which is used to working with society, should speak up more often to defend the country’s customs and institutions, most of which are based on Christian teaching. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, August 29, 2009

Change and Repent, Bishop Tells Gays
THE TELEGRAPH: A senior Church of England bishop has called on homosexuals to repent and "be changed" in comments that have infuriated equality campaigners.

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has defended traditional biblical teachings on homosexuality and said the Church should not be "rolled over by culture".

Dr Nazir-Ali spoke as tens of thousands of people, including Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, joined the annual Pride London march to celebrate homosexual culture. A war of words broke out between Labour and the Conservatives over the issue of homosexuality last week after a minister accused the Tories of having a "deep strain of homophobia" running through the party.

The bishop’s controversial comments will reignite the battle over homosexuality in the Church of England ahead of what promises to be a divisive week for Anglicanism.

Tomorrow, a new coalition of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes, backed by Dr Nazir-Ali, will get under way, which critics have claimed is an attempt to create a "church within the church".

The organisers said The Queen, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, had sent a message to the leaders of the movement saying she understood their concerns about the future of the Anglican Communion. Next weekend the General Synod of the Church of England is meeting at York University. The following week, the Episcopal Church in America is expected to endorse liturgies for single sex marriage and allow more homosexuals to be made bishops.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Dr Nazir-Ali said: "We want to uphold the traditional teaching of the Bible. We believe that God has revealed his purpose about how we are made.

"People who depart from this don’t share the same faith. They are acting in a way that is not normative according to what God has revealed in the Bible.

"The Bible’s teaching shows that marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way to express our sexual nature.

"We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed." >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 04, 2009

Church of England Bishop Accused of Trying to Set Up Rival Church
THE TELEGRAPH: One of the Church of England's leading bishops has been accused of setting up a rival church by another senior Anglican clergyman.

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali has been accused of trying to set up rival church. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The Very Rev Colin Slee, the liberal Dean of Southwark has publicly attacked the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, and said that he was one of three bishops whose position was now "open to some debate".

The Dean's broadside, delivered in the introduction to the annual report for Southwark Cathedral, will infuriate evangelical supporters of the Bishop, 59, and further widen the gulf between the traditional and liberal wings of the church. >>> By Chris Hastings | Saturday, April 18, 2009

Rod Liddle: The C Of E Has Forgotten Its Purpose. Why, Exactly, Does It Exist?
THE SPECTATOR: Rod Liddle offers an Easter message to the leaders of the Church, who have ditched its traditions and reduced it to a sort of superannuated ad-hoc branch of social services. It has lost all sense of mission and direction. Whatever happened to muscular Christianity?

Image courtesy of The Spectator
What did you give up for Lent? I gave up chives again. Forty-five days of deprivation. According to the ecclesiastical calendar I am allowed my first chive on Saturday — but do you know what? I’m going to say no. My willpower has become a marvel to myself; I’m saying no to chives all the way through to May. I might have one then, and then again, I might not. The power of my faith enables me to crush utterly any bodily craving for chives. I am on a spiritual plane beyond such temptations, although this does not stretch to other members of the alliaceae family, i.e. onions. I have had onions.

Lent is another of those things which is not what it used to be. It lacks the rigour of, say, Ramadan. By and large the Church of England does not demand that we be self-denying because it knows that we do not want to be self-denying. Perhaps it does not see the point in self-denial or deferred gratification anymore. But it’s more likely that it is too closely attuned to a society which is not terribly keen on even the briefest expression of asceticism.

The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, gave up something rather more substantive for Lent — and he won’t be succumbing on Saturday either. He’s given up being a bishop for good, unless we can persuade him otherwise. In future he intends to work for the benefit of Christian people who suffer religious persecution in foreign lands — in other, less elegant words, he is going to be socking it to the mozzies. It is remarkable that he should be forced to leave his current position in order to fight for the human rights of persecuted Christians; you might have assumed that being a Church of England bishop was a pretty good platform from which to undertake such work. As it is, he will not have the full force of the Church of England behind him; he will be, so far as Lambeth Palace is concerned, an ex-parrot.

We do not hear very much from the Church of England about the plight of Christians, and particularly Anglicans, in hostile foreign environments. Under the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the church does not like to make too much of a fuss about murdered priests in the Sudan, the constant fears of samizdat believers in Riyadh, the continued state persecution in Turkey, the perpetual discrimination in Indonesia and Malaysia and Bangladesh. Or about the Punjabi Christian dragged before a court in Pakistan accused of having sent a blasphemous message on his mobile phone, the Muslim hordes screaming for the death sentence outside the court. The thousands of Christians in Bauchi, Nigeria, watching their homes burned to the ground and their leaders attacked by, again, Muslim mobs. The beatings and murders in liberated — yea, praise the lord! — Afghanistan. We don’t hear much about that stuff from anyone, be it the BBC, our politicians or most notably the Church of England.

You might expect the C of E to feel at least a little bit uncomfortable that Anglicans were being strung up or burned alive in the middle east and elsewhere. But it does not seem to be an enormous issue for the prelates. The problem being that it would bring Rowan, and the church, into conflict with the very Islamists with whom they are thoroughly enjoying their important ‘inter-faith dialogues’, by which they seem to set so much store. These inter-faith dialogues have never, ever, to my knowledge, touched upon Islamic persecution of Christians: all the traffic is in the other direction, and the Church of England thinks it is all going swimmingly. >>> Rod Liddle, The Spectator | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ignore Our Christian Values and the Nation Will Drift Apart
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain is suffering because we have been too willing to forget what made us who we are, writes Michael Nazir-Ali.

I have resigned as Bishop of Rochester after nearly 15 years. During that time, I have watched the nation drift further and further away from its Christian moorings. Instead of the spiritual and moral framework provided by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, we have been led to expect, and even to celebrate, mere diversity. Not surprisingly, this has had the result of loosening the ties of law, customs and values, and led to a gradual loss of identity and of cohesiveness. Every society, for its wellbeing, needs the social capital of common values and the recognition of certain virtues which contribute to personal and social flourishing. Our ideas about the sacredness of the human person at every stage of life, of equality and natural rights and, therefore, of freedom, have demonstrably arisen from the tradition rooted in the Bible.

Different faiths and traditions will not necessarily produce the values and virtues which have been so prominent in the history of this country. It is quite wrong to presume that they will, as Gordon Brown appeared to do last week in his speech calling for "value-based" rules at St Paul's Cathedral. Some faiths may emphasise social solidarity more than personal freedom, others publicly enforce piety over a nurturing of the interior life and yet others stress honour and shame rather than humility, service and sacrifice. It may be, of course, that there is a useful overlap among these traditions in terms of values by which to live. It may also be that people of different faiths can "own" many of the values produced by a Christian framework in this nation, but this cannot take place in a vacuum.

One of the surprising aspects of what you could call our values vacuum is the historical amnesia which is so prevalent today – or, rather, a selective sort of amnesia. The perfectly virtuous pages of history, such as Magna Carta, the campaign to abolish the slave trade and, later, slavery itself, the easing of conditions of labour for men, women and children and the introduction of universal education, which all took place under the inspiration of the Christian faith, are forgotten or ignored. Instead 
of which we get large doses of guilt along with an emphasis on our involvement in the slave trade, religious and ethnic persecution, exploitative colonialism and other wrongs which certainly need repentance. But repentance for past wrongs without the celebration of what has been good has deprived people of a common vision by which to live and a strong basis for the future. >>> By Michael Nazir-Ali | Sunday, April 5, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Melanie Phillips: When a Bishop Has to Leave the Church of England to Stand Up for Christians, What Hope Is Left for Britain?
NAME: The resignation of Michael Nazir-Ali as Bishop of Rochester is a terrible blow, not just for the Church of England but for Britain.

The bishop says he is resigning so that he can work for endangered or beleaguered Christian minorities both abroad and in the UK.

What a shocking rebuke to the church, that he has to leave his post of influence and authority as a bishop in order to carry out the church's core duty to defend its own against attack.

Shocking - but hardly surprising. Across the world, in countries such as Nigeria and Sudan, millions of Christians are being persecuted at the hands of militant Islam, with forced conversions, the burning of churches and widespread violence.

Yet in the face of this global onslaught, the Church of England makes scarcely a peep of protest.

Worse still, when Dr Nazir-Ali warned last year that Islamic extremists had created 'no-go areas' across Britain where non-Muslims faced intimidation, he was disowned by his fellow churchmen who all but declared that he was a liar - even though he was telling the truth.

Courage

For this act of moral courage, he and his family had to be put under police protection, while his own church left him to swing in the wind of bigotry and intimidation.

Dr Nazir-Ali is one of the very few inside the church to make explicit the link between Christian and British values, and to warn publicly that they are being destroyed through the prevailing doctrine of multiculturalism.

That strong voice of protest has never been needed more than it is now. For Christianity in Britain is under attack from all sides.

Last month, the bishop protested that the arrival in Britain of so many from other faiths had led to the closure of chapels, the retrenchment of Christian chaplaincy and the advent of a 'doctrinaire multi-faithism' - not through pressure from the incoming minorities, but from British secularists who wanted to destroy Christianity.

That agenda is becoming ever more oppressive. Yesterday, it was revealed that a Christian council worker was suspended for encouraging a terminally ill woman to turn to God. He says he was also told it was inappropriate to 'talk about God' with a client and that he should not even say 'God bless'. >>> By Melanie Phillips | Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

A Troublesome Priest in a Timid Church
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Whatever your views about Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, he is hard to ignore. After his announcement this weekend that he is to retire early, the Church of England will be the poorer for it. The inference is that he felt stifled and decided that he could do more worthwhile work elsewhere, mostly outside Britain. Sadly, he is probably right.

Born in Karachi to parents who converted to Christianity from Islam, the first non-white diocesan bishop in Britain emerged as an outspoken critic of multiculturalism. Nobody, given his background and race, was better placed to do so. More than his Anglican colleagues, he knew about fighting for your faith. His criticisms were well made. Immigrants, he said, needed to do more to integrate into British life. He warned last year that Islamic extremism had turned “already separate communities into ‘no-go’ areas”. For this he received death threats and required police protection.

He has lamented “the long withdrawing roar of the sea of faith . . . nurses cannot pray, the creed cannot be recited at Christian services for fear of offending non-believers”. He warned of “the advent of a doctrinaire multi-faithism”, in which the established church was in retreat and in which radical Islam had filled the void. His views on Muslims were said to have ruled him out of succeeding George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Nazir-Ali spoke out against the soggy “anything goes” political correctness that characterises the modern Church of England. Sometimes his conservative views got him into trouble. Nine years ago he caused a flurry by saying that having children was “not an optional extra” for married couples. >>> | Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bishop of Rochester to Become Defender of Persecuted Christians
THE TELEGRAPH: The Bishop of Rochester has surprised the Church of England by announcing that he will stand down this year to become a defender of persecuted Christians.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali is only 59 and could have stayed for another decade in his post, one of the most senior in the Church, but has chosen instead to devote the rest of his career to working in communities where Christians are in a minority.

While this is likely to see him involved in the Middle East and Pakistan, the bishop revealed that he also plans to work with Muslim converts to Christianity in Britain.

He said he has been inspired by the story of Hannah Shah, an Imam's daughter who faced being killed by her family for refusing an arranged marriage before becoming a Christian.

"Bishop Michael is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation," said a spokesman. >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, March 29, 2009

MAIL Online: Bishop Nazir-Ali, Scourge of Church Liberals, Steps Down

One of the Church of England’s most outspoken bishops is to resign a decade early after years of disenchantment with the liberal drift of Anglicanism.

The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali – the Church’s only Asian diocesan bishop – is planning to devote much of his time to helping persecuted Christians in Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Iran.

But Dr Nazir-Ali, who boycotted the Lambeth Conference last summer in protest over gay clerics, is also certain to remain a powerful spokesman for Anglican conservatives.

The 59-year-old bishop – who has been in the post for 15 years and could have stayed there until he was 70 – has never been afraid of controversy.

Multi-culturalism, secularism and liberal theology have all been among his targets.

Last year he faced death threats for writing in a Sunday newspaper that Islamic extremists were creating ‘no-go’ areas for non-Muslims in parts of Britain.

The Bishop, his wife Valerie and their two sons were placed under police protection.

Earlier this year, he told The Mail on Sunday that the Church of England was not doing enough to convert Muslims. >>> | Sunday, March 29, 2009

Michael Nazir-Ali Steps Down as Bishop of Rochester
With the resignation of the Bishop of Rochester, the Church of England is about to lose one of its most able bishops. Dr Nazir-Ali has courted controversy because he has not been afraid of telling the people of Britian some home truths. As a result of this propensity to warn of the decreasing influence of Christianity in the United Kingdom and the increasing influence of Islam, he has made himself unpopular with the liberal élite which now dominates the increasingly left-leaning, almost Marxist Church. Clearly there in no room for such an able cleric in the enfeabled Church of England, now under the clumsy leadership of the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

The Archbishop is a man who spends more time appeasing Muslims than he does trying to fill the emptying churches. (When did he last preach the Gospel?) He is also busy preparing the docile people of this ‘Sceptered Isle’ for what’s ahead of them: The “inevitable” introduction of Shari’ah law, he believes! You know the law he was talking about – that barbaric set of laws which Muslims mistakenly believe come from Allah (not God). The set of laws which determine that women be stoned to death for adultery, that homosexuals be put to death, that thieves be relieved of their limbs, and that people who drink alcohol be punished severely, usually by being whipped.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, a man whio truly understands Islam – his father was a convert to Christianity from that faith – would actually be the best man for the position of Archbishop of Canterbury. His retirement from the Anglican Church is therefore a sad and great loss at a time when the Church can ill afford such losses. – ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali has announced his decision to step down as the Bishop of Rochester, one of the most senior positions in the Church of England.


The Rev Michael Nazir-Ali has spoken out against the rise of secularisation in UK society, and the dangers of the rise of Islam in the country. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Although Dr Nazir-Ali has been in charge of the Rochester diocese for nearly 15 years, the decision to quit - which will see him leave his post later this year - has come as a surprise.

The bishop is aged only 59 and potentially could have stayed in post for another decade.

He was a leading contender to succeed George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury, but has become increasingly outspoken at the direction of the Church since Dr Rowan Williams’s appointment.

A spokesman for the bishop said that he wants to turn his attention to working with the persecuted church.

"Bishop Michael is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation," he said.

Dr Nazir-Ali, who became the Church’s first Asian bishop when he was appointed to Rochester in 1994, has taken a strong stand against the rise of Islam in Britian.

He warned last year that parts of the country have been turned into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims and challenged Dr Williams’s claim that the introduction of sharia law is unavoidable.

As a result of his warning, the bishop received death threats saying he would not "live long" and would be "sorted out" if he continued to criticise Islam. >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, March 28, 2009

KENT ONLINE: Offensive Word Insult to Bishop of Rochester

The Bishop of Rochester has been branded an "arsehole" by an aide to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The slur against the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali appeared in an official document sent to 43 diocesan bishops and 10 Downing Street.

The insult, which referred to the "arsehole Bishop of Rochester", appeared in a confidential list of job vacancies and prospective candidates.

The offensive word had been inserted in front of the Bishop's name. It is thought the person who added insult has been dismissed. >>> Luke Hollands | Saturday, March 28, 2009

TELEGRAPH BLOGS – Jonathan Wynne-Jones: Bishop of Rochester Is Stepping Down

An email has just dropped in my inbox revealing that Michael Nazir-Ali is stepping down as the Bishop of Rochester.
Still only 59, his decision to resign so early begs many questions.

The offical explanation is as follows: "he is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation."

That he has a passion for supporting and defending the persecuted church is not in doubt.

But his decision has almost certainly been influenced by the dismay he feels at the direction that the Church of England has taken under Rowan Williams. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Saturday, March 28, 2009

TIMESONLINE: Bishop of Rochester to Resign a Decade Early

One of the Church of England's most outspoken bishops has announced that he is to resign a decade early to devote the rest of his life to work with Christians in Islamic areas.

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church's only Asian bishop, who is just 59 and could have stayed at Rochester until his 70th birthday, intends to use his expertise as an Islamic scholar to work in Pakistan where he was born and in the Middle East to build bridges between Christians and Muslims.

A conservative evangelical, he will step down in September after nearly 15 years in the diocese.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali was one of the favourites to succeed Dr George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury. Opposition from some in Britain's Muslim community is thought to have been one factor that cost him the job.

In February last year he was placed under police protection after he and his family received death threats over his claim that parts of Britain had become “no-go areas” for non-Muslims. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Saturday, March 28, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH:
Bishop Warns of No-go Zones for Non-Muslims >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Friday, April 18, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Extremism Flourished as UK Lost Christianity

In fewer than 50 years, Britain has changed from being a society with an acknowledged Christian basis to one which is increasingly described by politicians and the media as "multifaith".

One reason for this is the arrival of large numbers of people of other faiths to these shores. Their arrival has coincided with the end of the Empire which brought about a widespread questioning of Britain's role.

On the one hand, the British were losing confidence in the Christian vision which underlay most of the achievements and values of the culture and, on the other, they sought to accommodate the newer arrivals on the basis of a novel philosophy of "multiculturalism".

This required that people should be facilitated in living as separate communities, continuing to communicate in their own languages and having minimum need for building healthy relationships with the majority.

Alongside these developments, there has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism. One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into "no-go" areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability.

Those of a different faith or race may find it difficult to live or work there because of hostility to them and even the risk of violence. In many ways, this is but the other side of the coin to far-Right intimidation.

Attempts have been made to impose an "Islamic" character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for the Adhan, the call to prayer.

Such amplification was, of course, unknown throughout most of history and its use raises all sorts of questions about noise levels and whether non-Muslims wish to be told the creed of a particular faith five times a day on the loudspeaker.

This is happening here even though some Muslim-majority communities are trying to reduce noise levels from multiple mosques announcing this call, one after the other, over quite a small geographical area.

There is pressure already to relate aspects of the sharia to civil law in Britain. To some extent this is already true of arrangements for sharia-compliant banking but have the far-reaching implications of this been fully considered?

It is now less possible for Christianity to be the public faith in Britain.

The existence of chapels and chaplaincies in places such as hospitals, prisons and institutions of further and higher education is in jeopardy either because of financial cuts or because the authorities want "multifaith" provision, without regard to the distinctively Christian character of the nation's laws, values, customs and culture. >>> By Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester | Friday, January 11, 2009

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