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 PopeMark Alexander
Saturday, September 23, 2006
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.Mark Alexander
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
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.Mark Alexander
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
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 ApplebaumMark Alexander
Friday, September 22, 2006
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
BBC: EU ministers have expressed sharp differences over how to deal with an influx of illegal immigrants to Europe.Mark Alexander
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
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.Mark Alexander
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'
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.Mark Alexander
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
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.Mark Alexander
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
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.Mark Alexander
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
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 PakistanMark Alexander
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.Mark Alexander
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
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Foto dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
Wenig konkrete Aussagen von Irans Präsident Ahmedinejad in New YorkMark Alexander
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
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 remarkMark Alexander
Mark Alexander
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
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.Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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 (Hardback)
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
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