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July 18, 2004
More promotion of Islam
I am not sure how to take the item currently on the television. I am not, and I must stress this, a supporter of the British National Party. Nor will I ever be. That said, their leader is being presented as the worst thing since Hitler, and a covert BBC team has used selected quotes from a secretly filmed speech to castigate the idiot for saying that Islam is a vile and dangerous religion. Given that the BBC is a left wing propaganda machine, I find this sanctimonious attitude and the selective editing of the speech rather distasteful. If this had been the police, a court would have ruled this inadmissable as it is "entrapment". It is equally worrying that a similar documentary "expose'" prepared for Channel 4, but covering the fact that Asian men are engaged in forcing young girls into sexual slavery has not been aired - because it might inflame "racial tensions". Surely it is this kind of attempt to pander to sensitivity in one direction only that assists in inflaming the likes of the BNP and drives people into subscribing to their appalling views.
That said, I do not agree with his overt statements regarding the actual
essentials of Islam, but I do share his concerns over the danger posed by a religion which seeks to suppress all womenfolk and to circumscribe all debate on the nature of God and the essentials of spiritual growth and understanding. Islam will stifle freedom, and it will stifle future scientific and democratic development. Look at the Islamic ruled countries and you see backward looking, male dominated societies, riddled with oppressive regimes, presiding over oligarchies and impoverished populations.
Russell Newquist actually says this rather well in a lengthy post on his blog. Unlike myself, he is not (or says he's not!) a practicing Christian, but, like myself, his vision of God is the unimaginable God of the Fiery Pillar, the God who cannot be portrayed in any image - least of all in an anthropomorphic form such as that propounded in Sunday Schools! The God I worship cannot be confined to the here and now, nor to the past - He is everywhere and everywhen. He is a God who urges me to explore, to wonder, to challenge, and to grow - not a God who tries to tie me to the 7th Century or the 1st!
This is my problem with Islam; it insists that the morality of the 7th Century is the only way, it denies the evidence of science in the interpretation of some of the poetry of scripture, and it ascribes to mankind the slavery of "fate" in which all things are preordained by God. This is the discredited Christian Doctrine of Predestination - which I, and the vast majority of Christian Theologians, reject utterly. To believe this is to believe that God gives us no freedom of choice, no freedom to change or to grow. In essence this doctrine suggests that almost everyone except a select few are condemned to damnation and that no amount of atonement or "grace from God" will alter this. This is in complete contradiction to the Gospel and the ethos of God's love saving everyone who accepts that grace. This is not a God in whom I can believe, and it is at odds with the entire ethos of the Gospels. Much of it is rooted in the understandings of desert nomads of the 7th Century and doesn't fit with today's understanding of science, health, human growth, and hygene. True, it follows the thinking of the Jewish concept of a God without an image since His being is unimaginable and therefore beyond our comprehension, but this is where we part company again, since theirs is a God who is remote, demanding, and strict, but not loving. Christianity revolves around the fact that God does love His creation and takes a daily interest in the lives of individuals - but who always allows freedom of choice and action. A God who does answer prayer and who does intervene, frequently in ways which we can only see in hindsight. This is not the vengeful God of the Old Testament or of the Quran, but a God who supports, encourages, and gives hope.
In the face of all of this, I find it incredible that so-called "liberals" seek to promote this backward religion upon a society such as ours - a society in which they are also trying to promote fairness and dignity for homosexuals and others that Islam simply condemns (frequently literally to death. Often demanding stoning, beheading, or some equally "civilised" means of execution.) or rules "ka'fir" - unbeliever. There can be only one motive for this. They seek to use it to increase their powerbase and to suppress all debate - particularly anything which might expose their duplicity or their closet anti-Semiticism. This espousal of Islam is merely an extension their hatred of the Jews who dare to be independent and who refuse to bend to their concept of "inclusiveness", "fairness" or any other perverted "morality" these nasty little people try to promote.
If the so-called leaders of the political debate truly wish to promote racial harmony and religious tolerance, they need to be a damned sight more open and honest in this debate; they need to acknowledge that there is a nasty side to non-English, non-Christian cultures and societies as well. Let people see the negative as well as the positives, then, and only then, can they truly understand the tensions. Tension can be creative, it can be a dynamic in moving things beyond stagnation, but it is dependent upon proper debate and openess about the rights and wrongs on all sides.
You cannot condemn the BNP without also condemning publically the enslavement of young women, the forced and arranged marriages, the circumcision of girls and women, the terrible closed mindedness, and the openly inflammatory attitudes and pronouncements on the other. This debate will not go away simply because Blunkett and his fellow blinkered and bigotted supporters choose to castigate and deal with one side of the argument; it will only be resolved by addressing the bigots, criminals and concerns of both parties.
Currently Islam enjoys far more protection, and Islamic culture is far better promoted than our own. The BNP can really only be neutralised by ensuring that the balance is better preserved.
Posted by The Gray Monk at July 18, 2004 11:08 AM
Comments
Just found this site while looking for something completely different and it is delightful and insighful,Father. Thank u for taking the time to do it. I concur with your issues about Islam and would add a huge number of others to it.
Posted by: Fr.Louis Fair at July 25, 2004 05:18 AM
I support the British National Party and yet I totally agree with you on most of the things you have said. Although Britain is not a one-religion country, I believe that its foundations are that of Christianity, its morals and beliefs, and I feel we must strive to preserve it, for it is part of us, and our culture. According to a recent survey, churches close at a rate of 50 per year, whilst mosques open at a rate of 60. The indigenous people native to this land are all wise enough to be terrified of Islam - yet Islam continues to gain more followers (a mix of immigrants, asylum seekers, but above all else: native people). It cannot be merely coincidential that Islam seeks to convert us all using even rape as a tool (which they believe is justified and this criminality is often ignored by police in fear of being 'racist' or 'Nazi') and that its followers increase in number.
While I may not be a devout and zealous Christian and have shamelessly not attended a church in my life except for a few weddings and funerals, I have read much of the Bible, and can see how its teachings integrate into our legal system and how they make British people the way they are. As far as I can see, Christianity has been the main religion of Britian since it arrived here and got rid of all the Pagans, which some might argue is the original religion of Britain, whilst I would argue its credibility is immensely flawed. It has been a strong force on these great isles for at least a millennium. A millennium is something to be proud of. So why would we want to be an Islamic country after more than 1000 years? Ask the Labour Party and the LibDems, and they will tell you something along the lines of 'we live in a multicultural society'. This 'multicultural society' is clearly a society that causes much conflict. Many cultures and religions cause many conflicts. Kashmir, Palestine, Ireland, America, Tsarist Russia - they are examples of multicultural societies. They are also good examples of places of cultural conflict. Coincidence? I think not. That is most certainly NOT to say it would be justified to eliminate all cultures, religions and races but our own. That is the idea of Islam, not Britain, not Christianity, and we shall not lower ourselves to their gruesome level. However, it does most certainly justify our right to defend, uphold and preserve our Britain, our Christianity; our culture. When we are one day challenged with violence by the barbarians of Islam and multiculture, we cannot stand by and watch our heritage and superb history be engulfed into nothingness. Where there are many, there are not individuals. We must retain our individualism, and prevent threats to it by taking legitimate democratic action. We must have our priests and followers gather in the churches, and rally to the nearest ballot box, for the only true way to stop Islamification is to come together proud of your national heritage and vote for the British National party at the next General Election. This is a peaceful act, this vote, in this democracy. But when a Muslim comes to cut you down with his rusty sword, blow you and himself up to gain martyrdom, ritualistically slit your cattles' throats, rape and oppress your wife and daughters to gain what his right arm may possess - none of that will be peaceful, and none of that will be democratic. There is no peace in "Kill all the unbelievers". There is no mercy in Islam. We must stop it before it is too late, before they are too powerful. Act now.
Posted by: Adam Weir, aged 17 at October 6, 2004 09:36 AM