Quote:
Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp
I've just been watching the mid-day news and not one muslim interviewed seemed to think it was a good idea. In fact most said it would be divisive and cause many problems.
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Good point hon. I think that what people should be guarding against is religious extremism of all forms. When a probably well-meaning man as the Archbishop no doubt is, asks for some tolerance, too many people assume the worst ... that the worst aspects of Islam will become part of the English social fabric. This is not going to happen. Someone mentioned "honor killings" as if muslims had a monopoly on this kind of violence. Every year in Canada over one hundred women and many of their children are murdered by ex boyfriends and ex husbands. Most of these are white males from a christian background ... honor killings with a western twist. In North America christian extremists bomb abortion clinics, kill doctors who perform abortions, beat or kill gays, drag blacks behind pick up trucks, blow up federal buildings, etc. etc. In Canada, in the really friendly city of Saskatoon, white cops dump drunken indians by the roadside to freeze to death. At Iperwash, On, an OPP snipers kills a peaceful native protester. Synagogues are still being defaced by swastikas in our country.
No doubt extreme Islam poses great dangers to world peace. But it is the extremism that is dangerous. Israel faces a threat from the Arab world, but also has to deal with its jewish extremists who make compromise difficult to the point of impossibility.
The English may consider themselves as living in a post-christian state; but that is only because England has, over centuries of trial and error, adopted the better parts of christian teaching into the fabric of their politics and their social relations. Most of the bad parts have been tossed out. Maybe Islam, which has only been around since the seventh century is still working on this secularization of religion. Also, the US is still working thro this problem, as is Canada.