At a time when the entire world should be focusing on Stockholm and following the talks there to be ready to fight tooth and nail for an accountable and responsible world leadership in our battle to save our planet, instead the people of our planet are showing intolerance and pettiness beyond belief. The headlines this week should be concerned with the talks in Stockholm, but instead they read: "Many countries expressed concerns about Islamophobia after the Swiss passed a ban that will stop the construction of minarets."
"Switzerland approves minaret ban --They compare this intolerant referendum to the old ban on bell towers for Catholic churches in the Canton of Vaud."
"The Swiss minaret ban is still reverberating, with reactions coming in from around the world. In Italy, the Lega Nord has been inspired by the Swiss referendum, and hopes to follow the example of its northern neighbor."
The shock, the threat, the fear reverberating across Europe and the world>>>"In other news, USA Today reports on the rising incidence of honor killings in the United States, and actually quotes Robert Spencer.
Honor killings are generally defined as murders of women by relatives who claim the victim brought shame to the family. Thousands of such killings have occurred in Muslim countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Palestinian territories, according to the World Health Organization.
Some clerics and even lawmakers in these countries have said families have the right to commit honor killings as a way of maintaining values, according to an analysis by Yotam Feldner in the journal Middle East Quarterly."
"How is it still possible that such blatant prejudice and intolerance is still within the political mainstream? Should I tolerate such intolerance? It’s upsetting and paralysing, because it is so close and yet so far. People I know, in both countries, are affected directly by all of these debates. Yet, all I can do is be a bystander. So I’m standing by, but not uncritically. What are you doing?" or "Here (in Morocco-sic)they believe in tolerance and not like the rat bag Swiss Neo nazis... "
These quotes are from various different blogs, and what I see are people who feel threatened, and, as a consequence either question, become prejudiced, judge and condemn. (what kind of person speaks of 'tolerance' in the same sentence he condemns an entire nation in a sweeping accusation of 'neo=nazism?) So, what ARE we doing about the issues which we believe threaten us??
The decision by Swiss voters to ban the building of minarets drew widespread criticism in France and all over Europe this week, with neighbouring governments attacking what they called a demonstration of fear-driven prejudice -- "an expression of prejudice as well as a good measure of fear", according to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency.
Bernard Kouchner, foreign minister of France, was equally damning in his condemnation of the result, adding that he hoped the Swiss would reverse their decision, while President Nicolas Sarkozy warned French believers to refrain from religious "ostentation and provocation"
"Although it expresses the popular will, the decision to ban the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is a source of profound concern," said Lluis Maria de Puig, the president of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly.
This does not help the cause...
"The result of this referendum goes against the values of tolerance, dialogue and respect for other people’s beliefs," he added. Foreign Affairs Minister Franco Frattini expressed the Italian government's "concern,” while the Vatican also slammed the move, endorsing earlier criticism by a group of Swiss bishops who said it was a blow to religious freedom. Antonio Maria Sveglio, president of the pontifical council on migration, told the ANSA news agency that "we are on the same page" as the Conference of Swiss Bishops.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Christoph Steegmans declined to comment on the result, telling AFP that Berlin was not "going to give advice to Switzerland."
"Christians, Jews, Muslims, all believers regardless of their faith, must refrain from ostentation and provocation and ... practice their religion in humble discretion," President Sarkozy commented this week.
"Anything that could appear as a challenge" to France's Christian roots and republican values would lead to "failure" in efforts to promote a form of moderate Islam in France, he warned.
With Islam now the nation's second faith, France has sought to reaffirm its secular tradition which sees religion as a strictly private affair while seeking to avoid a cultural clash within its borders.
Despite several local campaigns by the French far-right, dozens of mosques are scheduled for construction in France, including a Grand Mosque in Marseille that will have a 25-metre (82-foot) minaret. The government has pledged that it will not ban minaret construction and said mayors have the final say on whether new mosques can be built with tall towers, based on urban planning rules. Addressing French Muslims directly, Sarkozy pledged to do "everything" to combat discrimination and ensure they can feel like full-fledged citizens of France.
"Instead of condemning the Swiss people, let's try to understand what they are trying to express and what so many nations in Europe are feeling, including the French," he said.Sarkozy maintained that no one in Europe was seeking to deny Muslims their basic right to freedom of religion, but made clear that fears of Islamic radicalism would have to be addressed.
There are currently 64 mosques with minarets in France. Seven of them have "tall minarets", according to Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, although Estrosi, who is mayor of Nice and also the minister for industry, commented that "Minarets are not part the architecture of our country."
France has had a long-running debate about how far it is willing to go to accommodate Islam without undermining the tradition of separating church and state, enshrined in a flagship 1905 law. A French parliamentary inquiry is also holding hearings on whether to bar Muslim women from wearing the full Islamic veil and the "burqa debate" will reach a critical stage in January when the panel hands in its report. In 2004, France passed a law banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in state schools to defend secularism. A poll published earlier in December showed 41 percent of the French opposed the construction of mosques and 46 percent against building minarets.
In the media and the many blogs running on the subject, the comment of those in agreement with the Swiss decision, often retaliate with the argument that Islam countries would not allow the building of synagogues and churches. The debate rages on as those who are against the decision claim that this is not true -- there are many churches in Islamic countries and even occasionally, such as in Morocco, a synagogue or two. This is true. When one looks at the actual statistics, however, it is clear that these buildings were, for the most part, built in the past before the re-emergence of the Jihad. Currently, new construction of any religious buildings that are non-Islam, is most unlikely.
In a survey conducted in July 2008, this was the result: How Easy to Build a Christian Church in Muslim Countries?
EGYPT
Egypt has between 7 and 10 million Christians. It is impossible to get the exact number because it is against the law to compile statistics on Christians. Most Christians are Coptics, the descendants of ancient Egyptians, as opposed to the Arabic majority which were invaders.
State control of church property is governed by the outdated Ottoman Hamayouni Decree of 1856, amplified by the Interior Ministry in 1934 as the Alazabi Decree. This decree sets out certain restrictive conditions which must be met before a church can be built. It additionally requires the signature of the President before construction can commence. No such signature is required in order to build a mosque. So in order to buid a Christian church, the President of the country must sign a resolution to that effect. The result: none are built.
SAUDI ARABIA
The Kingdom has established more than 1,359 mosques abroad at a cost of SR 820 million. King Fahd also established a number of scholarships and academic chairs in foreign prominent universities and colleges. Outside the Arab Islamic world there is a number of Islamic research institutes supported by the Kingdom; amongst these are the American University of Colorado, the American University in Washington, the Arab World Institute, Paris, France which receives considerable Saudi contribution to its annual budget, the Duke University, North Carolina, the Howard University, Washington, the Institute of the History of Arab and Islamic Science, Frankfurt, Germany, the John Hopkins University, Maryland, the Middle East Institute, in Washington, the Shaw University, in North Carolina, and the Syracuse University, in New York.
No Christian churches are allowed. The open practice of Christianity is punishable by death.
TURKEY
Prior to 1920, Turkey had well over 2 million Christians, entire regions–particularly along the Mediterranean coast were predominantly Christian, as was the northeastern region of Armenia. The Armenians were slaughtered and starved to death.
The Christians in Iona and the Mediterranean regions suffered a slightly different fate. In a replay of the conquest of Constantinople, over three days Ataturk’s army and Muslims gang-raped, tortured, and slaughtered hundred of thousands of Christians. They then looted and set fire to Christian communities. This little-known episode has been covered up by the Western powers for years, because they stood by and refused to rescue a single Christian–although there were battle ships nearby–so close, they could hear the screams of the women.
Apart from lacking legal recognition, these minorities are prevented from constructing, and even from restoring, their places of worship, from possessing buildings and land, and from opening schools. Christians are forbidden from taking up some offices and professions, particularly in the military.
AlGERIA
Algeria had up to one million Christians before its independence from France in 1962, but today counts just 11,000, according to the ministry for religious affairs. Most of these are Catholic, although the Protestant Church claims around 50,000 adherents.
Since 2006, Algeria requires every existing church to apply for a permit. So far, 25 churches have been denied the permit and ordered to shut down. No new churches have been permitted.
INDONESIA
The ‘moderate’ and most populous Muslim country is not getting any more moderate.
On June 14 the Indonesian government disregarded a formal agreement with Protestant leaders by demolishing three churches. The agreement called for the churches to suspend their Sunday religious functions in exchange for not being torn down.
Minority religious communities are finding it more and more difficult to exercise their rights. On something as simple as church construction and repair, changes in 2006 to a ministerial decree of 1969 regulating the building of places of worship has not improved conditions: it is still very difficult to get a permit to build churches, so much so that many religious groups have had to practice their faith illegally.
Harmony in juxtaposition? A church next to a mosque in Lebanon -- an uneasy composition in a world gone mad
PAKISTAN
Pakistan is home to some 4.8 million declared Christians and a large number of crypto-Christians, apostates who will be put to death if discovered. Sharia law was established for the entire country in 1998. Christian are under constant pressure to convert to Islam. The arrest of all Christians for blasphemy.
All Christian services require a permit. Most ‘churches’ are in fact homes. There is little or no construction of new churches.
IRAN
Churches and Christian training centers are routinely monitored and there has been widespread closure of these institutions by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance (MIG), forcing many churches to go underground.
The Armenian and Assyrian churches have been allowed to stay open because their services are conducted in the Armenian/Assyrian languages and because they have agreed to the government’s demands forbidding Muslims and Muslim converts from attending the church services and refraining from evangelism.
Circulation of Christian literature, including scripture in the Persian language, is banned. The office of the Bible Society together with all Christian bookshops were closed in 1990. Several Christian leaders, mostly converts from Islamic backgrounds, have been executed or assassinated. The deaths which occurred in 1994 are particularly renowned and include Rev. Hussein Soodman, Mehdi Dibaj and Bishop Haik.
No new churches have been constructed in years, although a few which were confiscated by the Government have been repaired for tourists.
(Some of the sources cited for this survey:
http://www.arabicbible.com/ac/saudi/saudi_finance.htm
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/004540.php
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080703/wl_africa_afp/algeriareligionchristianitycourt
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15600&t=Indonesia%3A+Crackdown+on+minorities
http://www.persecution.net/country/pakistan.htm
http://www.cswusa.com/Countries/Iran.htm
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/07/06/2008-07-06_nypd_gathering_intel_on_lookout_for_terr.html
http://www.cswusa.com/Countries/Egypt.htm
Click on Link:
Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event
