Turkish Forum

Tag: religious intolerance

  • Religious-based violence continues around the world

    Religious-based violence continues around the world

    by Nelson Price October 13, 2013 12:00 AM

    Over the last 2,000 years there have been many religious-based wars. Numerous religions have been involved in these bloody wars. History reveals not one has ever been settled through negotiation. The only way these wars have been stopped is by one side beating the other into submission.

    One side has either had to kill off opponents or subdue them. The brutal conflict between Christians (the word as used here is a noun and not an adjective) and Muslims has been ongoing throughout history. The Crusaders committed many shameful acts and were not without guilt. However, it was the Muslim hoard that swarmed out of the Arabian Horn and into Europe that started the prolonged horrible conflict. In their aggression against Eastern Europe, the conquest of what is now Istanbul was a crowning victory. They assaulted the city three times. The first two times they took captive many children and grandchildren. The third time they returned, these youths had been forcefully converted to Islam and came as warriors who killed their parents and grandparents to win the victory. They established Istanbul as the center of the Ottoman Empire.

    Had not the Ottoman forces been defeated in the Kahlenberg Mountain battle near Vienna, all of Europe would today be Muslim. (An interesting aside. The chef of the Austrian king wanted to do something different to celebrate the victory over the Turks. He baked a new pastry shaped like the crescent symbol of the Ottoman Empire and called it the croissant.)

    Today Turkish Muslims are in general among the more peace-loving of all Muslims.

    The conflict goes on, however. Muslims recently stormed a mall in Kenya testing persons to determine if they were Muslim by requiring them to quote a certain well known passage from the Koran. If they could not they were assumed to be Christians and were shot.

    Nearly 100 Christian churches have been burned in Egypt since the revolution.

    A suicide bomber attack on a historical church in Pakistan killed 85 and wounded hundreds more. Reports are that Christians among the wounded were the last to receive medical treatment.

    In Syria the bloody Assad regime has shown tolerance toward Christians. Rebel forces have slaughtered hundreds of Christians and burned many churches. Though there appear to be few good guys among the several groups fighting in Syria, our government in Washington is backing the rebel forces that are harshest on Christians.

    In Africa, it is estimated that more than 500,000 Christians have been killed in this conflict. Yet, the Christian church is growing faster in Africa than on any other continent.

    This is a horrible summary. Every day in more than 60 countries 100 million Christians are suffering persecution, according to the Open Door publication World Watch. Persons adhering to one particular religious faith are the perpetrators. Our president remains strangely silent on this subject.

    Fortunately, there are peace-loving Muslims. A number of them live in our area. The majority of American Muslims appear to be ambivalent about the conflict with the West. It is challenging to distinguish these two segments from more aggressive ones. Knowing this, the more aggressive ones often conceal themselves among the more innocent ones, often without the more peaceful ones knowing their commitment to aggression.

    Opponents of our nation no longer wear red coats and march across open fields in a straight line. The most red that is seen is the blood of the martyrs.

    The Rev. Dr. Nelson Price is pastor emeritus at Roswell Street Baptist Church.

    via The Marietta Daily Journal.

  • Tory chief Baroness Warsi attacks ‘bigotry’ against Muslims

    Tory chief Baroness Warsi attacks ‘bigotry’ against Muslims

    Prejudice against Muslims has become widespread and socially acceptable in Britain, the Conservative chairman will claim.

    BaronessWarsi
    Baroness Warsi will warn against trying to divide Muslims into 'moderates' and 'extremists' saying that it simply fosters intolerance Photo: IAN JONES

    By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

    Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” and is seen by many as normal and uncontroversial, Baroness Warsi will say in a speech on Thursday.

    The minister without portfolio will also warn that describing Muslims as either “moderate” or “extremist” fosters growing prejudice.
    Lady Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet, has pledged to use her position to wage an “ongoing battle against bigotry”.
    Her comments are the most high-profile intervention in Britain’s religious debate by any member of David Cameron’s government.
    They also confirm the Coalition’s determination to depart from its Labour predecessor’s policy of keeping out of issues of faith.
    Lady Warsi will use a speech at the University of Leicester to attack what she sees as growing religious intolerance in the country, especially towards followers of Islam.
    A recent study estimated there are now around 2.9 million Muslims in Britain, up from 1.6 million in 2001.
    Some religious and social commentators have suggested that growth in numbers gives rise to legitimate concerns, asking whether strict adherence to the faith is compatible with the values of Western democracies.
    Some Christian leaders have also said that Britain has become less tolerant of their faith during the same period.
    In response, Lady Warsi will blame “the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters, including the media”. The peer will describe how prejudice against Muslims has grown along with their numbers, partly because of the way they are often portrayed.
    The notion that all followers of Islam can be described either as “moderate” or “extremist” can fuel misunderstanding and intolerance, she will say.
    “It’s not a big leap of imagination to predict where the talk of ‘moderate’ Muslims leads; in the factory, where they’ve just hired a Muslim worker, the boss says to his employees: ‘Not to worry, he’s only fairly Muslim’.
    “In the school, the kids say: ‘The family next door are Muslim but they’re not too bad’.
    “And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burka, the passers-by think: ‘That woman’s either oppressed or is making a political statement’.”
    A decade of growth in the British Muslim population also saw the first al-Qaeda attacks on British soil and Lady Warsi will address the issue of terrorism and extremism.
    Terrorist offences committed by a small number of Muslims must not be used to condemn all who follow the faith, she will insist.
    But she will also suggest that some Muslim communities must do more to make clear to extremists that their beliefs and actions are not acceptable.
    “Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law,” she will say.
    “They also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims.”
    Her call echoes Mr Cameron’s New Year message, in which the Prime Minister asked why the country was “allowing” the continuing radicalisation of young British Muslims.
    Lady Warsi will also reveal that she raised the issue of Islamophobia with the Pope when he visited Britain last year, urging him to “create a better understanding between Europe and its Muslim citizens.”
    Despite her warnings, she will recognise that Britain has a long history of tolerance and diversity.
    www.telegraph.co.uk, 19 Jan 2011