Category: Islam


Egyptian military attacks Copts

Filed under: Islam, persecution, violence — Leave a comment
October 14, 2011

In the worst violence in Egypt since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, at least 40 people were killed and hundreds injured in Cairo last Sunday when police and armed forces opened fire on a peaceful march protesting against the destruction of a Coptic church in Mari Nab, Aswan.

According to local sources, most of the casualties suffered gunshot wounds, while several protesters were killed or seriously injured when security forces drove armoured vehicles into the 150,000 strong crowd.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the bereaved and injured, and with all Coptic Christians in Australia today.

Copts have a long history of persecution and marginalisation in Egyptian society, and there was hope that the Arab Spring would bring change.  But it appears the Muslim Brotherhood-backed military council has dashed these hopes.

The Australian Government must send Egypt a strong and unapologetic message that military attacks on religious minorities can never be justified.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 16 October 2011.

UPDATE:

Since I wrote the comments above (on 13 October) the Parliament of Australia has responded to the recent violence.  See the following:

Australian Parliament calls for an end to Coptic persecution in Egypt

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Did 9/11 change our lives forever?

Filed under: Islam, terrorism, war — Leave a comment
September 9, 2011

Most of us can remember where we were when we heard the first reports of the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, ten years ago.

Many believe 9/11 “changed our lives forever.”

Former Prime Minister John Howard said, “Nobody should underestimate how much the world changed on the 11th of September 2001.”

Certainly the attacks focused attention on the vulnerability of powerful nations and their populations to terrorist attack. And they were a wake-up call to Americans who had little idea of the world beyond their borders, and who could not understand why so many people hated them.

The attacks also highlighted the significance of the rising tide of militant Islam, and the conflict between Islamic values and those of Western civilization, with its residual adherence to Christian values.

But very little has changed for the better in the past ten years. We can only hope and pray that lessons will be learned, wisdom will prevail, and peace will come where there is conflict.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 11 September 2011.

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Avoiding intolerance only fuels it

Filed under: civility, Islam, multiculturalism, political correctness — Leave a comment
September 2, 2011

In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday, Elizabeth Farrelly argued – persuasively, in my opinion – that our desperation to avoid racial and religious intolerance allows intolerance to thrive.

Ms Farrelly says “our determination not to offend means we tolerate the thoroughly offensive.”  She calls it “moral relativism,” which she says is “profoundly dangerous to a free and fair society,” and she gives several examples.

One in particular caught my eye.  Last year the University of Western Sydney held an Islamic Awareness Week, where members of the Atheist Foundation debated the existence of God with the Muslim Students Association.

When the atheists arrived, they found the room segregated, men on the left and women on the right. There was open hostility in the audience.  One heckler shouted, “Islam will conquer the world!”  The atheists were later escorted off campus by security. 

This is no way to debate theology. Disagreements are not resolved by force, or by appeasement, but by sitting down together and learning from each other, building respect and mutual understanding.  This is sadly lacking in Australia today.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 4 September 2011.

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Islam a threat to Christianity

Filed under: Islam, religious freedom, secularism — Leave a comment
August 19, 2011

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

Recently in London, a public debate was held on the claim that “Secularism is a greater threat to Christianity than Islam.”

Dr Patrick Sookdheo, of the Barnabas Fund, led the opposition, arguing that Christians have nothing to fear from either Islam or secularism, but that Christianity can be threatened, even eradicated, by external threats. 

Never and nowhere has secularism destroyed Christianity, Dr Sookhdeo said.  But the same cannot be said for Islam. Muhammad’s early encounters with Christians were peaceful, but soon became hostile as Islam expanded, with sharia law and other methods of subjugation, culminating in the death penalty for Muslim converts to Christianity.

Dr Sookhdeo concluded that Islam is unique among world religions in the pressure it exerts on other faiths, and said he would prefer to live in a secular state where the law guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom to choose or change one’s faith, and protection from religious violence.

His team won the debate, with the audience voting 167 to 108 that Islam is a greater threat than secularism.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 21 August 2011.

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No place for legal pluralism in Australia

Filed under: Islam, law, marriage, religious freedom — Leave a comment
July 29, 2011

For years Christian leaders have warned state and federal political leaders that some Australian Muslims, in defiance of Australian law and custom, practice polygamous marriage, underage marriage, and allegedly commit social security fraud in situations where a man has multiple wives who receive family welfare payments.

New research by legal academics Ann Black and Kerrie Sadiq has found that this so-called “legal pluralism” based on sharia law is rife in Australia, with some Muslims failing to register marriages, and others relying on religious ceremonies to validate unions that breach the Marriage Act.

It will come as a surprise to many Australians that, as well as the current push to legislate same sex marriage, we already have a situation where polygamous marriages, lawfully entered into overseas, are recognized in Australia, as de facto marriages; and second, third and other wives and their children are entitled to claim welfare and other benefits.

Australian’s welcome Muslims to our country, but those who agitate for sharia law and special treatment will need to look elsewhere. There is no place for legal pluralism in Australia.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 24 July 2011.

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