Monday 14 January 2008

"Enjoy community diversity", says Bishop of Oxford

The Bishop of Oxford has supported plans to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer over part of the historic city.

Welcoming proposals from Oxford's Central Mosque to sound the call three times a day over East Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard said those opposed to the plan should "relax" and "enjoy community diversity".

The bishop also rejected claims by the Anglican Church's only Asian bishop that sounding the call in Britain represented an attempt to "impose an Islamic character" on some areas.

Hmm. Whether or not Muslims are attempting to impose an Islamic character on certain areas (and I for one think that they are), it is difficult to see how the sound of the Adhan blaring over an area three times a day, summoning forth multitudes of long-bearded men in Islamic garb, could fail to give such a character to any area unfortunate enough to have to put up with it.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph the Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester sparked fierce debate when he criticised the amplified prayer call and suggested that some parts of the country were now too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter. Bishop Pritchard said: "I want to distance myself from what the Bishop of Rochester has said.

"There are no no-go areas in this country that we are aware of and in all parts of the country there are good interfaith relationships developing."

Dozens of East Oxford residents have urged the council to reject the plan by mosque leaders to issue the two-minute call to prayer up to three times a day.

They fear that it will turn the area into a "Muslim ghetto". However, Bishop Pritchard said he was "very happy" with the move.

You do have to wonder about these Christian clergy, such as Pritchard, or the Rev Canon Chris Chivers (who, as some readers may recall, wrote about the gratitude he felt to his "Muslim sisters and brothers for Ramadan"), who seem to regard the growing presence and strength of the Islamic religion as something to be celebrated as an improvement rather than feared and resisted as the greatest threat this country has ever faced. Do they honestly believe that, because once or twice a year they attend an inter-faith meeting, where they smile at an imam and utter platitudes, and he smiles back and utters platitudes, that life in a putative future Islamic Britain would be just fine for Christians (or for any other non-Muslims, for that matter)? Apparently so. And, presumably, they also believe that Christians in existing Islamic states are treated fairly, and that the sound of church bells ringing out over Riyadh or Mecca would be welcomed by delighted Saudi imams as "enjoyable community diversity"?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

FR writes: You do have to wonder about these Christian clergy............

The quintessential submissiveness and sophistry of the western liberal mind is found in the upper echelons of the Church of England. Need one say more.......?

(The hierarchy in the Catholic church is no better).

Anonymous said...

You do have to wonder about these Christian clergy, such as Pritchard, or the Rev Canon Chris Chivers (who, as some readers may recall, wrote about the gratitude he felt to his "Muslim sisters and brothers for Ramadan"), who seem to regard the growing presence and strength of the Islamic religion as something to be celebrated as an improvement rather than feared and resisted as the greatest threat this country has ever faced.

But it IS something to be celebrated, except by racists, xenophobes and assorted other scum who have the best interests of the country at heart, rather than the best interests of their liberal delusions. If Richard Dawkins were running the main Christian churches in this country, it's hard to see how he could be doing a more cunning job of destroying them. But I predict a strong Christian revival: religion always does well when hatred is flying and sides need to be picked.

Anonymous said...

CELEBRATE ENRICHMENT BY DIVERSE FAITHS:

"A GIRL was murdered and a woman rescuer wounded by a knifeman ranting from the Koran.

Teacher Katherine Moore, 56, was knifed twice in the back when she jumped out of her car to help the victim who was stabbed to death. She is seriously ill but stable in hospital.

The alleged attacker was captured after being tackled by neighbours and purposely knocked over by a driver.

A witness said yesterday: "The guy was in full Muslim dress, carrying the Koran and spouting all sorts of foreign language.

Advertisement"He seemed to be in trance and looked as if he was on a mission. It was like something out of The Scream movies."

Police said: "These were apparently random and motiveless attacks." They are questioning a man of 21. He is believed to be a foreign student.

Mrs Moore, 56, was driving near her home in Salford, Greater Manchester, when she spotted the first victim - who was in her 20s - being attacked with a six-inch kitchen knife.

Her husband Edward, 72, said: "She saw the woman in trouble, stopped and told her to get in her car. But the man followed.

"My wife and the other woman tried to escape. Then the man stabbed them both. My neighbour had earlier seen him acting suspiciously and asked what he was doing.

"He came out with a load of gibberish and lashed out with his knife at the neighbour's car before running away.

"My wife has lost a lot of blood. But none of the wounds has affected her organs and I'm sure she's over the worst. She was very brave to help."

A man who went to Mrs Moore's aid added: "I was with two mates when this guy came running up, yelling 'Help! A woman is being stabbed'.

"We dashed round the corner to see one woman dead in the road and this guy knifing another who had got out of her Fiat Punto.

"We shouted at him to stop and the woman fell to the ground. Then the guy went for us. Luckily, a man in a gold Mondeo steered his car into him. I was really worried we might be hurt. There were about 30 kids playing nearby."

Another witness added: "I saw one person lying on the ground. Then this man started stabbing a woman who stopped her car. It was a terrible scene."

The younger victim, thought to be a Chinese or East European student, was taken to a nearby hospital where she died.

Police sealed off the area after the attack and checked the scene for clues.

A spokesman said: "We have one man in custody. We're not looking for anyone else over this tragic incident."

From http://www.mirror.co.uk/archive/2004/09/04/the-koran-killer-89520-14602807/

Anonymous said...

I hope they start their caterwauling in the middle of his tedious, irrelevant bloody sermon. Every Sunday.

Monty

Homophobic Horse said...

Here's another book on FR's reading list:Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future

It describes the New-Ageist scheme to create a One-World religion based on a "Universal" theology of the worship of man and the devil. Read it and you will understand why a "Christian" should suddenly honour Rama-dama-ding-dong.

JuliaM said...

This shop assistant hasn't got the message about 'diversity', it seems.... :

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/31491/Outcry-as-Muslim-M-S-worker-refuses-to-sell-unclean-Bible-book

Anonymous said...

If you hate what the Labour party is doing to the country
then the best way to fight it is from inside the party.
As a member you will have access to some of it's sleazy lie
manufacturing secrets.
Sending embarrassing internal memos to the press, undermining
candidates by the release of information that shows them in a bad light.
Admittedly the Labour party are doing a great job at destroying public trust
in them by themselves, but with a bit of assistance we can ensure
this lying, sleazy, corrupt, incompetent gang of power freaks never
hold power again.

Greg said...

He's just another sell out. There will be more to come.

Anonymous said...

I was opposed to uncontrolled polish immigration but have realised we have far more important things to worry about.

The poles who have come may prove valuable allies in the coming struggle.

Wake Up England.