One holds out hope it may yet dawn on Rowan Williams that the introduction of Sharia in Britain, which he welcomed, combined with unrestrained immigration and generous welfare benefits for unabashed Islamic supremacists will lead to that very problem into the British Isles if left unchallenged.
Of course, he is not blaming Sharia here. These are but side effects of the Arab Spring and a complex set of economic and cultural "underlying causes." The true underlying cause of Muslim persecution of Christians, Islamic supremacism and its accompanying imperative to impose Sharia, cannot be named, even as Williams notes the same phenomenon occurring across the Islamic world from Egypt to Bethlehem, Syria, and Iraq. "Middle East Christians facing 'extremist atrocities'," from BBC News, June 14:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that there are extreme forces at work that have turned the Arab Spring into a "very anxious time" for Christians.
Dr Rowan Williams told the BBC that the vacuum left by the end of autocratic regimes was being filled by extremists.
He claimed there had been more killings of Christians and burnings of churches in Egypt than people were aware of.
Life was unsustainable for Christians in northern Iraq, and tensions in Syria were nearing breaking point, he added.
The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and home to some of the world's most ancient Christian denominations.
There is no agreed figure for the number of Christians in the region, though some experts believe there are as many as 10 million.
'Consistent pattern'
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Dr Williams said he was "guardedly optimistic" that the political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa would bring greater democracy to the region.
"In the long term, of course, a real participatory democracy in the region is bound to be in the interests of minorities because good democracies look after minorities," he said.
"Good democracies." Once again, a democracy is only as good as the values that inform its participants.
But in the short term, he warned, people were using the chaos it had brought to attack Christian minorities.
"There is no doubt at all that it is a very anxious time for Christian communities. There have been extremist atrocities already, especially in Egypt," he said.
"It is a fairly consistent pattern over a number of months. Although at leadership level in the Muslim community in Egypt there is clear condemnation of this, it's evident that there are other forces at work which of course may not be native Egyptian," he added.
He suggested outside elements had entered Egypt from "more traditional sites of extremism", such as Saudi Arabia and northern Sudan, and did not rule out activity by al-Qaeda.
Dr Williams said violent extremism had made life unsustainable for Christians in northern Iraq, in a way that amounted to ethnic cleansing.
"The level of violence has been extreme," he said.
"More and more there is the talk of an 'enclave solution' to the problem in Iraq - that is a sort of safe territory for Christians, which Christians and their leaders don't particularly want, but many would think is the only practical outcome now."
He said even in Syria, where Christians and Muslims had long lived together peacefully, tensions were building to breaking point.
Even in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Christians who had once been in the majority were now a "marginalised minority", he added.
"Good democracies." Once again, a democracy is only as good as the values that inform its participants.
Hear! Hear!
But in the short term, he warned, people were using the chaos it had brought to attack Christian minorities.
What's "short term" going to be? The next century or so?
Slightly OT, in the category of "maybe-there's-hope-for-us-yet" category:
Our son (14) goes to school in Canterbury. He tells me that they had a debate recently on the topic of "This House believes that Islam is a religion of peace".
Guess which side won? Those for the negative!
Woopie do!
(the school is on the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral...)
The Right Rev. Rowan Williams: proof positive that you can worm your way up to the top of the Anglican hierarchy, be universally lauded as a great, wise, intelligent, and learned man by all the respectable outlets of mainstream opinion, and still be a thoroughgoing jackass and blithering idiot.
I apologize for a part of my last comment. Jackasses (also known as donkeys, burros, etc.) are useful and hardy animals with reputations for stubbornness. If they take offense at being compared to The Right Rev. Rowan Williams, I am truly sorry.
Rowan Martin Robin Williams is an ass.
It seems as if the youngsters in your son's school are a damned sight more intelligent than the vast majority of Western politicians and so-called academics.
and what is the west doin?
Great! It's always good to hear that in spite of all the pro-islam praganda from the media by no means everyone is taken in.
I remember at the time of the Regensberg address a poll in UK asked if the Pope should apologise. 90%+ said "No!"
"There have been extremist atrocities already, especially in Egypt."
I love this... "extremist" being used as a noun instead of an adjective. There are no "extremists" in and of themselves. Extremist...WHAT?
Greetings:
But then again. might not one say that one man's (Muslim's) "enclave" is another man's (Nazi) ghetto. You go, Archie, baby, 'casue you got a long way to go.
And what about those 800 or so Christians who were massacred in Cote d'Ivoire but the newly elected and UN supported President's followers. My, how quickly that trifle escaped from our media and our ken.
Haha. .you punked him there macck!
I wonder when the Archbishop will have the bravery to have a debate about Muhammad between an Anglican and a Muslim
A civilized affair,a mere battle of words.Watch this debate between David Wood and Shamoun vs Omar Bakri and another Muslim on WHO WAS MUHAMMAD?
BAKRI supports AL-QAIDA and HAMAS and HEZBULLAH yet he was willing to do a debate.It was done only 2 days ago:
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2011/06/omar-bakri-shah-jalal-hussain-vs-sam.html
ALSO READ:
1.answeringmuslims.com
2.answering-islam.org
3.thereligionofconquest.com
4.See the videos (click on "online videos") of abnsat.com(like "Jihad Exposed","Debate","Jesus or Muhammad").
The videos are also on youtube,write "abnsat".
5.Also PYEM Ministry:
http://pyemministry.blogspot.com/
(very critical of Islam)
6.The blog "Debunking Quranic Science":
http://debunkingquranicscience.blogspot.com/
7.WIKISLAM(with 1,400 articles):
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Main_Page
8."Confident Christianity by Mary Jo Sharp":
Home Page:
http://confidentchristianity.com/
Her blog:
http://www.confidentchristianity.blogspot.com/
Also read:
antisharia.com and:
avraidire.com:
http://www.avraidire.com/
(in French and English),you can translate the French by copying and pasting with Google Translate:
http://translate.google.com/#
When all the true Christians are finally destroyed at the bloody, evil, hands of Islam, will this charlatan, Rowan Williams, persist in naively (or deceitfully) calling them "extremists"? There is something about William's over arching, dark eyebrows that, for me at least, seems to betray an almost Satanic character. It is evil church fathers like Williams that pose the greatest danger to Christ's faithful. Akin to wolves among sheep.
No thread concerning Rowan Williams is complete without a link to Iowahawk's hilarious "Canterbury Tales" parody, titled "Heere Bigynneth the Tale of the Asse-Hatte":
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/02/heere-bigynneth.html
. .a Timelesse piece indeede
With Bishop sat in reverse upon his steed.
It made me sick he was marrying Wills and Kate. I can't stand him, he's a "Right" Jackas* is what he is.
A talk by Bishop Nazir Ali
http://kitmantv.blogspot.com/2011/06/dr-michael-nazir-ali-radicalization-of.html?utm_source=BP_recent
Well worth watching.
He claimed there had been more killings of Christians and burnings of churches in Egypt than people were aware of.
Life was unsustainable for Christians in northern Iraq, and tensions in Syria were nearing breaking point, he added.
The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and home to some of the world's most ancient Christian denominations.
There is no agreed figure for the number of Christians in the region, though some experts believe there are as many as 10 million.
What did this useful idiot expect? A rose garden? All he had to do was to study history and actually read the Koran. He would have seen how Muslims treated Christians in the past and how they have and are treating Jews today.
There is an old saying in Muslim countries:
First the Saturday People,
Then the Sunday People.
They have pretty much eliminated the Saturday People (Jews) from their lands. Now they will destroy the Sunday People (Christians).
OK, he said it but this type of rare admission is tabled to attack the supposed conditions of muslim anger. Leftists - and Anglicans operate Leftist operations - work more for muslims than for Christians. This mentality is Orwellianism in practise.
Williams is such an odd bird. In 2008 he advocated the idea of Sharia style courts to adjudicate certain civil matters in UK for Muslims, yet now has an epiphany about the fate of his fellow Christians in the Near East? Is this a form of dementia? Or Johny-Come-Lately to reality? What exactly does he think motivates Muslims in their war against their Christian neighbors? Nice of the Archbishop to finally take note.
the archbishop is quite right, he should work together with Patriarch Gregory III Laham to combat extremism.
the archbishop is quite right, he should work together with Patriarch Gregory III Laham to combat extremism.
This is the man who wants to incorporate Sharia Law in the UK., certainly not a wise man, more of a shallow man.
dr andrew michael
The most dispiriting thing is that Williams ( who has always been a lefty libtard), even with the evidence right under his nose, *refuses* to see the cause is islam and muslims doing what their foul books tell them to.
If there was an atrocity like, or worse, than the 9/11 horror, ( say, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace) Williams would *still* be bleating that it was a 'tiny minority' of 'extremists'. And all the leftist morons would agree with him, a*lot* of them because what they really want to see is the destruction of western civilisation.
Probably camoron and clogg, too, and dear Mr. Obama. All the evidence out there, even if their noses were rubbed in it, they would *still* bleat their multiculti/diversity c***.
I wish they could all be spirited into the middle of it, and left. But even then, they probably would refuse to see. Wicked fools.
Well, at least Williams is starting to catch up - and you can't blame him, nor most of the UK population - censorship is so extreme here, apart from football, the BBC and other organs carry next to nothing on news and nothing at all on what is really happening at home, let alone overseas. We have a dhimmi government, the head of which, Camoron, attacked Williams for telling a few home truths yet has never uttered a word about imams up and down the country, sponsored by the state, who preach hate, rape, murder on a daily basis. The police turn a blind eye to muslim crime and the European Courts have totally emasculated our judicial system and are now running this country. We even have an Equality and Human Rights Commission, financed by tax payers, which devotes all its time, and our money, to persecuting and prosecuting native, heritage Brits if they say or do anything remotely British, or traditional - re-inforced by muslim plants in both Houses of Parliament at Westminster, who leak anything of use to the jihadists and organisations that are sworn to the destruction of Christianity and Britain - these are terrible times - we are leaderless and nobody is defending our human rights - anybody who tries to do so is immediately hounded by the law and imprisoned if they can possibly get away with it. How long before the placid Brits finally snap? It is taking longer than it should because there is a blanket of silence over the atrocities being committed by muslims here and we only get to hear about them by word of mouth,a few brave patriotic resistance fighters who get hounded and ridiculed by the establishment and media, or foreign media - however, the time will come and it won't be pretty - particularly for those who should have been defending our culture, heritage, history, traditions, morals, standards, nation and people!
Oh deary me our Archbishop has become aware that the naughty Muslim are being a unpleasant towards his co-religionists. One wonders if he has a computer and it it is connected to the Internet.
Wake up Rowan old boy. The naughty friends of Muhammad have been oppressing and killing their jizya paying 'protected persons' for 1400 years.
I have just visited the Archbishop's website. He reports that this morning he had a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
'Their discussion focused in particular on continuing to build understanding and personal community relationships between Christians and Muslims' !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have e-mailed the Archbishop at contact@lambethpalace.org.uk and pointed out that Muslims have been oppressing and killing non-Muslims on a regular basis ever since Muhammad started the practice. I also advised him to regularly connect to Jihadwatch and keep in touch with what Islam and the OIC is realy up to.
Might I recommend that everyone e-mail the Archbishop and politely inform him about the real nature of Islam.
Thanks for the e-mail address. I've sent a polite message about the true nature of islam, but I doubt it will make any difference.
Williams is a lefty; ipso facto, he will be more concerned at bottom about muslims, because they are mostly not Caucasian, and pakistan was once part of the Empire, so of course they must be (in his twisted ideology) the victims.
There are *none* so blind as those who *will* not see. Williams is on a par with the POW.
I also pointed out that the OIC have been trying to make it a crime to criticise islam in any way, which is an attempt to destroy free speech; but he probably would like that.
Is there finally a bit of hope for the Archbishop of Canterbury?
Probably not. Rowan Williams got a bit too close to the unpleasant truth about Islam—he'll need a big dose of "interfaith" Taqiyya before he can feel comfortably clueless again.