Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Secularism is as foreign to Islamic theory as is Sharia law to Americans

"Secularlism foreign to Islam," by Peter Johnston for Yale Daily News, September 26:

The distinction between the City of God and the City of Man laid the foundation for the Catholic Church’s cession of temporal power to the emerging European state, which in turn placed limits upon the Church’s temporal response to the Reformation...

Now it may be true, from the point of view of Christianity, that the modern understanding of secularism has taken the distinction between the City of God and the City of Man too far. Thus the continuous debate in America on the proper role of religion in the public sphere. But at the very least, Christians have a history that requires them to grapple with secularism as something of their own kin. Secularism cannot be completely rejected as “other,” as an imposition of a rival faith.

The situation is much different for Muslims. Islamic theory describes a proper ordering of the civil community. Secularism is as foreign to Islamic theory as is Sharia law to Americans. Thus it was surprising when Prime Minister Blair, at his talk last weekend, suggested a parallel between tensions relating to Ireland in Great Britain and the tensions in the Middle East. Tensions in the Middle East are only partially caused by internal sectarian conflict. They are also caused, and perhaps to a much larger extent, by the prospect of globalization.

Globalization does not simply mean the development of third-world countries, the spread of efficient communication and transportation systems, or the increasing mobility of capital. Rather, globalization also entails the progress of Western ideals, secularism foremost among them. While it is possible, therefore, that globalization will strengthen Christian faith, it is not possible for it to strengthen Muslim faith.

The muslims do not want people to live in a civilized mannor. They prefer the seventh century.

How To Identify A Terrorist

PARIS (AP) — Security officials from several European countries have developed a manual to help prison authorities prevent their jailhouses from becoming incubators for Muslim extremists.

The manual, developed by France, Germany and Austria, includes signs that may indicate that a prisoner was becoming radicalized, including the presence of a growing beard. A prison group feared the manual could stigmatize Muslim inmates.

The document was distributed at a two-day closed-door conference of European security experts that ended Wednesday. It will be given to prison personnel.
Prisons "can be a facilitator and an accelerator" of radicalization and inmates are often "strongly destabilized" and therefore malleable, said Christophe Chaboud, head of France's Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit.

"It is not a question of religion but of confrontation with the West," Chaboud said in a telephone interview.

Islam is the second-largest religion in France and, while there are no official figures available, Muslims make up a large part of the inmate population — the majority in some prisons.

A disproportionate number of Muslims can be found in prisons in other European Union countries.

France began massive arrests of Islamic militants linked to insurgents in Algeria after deadly bombings in subways and elsewhere that began in 1995 and terrorized the nation.

But it was only in 2004 that authorities began to act on the simmering threat posed by jailed extremists looking to turn even non-practicing Muslim inmates into radicals and recruit for their cause