AGENDAS UNADMITTED

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Debate continues in Saskatchewan about the Jesus cartoon. Apparently those who withheld the Mohammed cartoons but published the Jesus cartoon felt this was justified on political grounds. In other words to offend people on political grounds is not OK but on religious grounds doesn’t matter - or in real terms if something will stop people getting violent it’s justified to censor but if you can hurt the feelings of those who you know won’t be violent it doesn’t matter….

So meanwhile and while press and politicians are willing to criticize mercilessly anyone like the Australian politician who recently suggested Muslims have any agenda for population or whatever, “agenda” has been openly expressed in liberal/permissive Norway which has finally decided it has a problem somewhere. It is seeking to deport the person responsible, a refugee to the country since the early nineties.

Last week the Mullah Krekar has cheerfully told an Oslo paper, Dagbladet there is a war between the West and Islam which Islam will win, that the Muslim way of thought will prove more powerful than the western variety and that he looks forward to a few decades when 30 per cent of Europe will be Muslim. He deplores the western way of thinking and believes that Osama bin Ladin is a good person and that fighting for western “democracy” against such a person is only an excuse to be fighting Islam and reflects fear of the Islamic state.

In two points he’s correct, namely that Christianity has been changed by “materialism, egoism and wildness”. He’s also right that the Islamic thought mode is “stronger” than the western. I'd say it was so for two reasons.

The Moderate Muslim’s problem

If any group enters foreign countries and as in the Cartoons crisis goes beyond the accepted norms of protest reaching into violence in defence of its values then that is certainly challenging and national policies based on mere appeasement won’t readily cope with it. Anyone can take advantage and act the proverbial bull in the china shop if allowed. However while this is how things may appear to the silent majority whom press and politicians aren’t reflecting the problem may still not chiefly reside there and anyway appeasement policies may eventually break down from exhaustion.

The real problem as with Kreker is more about individual Mullahs and/or who’s at the top of the immigrant society. No doubt as we always hear there are moderate Muslims and perhaps even most Muslims are precisely that (most people everywhere prefer peace) and yes, there are elements within The Koran supportive of attitudes and policies of peace to be set against those sections that might appear to support rather different attitudes and policies.

The problem is what kind of support exists for Moderates once the leaders adopt aggressive views within a socio-religious system based on tight-knit relations and the total ostracism of dissenters with even execution for those deemed apostates. Moderate minds have got to become very radical to resist the inbuilt pressures and most won’t become that. So fear takes over and with it bullying by leaders is facilitated. And while most mainstream Muslims don’t have any particular “agenda”, there are religious leaders who do.

Kreker is arguably merely more vocal and less tactful about what has often been the true beliefs of those with influence, namely that where you enter you reckon to change that society and because the religion is a very political one which stakes a claim is to bring the whole world to submission to Allah. A moderate Mullah (such exist) may however be one who prefers to take his time instead of plunging followers into merely reckless action. Yet virtually everywhere there is a Muslim majority in a nation the rights of all others groups are under threat or seriously curtailed, even extremely to the point as in Saudi Arabia there is no freedom of religion at all, even for private worship. Attacks upon non Muslims recently from Nigeria to Pakistan tell the story which for practical purposes is the real one: a will to have the upper hand and win the supposed “war” that Kreker openly refers to. Norway has been right to be concerned and so should we be.