[montag813]

Funny how no one mentions that this service with a “Turkish prayer” about “Allah” was to honor the British Galipoli dead — who died at the hands of the freakin’ TURKS! So not only is this an affront to Christ, but also a treasonous affront to Britain by extolling the satanic godhead of an enemy that killed 34,000 British troops.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Winston Churchill understood the differences between Allah and Yahweh...

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step, and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it (Islam) has vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.” - Sir Winston Churchill; “The River War”, first edition, Volume II, pages 248-250, published by Longmans, Green & Company, 1899

[the scotsman]

You are wrong. This was a service to commemorate ALL the dead of the Gallipoli campaign: British, Aussies, NZ, French and Turkish. A service for peace and rememberence.

As a Briton, I found the service incredibly moving, and find nothing offensive in paying my respects to all the dead of that campaign. The Turks after all were only soldiers defending their OWN COUNTRY. The service and the commemorations in Turkey and the UK and of course Aus/NZ were all beautifully done. No jingoism, just respect for all the dead and mourning the waste of so many lives.

In fact, the most moving part was the recital of a famous letter from Ataturk, in which he called the Anglo-French-Aus/NZ dead ‘the sons of our country now’, and promised that the Turkish people forever would treat those boys and men as their own fallen sons and tend their graves as lovingly as they would Turkish graves. It was and is still a beautiful letter from Ataturk.

BTW, if you can access BBC iplayer, the Gallipoli service and all the BBC programmes on Gallipoli are still on it. DO watch it.