Posted on 02/11/2011 6:35:31 PM PST by marshmallow
Kirkuk, Iraq, Feb 11, 2011 / 01:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The secular western world is incapable of fully understanding the threat of a “reawakening of Islam” in the Middle East, according to an Iraqi bishop beset by radical movements in his own archdiocese.
In an interview with the Italian bishops' SIR news agency, Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, Iraq, called the Middle East a “scary volcano” because of the possible consequences of widespread unrest.
“There are Islamic forces and movements that wish to change the Middle East, creating Islamic States, caliphates, in which Shariah (law) rules,” he warned.
Radical groups present in Iraq such as al-Qaida and Ansar al Islam are calling on citizens in other Middle Eastern nations to inject an Islamic influence into otherwise general protests in places like Tunisia and Egypt.
For Archbishop Sako these calls have “the clear intention of fueling ... a total religious change” in the area.
“They are voices that could find fertile ground in Egypt and elsewhere and therefore should not be underestimated, also because there are regional powers whose leaders have defined these revolts as the 'reawakening of Islam',” he said.
In practice, the goal of these fundamentalists is “to create a void to be able to fill it with religious themes, convinced ... that Islam is the solution to everything.”
In Egypt, protesters insist that the widespread protests are not driven by religion or ethnicity, but rather a universal grievance against extremely poor social and political conditions.
Some fear, however, that organized Islamic associations such as the Muslim Brotherhood are in an optimal position to take advantage of the confusion for political benefit.
Because unrest could be manipulated by fundamentalist opportunists, Archbishop Sako called the Middle East “a scary volcano.”
Should Egypt becoming an Islamic state, he said, it would be “a problem for all” and have “undeniable, negative aftershocks for Christian minorities.”
According to the archbishop, Europe and North America are blind to the possibility of such an “Islamization” of the Middle East.
“The western mentality does not allow it to fully comprehend this risk,” he said.
He explained that politics and religion are interwoven in the Middle East, whereas there is “a tremendous void” between them in western nations.
This results in two extremisms, he said. The Middle Eastern mentality is dominated by Islam, while a secularism that denies its Christian roots and relegates Christian values to the private sphere reigns in the West.
Although “material violence” does not appear in the West, the general privatization of Christianity is “against democracy,” he said. “In the East, however, it is the opposite: religion pervades all.”
He called the future of the Middle East “unknown and scary” and said the international community is “incapable of moving” in reaction to the recent turn of events.
Iraqi Christians – plagued by violence and a lack of security – look to the Egyptian crisis with “sadness,” he told SIR news. They are afraid that the North African nation might fall into the same ethnic and religious division.
Archbishop Sako's own archdiocese has been struck hard by extremist violence. Nine Christians have died and another 104 have been injured in Kirkuk.
The fear the survivors have about Egypt, said the Church leader, is that it will become “a new Iraq.”
Ping!
The West understands the danger of islamization very clearly but is afraid to take any action because of its practice of political correctness and for fear that it will be accused of a loathing of islam.
Instead, it will rather sacrifice the future of its children to a live of slavery under that satanic cult.
A totally incomprehensible cowardice permeates today’s politician.
Some of us understand it well and have for years. But after years of PCness, multicultural babble and diversity is our strength nonsense, far too many Westerners are brain addled from all the miseducation and MSM propaganda.
And having a president running around saying "Islam means peace" at what should have been the days of America's awakening to threat didn't help at all.
Most of us understand it well. It’s our politicians who don’t have a clue.
If it were up to me I would be rounding up Islamics like Roosevelt roundedup the Japanese. If they ddint like it they could go back to where they came from.
Islam also means submission.
For years many have been beaten down into submission with the PC bludgeon. Those who don't toe the line are punished. Those who do are rewarded, until like Pavlov's dog, they drool and slobber over those who would kill us all.
Or they don't have a spine. All too many pols fear doing or saying anything that will 'offend' any group of voters. So many run from this and other controversial issues.
Cowardice is a big factor, but avoiding little political distractions like piles of skulls getting in the way of an agenda seems to me to be the main thing that's been at work in this country.
Regards
Huh?
"The general privatization of Christianity is against democracy”.
Is he saying that we moved away from State Christianity, and that that was an undemocratic movement?
He should distinguish between western liberals and conservatives. Conservatives understand the risk perfectly well. The liberal mentality requires that the west be held responsible for all the world's problems, whatever the facts.
The best definition of “secular” is “of this generation (only)” Secular-minded folks are short-sighted: they care nothing for the future. In truth they care nothing for the futures of their children, not to speak of their neighbors’ children. Islamists on the other hand, are very focused not only on the present but of the future. That, they think, will be more of the past, They see finally an end to Western domination which has oppressed them for more than 200 years. They see our weakness and they want to exploit that.
No, he is saying that our democracy is founded on Christian principles. Even the “deists” among the Founders believed this to be true and so acted. But our elites, who once shared those principles with the people, no longer do so. Rather, they think we are foolish children who need the guidance of their wisdom.
Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense of the text.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.