Posted on 05/05/2006 8:35:26 AM PDT by Dark Skies
LONDON - Prince Charles on Thursday officially opened London's most unlikely new landmark - a large Bedouin tent that will be used to promote peace and reconciliation.
Created of out goat hair, the structure stands in the garden of the former St. Ethelburga's Church which was destroyed by an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1993.
The church reopened as a center for peace and reconcilication in 2002 and the tent - built in Saudi Arabia and designed to withstand London's regular rain showers - will be used for events promoting interfaith dialogue.
Addressing leaders from nine faiths, Charles on Thursday argued for greater understanding between the faiths.
"We are all trying to explain the nature of mystery and in a sense it is almost impossible to explain, he said.
"If only we could understand each other's groupings to understand the mystery, not try to overdo the way in which we decide that we know everything, we might perhaps reduce the level of conflict and violence and misunderstanding."
The opening received messages of support from international figures including the Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and rock star Bono.
Academic Keith Critchlow designed the tent according to the tenets of geometry, algebra and astrology rather than on traditional religious lines.
It is carpeted with rugs woven in conflict zones.
A tent was chosen because it is associated with the nomadic origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
St. Ethelburga's attracts up to 5,000 visitors a year from conflict areas as far apart as Northern Ireland and Tibet.
Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and members of the Baha'i faith were represented at Thursday's ceremony.
In his message, Clinton praised the center.
"As the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 in my country and the devastating attack on the church at this site so painfully demonstrated, there are still those who place their difference above our common humanity, who prefer to demonise people who are unlike them rather than learn from one another," he said.
I was kinda joking. I read some article once laying out the evidence that he was the evil dude. It was kooky.
EDIT: anyone that is embraced so warmly by the islamisists should be suspect
Oh, my. How ... quaint. A Lawrence of Arabia fixation.
Sorta like the Kennedy's.
This man was forcibly and deceptively removed from a farm which had been in his family for centuries. It really was awful. But he makes claims from only one point of view which are certainly debatable, which is a problem for me. Former Sec. of State James of Baker wrote the intro which was interesting. I don't want to be swayed by anyone's idealogy--I like to look at all the facts and from opposing camps.
They figured he wouldn't be riding on the metro last July?
Maybe it's just me, but he strikes me as too dull-witted to take over anything. He wasn't able to control his own passions and he destroyed a woman who once adored him. Not king material IMHO.
I have been to Bar-Am where he was born, and to nearby Gush Halav. The Maronite community has been petitioning for years to have their land restored to them, and they have the support and help of any number of Jewish Israelis. I'm not sure where the case stands today.
This what happens when you get too much Saxe-Coburg intermarriage.
Have to remember that his uncle sympathized with the Nazi's, I guess Charles is just following in his footsteps.
Don't worry the tent will not be up for long. Why?
Created of out goat hair. The animal right terrorist cabal in Britian will quickly strike for the cause of Goat Equality. " The Barbaric practice of using the hides of our animal bretheren is made even more morally bankrupt when they are used in the name of peace and reconcilation amongst the human savages who exploit freedom loving animals everywhere. To cry for an end to war amongst nations when the war on animal kind continues makes a mockery of the very words peace and reconcilation".
2. It is carpeted with rugs woven in conflict zones.
I can't joke about this, really. I wonder if the nobs who planned this tent are aware of just who it is that is weaving those rugs. Hint- It sure is not elves. Arab countries are not known for their outstanding support of labor regulations or for their condemnation of child/slave labor. These rugs are most likely woven by children in conditions that would make those who boycott Nike reach for their free trade coffee to brace themselves against one very ugly reality.
Not to mention that tents are associated with scouting. And we all know what Homophobes the Boy scouts are. How will GLBTG or whatever TF they call themselves now, react to a symbol of repression and inequality? Not by flinging their feathered boas around I assure you. Nope things might just get very ugly. Why feet might get stomped and hair could get pulled and nails broken. But shoes, a wig, manicure are worth a sacrifice to the cause of gender. justice. Just not the purse, please not the purse.
Ha! Good one.
Anybody that would choose shagging Camilla over Diane is suspect to having a real screw loose in my book.
He writes that they have support from the Jewish community. He makes a big distinction in his book between Jewish Israelis who had been his neighbors and the Zionists who came in to destroy the villages. The area as he describes it sounds beautiful. I didn't know that any of this occurred before I read this book. I haven't finished it yet, but I want to try and understand what the situation is and was there. Very complex, it seems. Is the Maronite the same as or similar to the Melkites? There's a lot I don't understand. He says that his family had been there since the time of Christ.
I'm not sure, but I think the Maronites and Melkites are different offshoots of Eastern Catholicism, or the Catholic side of the church as it existed during the Byzantine era.
I think you are correct to take Elias Chacour's stories with a grain of salt and look for other points of view. Christian or Muslim, I have learned over the years that a lot of fables and blood libels circulate about the "Zionists." Some investigation always seems to lead to another side of every lurid story, and archaeology and the historical record often belie the "family has been here since before Jesus Christ" claims.
I am joking (at least sort of)...but Charlie is a kind of ordinary Joe. Most people thing he is a joke...too dense to be the King.
I don't know if he is the AC...but he sure fits the bill.
He is a "Prince" of this world. Using Gematria in the strict sense, his name produces 666, and that is that number of a "man" (check the etymology of the name "Charles").
Of course, all that means nothing...except that one might want to keep an eye on this guy.
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