"...there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained..." -- President George Washington's First Inaugural Address
Showing posts with label Truth and Reason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Truth and Reason. Show all posts
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
National Review's, Uncommon Knowledge w / Peter Robinson
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 5 of 5
Prof. Thornton says the U.S. needs to show Europe some tough love, with particular regard to military matters. For instance, today the U.S. plays the necessary role of global policeman, but in terms of the security provided by the U.S., Europe is getting a free ride. This needs to end. Says Thornton, “We need to say to Europe: You guys are rich. You wanna be a big, important player? Spend the money on the military and then we’ll deal with you.”
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 5 of 5
Prof. Thornton says the U.S. needs to show Europe some tough love, with particular regard to military matters. For instance, today the U.S. plays the necessary role of global policeman, but in terms of the security provided by the U.S., Europe is getting a free ride. This needs to end. Says Thornton, “We need to say to Europe: You guys are rich. You wanna be a big, important player? Spend the money on the military and then we’ll deal with you.”
Friday, March 14, 2008
National Review's, Uncommon Knowledge w / Peter Robinson
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2008
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 4 of 5
Children are expensive, and they require a sacrifice of time and interest by parents. But what is the root cause of Europe’s ongoing demographic suicide — which coincides, by the way, with an explosion of the Muslim demographic on the continent? Prof. Thornton says Europeans are not reproducing because “the dolce vita lifestyle does not include children.” A Europe that is drawn to instant pleasure has little interest in investing in either children or the future of the Europe.
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 4 of 5
Children are expensive, and they require a sacrifice of time and interest by parents. But what is the root cause of Europe’s ongoing demographic suicide — which coincides, by the way, with an explosion of the Muslim demographic on the continent? Prof. Thornton says Europeans are not reproducing because “the dolce vita lifestyle does not include children.” A Europe that is drawn to instant pleasure has little interest in investing in either children or the future of the Europe.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
National Review's, Uncommon Knowledge w / Peter Robinson
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 3 of 5
Prof. Thornton discusses how a bureaucratic European Union “super state” is undermining the old nation-states of England, France, and Germany — a dangerous process. Uber-nationalism, of course, gave us the fascist European movements of the 20th century. Under the “enlightened” guidance of the EU, however, any nationalism is looked upon as reprehensible. Thornton counters that deep-rooted nationalism is a net good, and that its deterioration will coincide with the loss of representative democracy.
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 3 of 5
Prof. Thornton discusses how a bureaucratic European Union “super state” is undermining the old nation-states of England, France, and Germany — a dangerous process. Uber-nationalism, of course, gave us the fascist European movements of the 20th century. Under the “enlightened” guidance of the EU, however, any nationalism is looked upon as reprehensible. Thornton counters that deep-rooted nationalism is a net good, and that its deterioration will coincide with the loss of representative democracy.
National Review's, Uncommon Knowledge w / Peter Robinson
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 2 of 5
If Europe is still democratic, and if it still embraces the free market, why should anyone care that Judaeo-Christian religious beliefs are slipping across the region? Of course, the tide of faith has been going out for a long time — since the Enlightenment — and the rise of science is a good reason why. But Prof. Thornton says this is particularly worrisome today because of the coinciding rise of radical Islam.
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 2 of 5
If Europe is still democratic, and if it still embraces the free market, why should anyone care that Judaeo-Christian religious beliefs are slipping across the region? Of course, the tide of faith has been going out for a long time — since the Enlightenment — and the rise of science is a good reason why. But Prof. Thornton says this is particularly worrisome today because of the coinciding rise of radical Islam.
National Review's, Uncommon Knowledge w / Peter Robinson
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2008
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 1 of 5
Professor Bruce Thornton of Cal State Fresno describes a European civilization that after twenty-five centuries is drawing to an end. He lists the symptoms: Economies are less adaptable and competitive because of an enormous regulatory burden; social welfare entitlements are incredibly expensive; and, demographically, Europeans simply aren’t reproducing. At the source of this demise is a loss of the foundational belief system that created the West — that created Europe — in the first place.
- must have Adobe Flash player installed - Tiger
This is an excellent video series of interviews describing Europe's Fall and America's possible future.
The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 1 of 5
Professor Bruce Thornton of Cal State Fresno describes a European civilization that after twenty-five centuries is drawing to an end. He lists the symptoms: Economies are less adaptable and competitive because of an enormous regulatory burden; social welfare entitlements are incredibly expensive; and, demographically, Europeans simply aren’t reproducing. At the source of this demise is a loss of the foundational belief system that created the West — that created Europe — in the first place.
- must have Adobe Flash player installed - Tiger
This is an excellent video series of interviews describing Europe's Fall and America's possible future.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
What The "News" Won't Report!
A mass shooting attack inside a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary has killed at least eight Jewish students, as recently reported. What the "press" isn't reporting is that one single student, legally armed with just a handgun stopped the massacre.
A gun rights organization in the United States is accusing the media of trying to conceal the fact that a gunman who attacked students at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav seminary was stopped by an armed student at the school.
Authorities report that Ytizhak Dadon, 40, was a "private citizen who had a gun license and was able to shoot the gunman with his pistol," according to a statement released today by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
In its earlier reporting on the tragedy, WND confirmed, "One terrorist reportedly was shot to death by a student who was armed…"
However, the gun rights organization said "the American press is downplaying his heroism because it proves that armed students can stop campus gunmen."
"Yitzhak Dadon is a hero," said Alan Gottlieb, the chairman of CCRKBA, "and he is living proof that armed students have a place on college campuses. Thankfully, his quick action was reported by the international press … so unlike incidents here in the United States where the press was able to completely ignore the actions of armed students or teachers, the truth about this incident will not be suppressed."
A gun rights organization in the United States is accusing the media of trying to conceal the fact that a gunman who attacked students at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav seminary was stopped by an armed student at the school.
Authorities report that Ytizhak Dadon, 40, was a "private citizen who had a gun license and was able to shoot the gunman with his pistol," according to a statement released today by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
In its earlier reporting on the tragedy, WND confirmed, "One terrorist reportedly was shot to death by a student who was armed…"
However, the gun rights organization said "the American press is downplaying his heroism because it proves that armed students can stop campus gunmen."
"Yitzhak Dadon is a hero," said Alan Gottlieb, the chairman of CCRKBA, "and he is living proof that armed students have a place on college campuses. Thankfully, his quick action was reported by the international press … so unlike incidents here in the United States where the press was able to completely ignore the actions of armed students or teachers, the truth about this incident will not be suppressed."
Monday, February 11, 2008
Krauthammer Speaks of Apostasy - It's A Good Time for Bible Study!
My dear mother of 84 years died of congestive heart failure about 9 months ago on my living room sofa. A lover of Christ she was, completely devoted to Him. She is asleep now ... awaiting His return ...
News flash folks! The Bible has never taught that one's "soul" goes to heaven upon death! Any good Protestant would know that! - Tiger
... "In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas "that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals." ...
A bishop described as "one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought" is now challenging the widely held belief that Christians go to heaven when they die.
N.T. "Tom" Wright, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England who has been praised for his staunch defense of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, has published a new book in which he says people do not ascend to God's dwelling place. Instead, deceased believers are in a sleep-like state until God comes back to Earth.
"Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven," Wright told Time Magazine. "I've often heard people say, 'I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional."
When asked to explain why he rejects that typical sentiment, he said, "There are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. [The Apostle] Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, 'Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.' It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation."
In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself is quoted as saying, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (John 3:13)
In "Surprised by Hope," published by HarperOne, Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver titled 'What's Heaven,' which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk ... . If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on Earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him."
Wright calls that a good example of "what not to say," explaining the biblical truth "is very, very different."
When asked by Time about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead, Wright said: "We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says 'the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,' and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well."
He continued: "Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death – in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth.
Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will 'awake,' be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom."
Wright, whose 2003 book, "The Resurrection of the Son of God," received widespread acclaim in the Christian community, says many people have been confused about what happens at death by Jesus' statement to a thief who was being executed next to him.
He explained: "There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, 'Today you will be with me in paradise.' But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so 'paradise' cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new Earth joined together." Wright says much of "traditional Christianity" has been influenced by pagan philosophies.
"Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a heaven, purgatory and hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment' in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity," he said.
While Wright's view may seem stunning to many of today's Christians, similar views were held by some famous names in the Protestant Reformation.
In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas "that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals."
A decade later, English Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale echoed the idea Christians are completely dead until Jesus returns, as he voiced opposition to "heathen" ideas of people having immortal souls at birth:
The true faith putteth [setteth forth] the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put [set forth] that the souls did ever live. And the pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of philosophers together; things so contrary that they cannot agree, no more than the Spirit and the flesh do in a Christian man. And because the fleshly-minded pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the Scripture to stablish it.
News flash folks! The Bible has never taught that one's "soul" goes to heaven upon death! Any good Protestant would know that! - Tiger
... "In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas "that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals." ...
A bishop described as "one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought" is now challenging the widely held belief that Christians go to heaven when they die.
N.T. "Tom" Wright, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England who has been praised for his staunch defense of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, has published a new book in which he says people do not ascend to God's dwelling place. Instead, deceased believers are in a sleep-like state until God comes back to Earth.
"Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven," Wright told Time Magazine. "I've often heard people say, 'I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional."
When asked to explain why he rejects that typical sentiment, he said, "There are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. [The Apostle] Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, 'Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.' It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation."
In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself is quoted as saying, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." (John 3:13)
In "Surprised by Hope," published by HarperOne, Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver titled 'What's Heaven,' which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk ... . If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on Earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him."
Wright calls that a good example of "what not to say," explaining the biblical truth "is very, very different."
When asked by Time about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead, Wright said: "We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says 'the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,' and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well."
He continued: "Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death – in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth.
Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will 'awake,' be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom."
Wright, whose 2003 book, "The Resurrection of the Son of God," received widespread acclaim in the Christian community, says many people have been confused about what happens at death by Jesus' statement to a thief who was being executed next to him.
He explained: "There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, 'Today you will be with me in paradise.' But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so 'paradise' cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new Earth joined together." Wright says much of "traditional Christianity" has been influenced by pagan philosophies.
"Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a heaven, purgatory and hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment' in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity," he said.
While Wright's view may seem stunning to many of today's Christians, similar views were held by some famous names in the Protestant Reformation.
In 1520, Martin Luther blasted Catholic ideas "that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals."
A decade later, English Bible translator and martyr William Tyndale echoed the idea Christians are completely dead until Jesus returns, as he voiced opposition to "heathen" ideas of people having immortal souls at birth:
The true faith putteth [setteth forth] the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put [set forth] that the souls did ever live. And the pope joineth the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshly doctrine of philosophers together; things so contrary that they cannot agree, no more than the Spirit and the flesh do in a Christian man. And because the fleshly-minded pope consenteth unto heathen doctrine, therefore he corrupteth the Scripture to stablish it.
Apostates! Apostates Everywhere! - Bush Begat McCain
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bush's Religion Is 'Ideology'
Over lunch, a liberal friend expressed puzzlement. Citing the title of Tom Oliphant's new book about the Bush administration, "Utter Incompetents," he wondered aloud.
Like him or not, he said, Bush is not an unintelligent man, and he is a principled and energetic executive. As for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the others, almost all had long resumes of accomplishment in politics, government and business.
Why, then, do they seem to have failed so dismally? In my new book, "Day of Reckoning," published this week, I offer an answer. If there is a one root cause to the Bush failures, it has been his fatal embrace of ideology.
Ideology is substitute religion, a belief system based on ideas that are often contradicted by history and common sense. Yet men will adhere to ideologies with a zealotry that borders on fanaticism.
Marxism, fascism and socialism were; are ideologies - gods that failed. So, too, is democratism, the Gospel of George W. Bush. Democratism is a belief that all men are equally endowed with a desire for freedom and an aptitude for democracy. All can be uplifted, and all brought to see that democracy is the one true path to peace in our world. In democracy lies our salvation.
( This is nonsense, of course! - Tiger )
This conviction lay behind the invasion of Iraq, Bush's crusade to democratize the Middle East and his "global democratic revolution" to "end tyranny in our world." And, as Woodrow Wilson's crusade "to make the world safe for democracy" gave us Lenin, Stalin and Hitler, Bush's crusade for democracy is leaving us with ashes in our mouths.
Yet, Wilson's heart was pure, and he ever exhibited the serenity of the True Believer, the unmistakable mark of the ideologue. One imagines Bush will be preaching the dogma of free trade long after the last U.S. factory has closed and the dollar has reached parity with the Mexican peso.
Bush's "compassionate conservative" appears grounded in the ideological conviction that all children are endowed with the capacity to learn through the high school level. No Child Left Behind was going to raise the test scores of all our children above the national average, as in Lake Wobegon.
Why was it fated to fail? Because reality is otherwise. All children are not equal in their innate ability to learn English or math, as they are not equal in their ability to play sports, music or chess. A second-grader knows that, but our elites reject it as bigotry and blasphemy against the egalitarian dogmas that define who they are.
... I don't always agree with Pat Buchanan, but he's making sense here! - Tiger
Like him or not, he said, Bush is not an unintelligent man, and he is a principled and energetic executive. As for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the others, almost all had long resumes of accomplishment in politics, government and business.
Why, then, do they seem to have failed so dismally? In my new book, "Day of Reckoning," published this week, I offer an answer. If there is a one root cause to the Bush failures, it has been his fatal embrace of ideology.
Ideology is substitute religion, a belief system based on ideas that are often contradicted by history and common sense. Yet men will adhere to ideologies with a zealotry that borders on fanaticism.
Marxism, fascism and socialism were; are ideologies - gods that failed. So, too, is democratism, the Gospel of George W. Bush. Democratism is a belief that all men are equally endowed with a desire for freedom and an aptitude for democracy. All can be uplifted, and all brought to see that democracy is the one true path to peace in our world. In democracy lies our salvation.
( This is nonsense, of course! - Tiger )
This conviction lay behind the invasion of Iraq, Bush's crusade to democratize the Middle East and his "global democratic revolution" to "end tyranny in our world." And, as Woodrow Wilson's crusade "to make the world safe for democracy" gave us Lenin, Stalin and Hitler, Bush's crusade for democracy is leaving us with ashes in our mouths.
Yet, Wilson's heart was pure, and he ever exhibited the serenity of the True Believer, the unmistakable mark of the ideologue. One imagines Bush will be preaching the dogma of free trade long after the last U.S. factory has closed and the dollar has reached parity with the Mexican peso.
Bush's "compassionate conservative" appears grounded in the ideological conviction that all children are endowed with the capacity to learn through the high school level. No Child Left Behind was going to raise the test scores of all our children above the national average, as in Lake Wobegon.
Why was it fated to fail? Because reality is otherwise. All children are not equal in their innate ability to learn English or math, as they are not equal in their ability to play sports, music or chess. A second-grader knows that, but our elites reject it as bigotry and blasphemy against the egalitarian dogmas that define who they are.
... I don't always agree with Pat Buchanan, but he's making sense here! - Tiger
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Islam and the Nation-State
The End of National Sovereignty?
Throughout the world, one of the most prevalent causes of war, terrorism, and political instability is the ongoing weakening of the nation-state system. There are several reasons that the nation-state as a political unit of sovereignty is under threat. One of the most basic causes of this continuous erosion of national power throughout the world is the transformation of minority-dominated enclaves within nation-states into ungovernable areas where state power is either not applied or applied in a haphazard and generally unconstructive manner. ( illegal immigration - Tiger )
While domestic strife between majority and minority populations has been an enduring feature of democratic and indeed all societies throughout history, the current turbulence constitutes a unique challenge to the nation-state system. This is because much of the internal strife between minority and majority populations within states today is financed and often directed from outside the country. ( Saudi Arabia - Tiger )
Traditionally, minorities used various local means to engage the majority population in a bid to influence the political direction or cultural norms of the nation state. The classic examples of this traditional minority-majority engagement are the black civil rights movement in the US in the 1960s and the labor movements in the West throughout the 20th century. By and large, these movements were domestic protests informed by national sensibilities even when they enjoyed the support of foreign governments.
Today while similar movements continue to flourish, they are now being superseded by a new type of minority challenge to national majorities.
This challenge is not primarily the result of domestic injustice but the consequence of foreign agitation. The roots of these minority challenges are found outside the borders of the targeted states. And their goals are not limited to a call for the reform of national institutions and politics. Rather they set their sights on weakening national institutions and eroding national sovereignty.
Muslim minorities throughout the world are being financed and ideologically trained in Saudi and UAE funded mosques and Islamic centers. These minorities act in strikingly similar manners in the countries where they are situated throughout the world. On the one hand, their local political leaders demand extraordinary communal rights, rights accorded neither to the national majority nor to other minority populations. On the other hand, Muslim neighborhoods, particularly in Europe, but also in Israel, the Philippines and Australia, are rendered increasingly ungovernable as arms of the state like the police and tax authorities come under attack when they attempt to assert state power in these Muslim communities.
Logic would have it that targeted states would respond to the threat to their authority through a dual strategy. On the one hand, they would firmly assert their authority by enforcing their laws against both individual lawbreakers and against subversive, foreign financed institutions that incite the overthrow of their governments and their replacement with Islamic governments. On the other hand, they would seek out and empower local Muslims who accept the authority and legitimacy of their states and their rule of law.
Unfortunately, with the notable exception of the Howard government in Australia, in country after country, governments respond to this challenge by attempting to appease Muslim irredentists and their state sponsors. The British responded to the July 7, 2005 bombings by giving representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood an official role in crafting and carrying out counter-terror policies.
In 2003, then French president Jacques Chirac sent then interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy to Egypt to seek the permission of Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi of the Islamist al-Azhar mosque for the French parliament's plan to outlaw hijabs in French schools.
In the US, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI asked the terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations to conduct sensitivity training for FBI agents.
In Holland last year, the Dutch government effectively expelled anti-Islamist politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the interest of currying favor with Holland's restive Muslim minority.
... In the interest of defending the nation-state system, on which American sovereignty and foreign policy is based, the US should reassess the logic of its support for the establishment of Muslim-only states. It should similarly revisit its refusal to openly support the right of non-Islamic states like Israel, Serbia and even France, to assert their rights to defend their sovereignty, national security and national character from outside-sponsored domestic Islamic subversion.
Throughout the world, one of the most prevalent causes of war, terrorism, and political instability is the ongoing weakening of the nation-state system. There are several reasons that the nation-state as a political unit of sovereignty is under threat. One of the most basic causes of this continuous erosion of national power throughout the world is the transformation of minority-dominated enclaves within nation-states into ungovernable areas where state power is either not applied or applied in a haphazard and generally unconstructive manner. ( illegal immigration - Tiger )
While domestic strife between majority and minority populations has been an enduring feature of democratic and indeed all societies throughout history, the current turbulence constitutes a unique challenge to the nation-state system. This is because much of the internal strife between minority and majority populations within states today is financed and often directed from outside the country. ( Saudi Arabia - Tiger )
Traditionally, minorities used various local means to engage the majority population in a bid to influence the political direction or cultural norms of the nation state. The classic examples of this traditional minority-majority engagement are the black civil rights movement in the US in the 1960s and the labor movements in the West throughout the 20th century. By and large, these movements were domestic protests informed by national sensibilities even when they enjoyed the support of foreign governments.
Today while similar movements continue to flourish, they are now being superseded by a new type of minority challenge to national majorities.
This challenge is not primarily the result of domestic injustice but the consequence of foreign agitation. The roots of these minority challenges are found outside the borders of the targeted states. And their goals are not limited to a call for the reform of national institutions and politics. Rather they set their sights on weakening national institutions and eroding national sovereignty.
Muslim minorities throughout the world are being financed and ideologically trained in Saudi and UAE funded mosques and Islamic centers. These minorities act in strikingly similar manners in the countries where they are situated throughout the world. On the one hand, their local political leaders demand extraordinary communal rights, rights accorded neither to the national majority nor to other minority populations. On the other hand, Muslim neighborhoods, particularly in Europe, but also in Israel, the Philippines and Australia, are rendered increasingly ungovernable as arms of the state like the police and tax authorities come under attack when they attempt to assert state power in these Muslim communities.
Logic would have it that targeted states would respond to the threat to their authority through a dual strategy. On the one hand, they would firmly assert their authority by enforcing their laws against both individual lawbreakers and against subversive, foreign financed institutions that incite the overthrow of their governments and their replacement with Islamic governments. On the other hand, they would seek out and empower local Muslims who accept the authority and legitimacy of their states and their rule of law.
Unfortunately, with the notable exception of the Howard government in Australia, in country after country, governments respond to this challenge by attempting to appease Muslim irredentists and their state sponsors. The British responded to the July 7, 2005 bombings by giving representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood an official role in crafting and carrying out counter-terror policies.
In 2003, then French president Jacques Chirac sent then interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy to Egypt to seek the permission of Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi of the Islamist al-Azhar mosque for the French parliament's plan to outlaw hijabs in French schools.
In the US, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI asked the terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations to conduct sensitivity training for FBI agents.
In Holland last year, the Dutch government effectively expelled anti-Islamist politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the interest of currying favor with Holland's restive Muslim minority.
... In the interest of defending the nation-state system, on which American sovereignty and foreign policy is based, the US should reassess the logic of its support for the establishment of Muslim-only states. It should similarly revisit its refusal to openly support the right of non-Islamic states like Israel, Serbia and even France, to assert their rights to defend their sovereignty, national security and national character from outside-sponsored domestic Islamic subversion.
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