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December 26, 2015

Islam and the West: An Irreconcilable Conflict? - by Pat Buchanan

"I worry greatly that the rhetoric coming from the Republicans, particularly Donald Trump, is sending a message to Muslims here ... and ... around the world, that there is a 'clash of civilizations.'"

So said Hillary Clinton in Saturday night's New Hampshire debate.

Yet, that phrase was not popularized by Donald Trump, but by Harvard's famed Samuel Huntington. His "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" has been described by Zbigniew Brzezinski as providing "quintessential insights necessary for a broad understanding of world affairs in our time."

That Clinton is unaware of the thesis, or dismisses it, does not speak well of the depth of her understanding of our world.

Another attack on Trump, more veiled, came Monday in an "open letter" in The Washington Post where four dozen religious leaders, led by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, charge "some politicians, candidates and commentators" with failing to follow Thomas Jefferson's dictum:

"I never will, by any word or act ... admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others."   
Intending no disrespect to Jefferson, if you do not inquire "into the religious opinions of others" in this world, it can get you killed.
   
"We love our Muslim siblings in humanity," said the signers of Cardinal McCarrick's letter, "they serve our communities as doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, journalists, first responders, and as members of the U.S. Armed forces and Congress."

Undeniably true. But, unfortunately, that is not the end of the matter.

Did the worst attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, 9/11, have nothing to do with the Islamic faith?    
Did Fort Hood and the San Bernardino massacres, the London subway bombings and the killings at Charlie Hebdo, as well as the slaughter at the Bataclan in Paris, have nothing to do with Islam?
   
Does the lengthening list of atrocities by terrorist cells of ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaida, al-Shabaab and the Nusra Front have nothing to do with Islam? Is it really illiberal to inquire "into the religious opinions" of those who perpetrate these atrocities? Or is it suicidal not to?

There has arisen a legitimate question as to whether Islamism can coexist peacefully with, or within, a post-Christian secular West.

For, as the Poet of the Empire, Rudyard Kipling, wrote: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat."

As of 1960, the Great Wave of immigration into the United States from Southern and Eastern Europe had been halted for 35 years. And the children of these millions had been largely assimilated and Americanized.
  
Yet, 50 years after the Turkish gastarbeiters were brought in the millions into Germany, and Algerians and other North Africans were brought into France, no such wholesale assimilation had taken place.

Why not? Why are there still large, indigestible communities in France where French citizens do not venture and French police are ever on alert?

What inhibits the assimilation that swiftly followed the entry of millions of Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Jews into the United States from 1890 to 1920? Might it have something to do with Islam and its inherent resistance to a diversity of faiths?

Set aside faith-based terrorism and Islamist terrorism, and consider the nations and regimes of the Middle and Near East.

Iran holds presidential elections every four years, but is a Shiite theocracy where the Ayatollah is a virtual dictator. Saudi Arabia is a Sunni kingdom and home to Wahhabism, a Sunni form of puritanism.   
Those ruling regimes are rooted in Islam.
  
And while secular America embraces expressions of religious pluralism and sexual freedom, homosexuality and apostasy are often viewed as capital crimes in Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.    
Where Islam is the ruling faith, the Quran is secular law.
   
Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc saw our future on its way, even before World War II: "[I]n the contrast between our religious chaos and the religious certitude still strong throughout the Mohammedan world ... lies our peril."

Historically, Christianity came to dominate the Roman Empire through preaching, teaching, example and martyrdom. Islam used the sword to conquer the Middle and Near East, North Africa and Spain in a single century, until stopped at Poitiers by Charles Martel.

And this is today's crucial distinction: Islam is not simply a religion of 1.6 billion people, it is also a political ideology for ruling nations and, one day, the world.

To the True Believer, Islam is ultimately to be imposed on all of mankind, which is to be ruled by the prescriptions of the Quran. And where Muslims achieve a majority, Christianity is, at best, tolerated.

Nor is this position illogical. For, if there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet, all other religions are false and none can lead to salvation. Why should false, heretical and ruinous faiths not be suppressed?

Behind the reluctance of Trump and other Americans to send another U.S. army into a region that has seen wars in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan leave us with ashes in our mouths, lies a wisdom born of painful experience.

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book "The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com.

From: Islam and the West: An Irreconcilable Conflict? - Rasmussen Reports™

December 24, 2015

Christmas: celebrating the birthday of my hero - Jesus Christ - by RM

Bethlehem
This morning as I was waking up I remembered a program the other night which focused on people which have influenced history over the years gone by..

I  can't remember them all by name as I write this,  but it was quite a long list. Some they mentioned had stuck to my mind, and I arranged them randomly:  Cleopatra, Wolf Messing, Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Napoleon, Nero, Jeanne d'Arc, Ben Gurion, Hitler, Gandhi, Buddha, Ben Laden, Churchill,  Ataturk, Socrates, Mandela, Saladin, Mother Teresa, Djamila Bouhired, Attila the Hun, Yassar Arafat,  Simon Bolivar, Mao, Samora Machel, etc., etc. 

The makers of this TV program, in order not to step on any sensitive religious toes, however, left out most of the  key "religious figures", who have profoundly impacted history and are even doing so today. 

Among those left out, I really only have one favorite - Jesus Christ, whose birthday we are celebrating every year on this day.. 

He is my hero for several reason. First because I don't consider him "religious" in the sense how we humans qualify religion as such .

Jesus is unique in the sense that his message was only about love -" love your neighbor as yourself" and he never encouraged violence or revenge. Even when he was nailed to the cross by the Romans and Jews he cried out: "God forgive them because they don't know what they are doing".  A message of love which still resonates all around the world.

Yes indeed, among all these people listed , or not, during that TV presentation,  Jesus Christ is on the top of my list.

Merry Christmas and may Peace on Earth become a reality and part of daily life around the globe - also for you in 2016.


Turkey: Unknown Explosion at Istanbul Charter Flights Airport Kills One, Wounds Another- by Conor Gaffey

An explosion at a Turkish airport on Wednesday has killed one woman and wounded another according to Turkish television, AFP reports.

The explosion, the cause of which remains unknown, occurred on the tarmac outside the terminal building at Sabiha Gökçen airport, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. Airport cleaner Zehra Yamac, 30, sustained head wounds during the blast and was hospitalized but died of her wounds hours later. Another airport cleaner was also wounded.

The explosion occurred around 2am local time, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported. Hurriyet also named the wounded victim as Canan Burgulu, who is receiving treatment at the Marmara Education and Research Hospital in Istanbul.

Read more: Unknown Explosion at Istanbul Airport Kills One, Wounds Another

December 23, 2015

Financial Industry: how Iceland deals with "too big to fail" banks :" we shouldn’t lose the banks to the hands of fools”

If Bjarni Benediktsson, Finance Minister has his way, Icelanders will receive kr 30,000 after their government has ownership of the bank. Íslandsbanki will be the second largest bank, of three, under Statero prietorship.

Benediktsson stated, “I am saying that the government take [sic] some decided portion, 5%, and simply hand it over to the people of this country.”

Since the government is under the control of Icelanders, they own the banks.  Bjarni believes that their economy will be fueled by foreign capital that will be brought into the country, which still remains the only European nation that has fully recovered from the 2008 crisis. Iceland was even able to pay its outstanding debt to the IMF before its due date.

Budget Committee vice chairperson, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, explained that this move will ease the lifting of capital controls, even though he’s not entirely sure that State ownership is the ideal solution.

Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, former Finance Minister, agrees with Þórðarson stating in a radio show, “we shouldn’t lose the banks to the hands of fools” and that a shift in focus to separate “commercial banking from investment banking” would benefit Iceland.

Read more: First They Jailed the Bankers, Now Every Icelander to Be Paid in Bank SaleREALfarmacy.com | Healthy News and Information

December 21, 2015

Gay Community: Slovenians reject same-sex marriage in referendum

Slovenians rejected a same-sex marriage law by a large margin in a referendum on Sunday, according to preliminary referendum results.

The results released Sunday by authorities show 63 percent voted against a bill that defines marriage as a union of two adults, while 37 percent were in favor.

The results were incomplete, but were unlikely to change significantly in the final tally.

Parliament introduced marriage equality in March, but conservative groups, backed by the Catholic Church, pushed through a popular vote on the issue.

Read more: Europe - Slovenians reject same-sex marriage in referendum - France 24

The Netherlands: Dutch courts to judge Shell in landmark oil spill case - by Jan Hennop

A Dutch appeals court ruled Friday that four Nigerian farmers may take their case against oil giant Shell to a judge in the Netherlands, in a landmark ruling involving multinational corporate governance.

"The Dutch courts and this court consider it has jurisdiction in the case against Shell and its subsidiary in Nigeria," Judge Hans van der Klooster said at the appeals court in The Hague.

The four farmers and fishermen, backed by the Dutch branch of environmental group Friends of the Earth, first filed the case in 2008 against the Anglo-Dutch company in a court case thousands of kilometres (miles) from their homes.

They want Shell to clean up devastating oil spills in four heavily-polluted villages in the west African country's oil-rich Niger Delta, prevent further spills and pay compensation.

Read more: Dutch courts to judge Shell in landmark oil spill case - Yahoo New

December 20, 2015

EU Migrant crisis: EU border security becomes new mantra -by Laurence Peter

It is often said that crises in the EU give an impetus for further integration - "more Europe".

There was a new example of that at this week's Brussels summit.

EU leaders agreed on the need for a new "European Border and Coast Guard", with greater powers and resources than the current Frontex border agency.

The European Commission stressed that the new force would not usurp the authority of national border staff - it would work alongside them.

Controversially, however, if a member state fails in its duty to protect the EU's external borders, during an emergency, the Commission could deploy EU guards without needing the state's permission.

And part of the guards' remit would be to send failed asylum seekers back - though currently such "returns" are handled by national forces.

 Read more: Migrant crisis: EU border security becomes new mantra - BBC News