The evil being perpetrated against Christians in Nigeria

Vulture

As usual, the Foreign Office, passively or actively, is on the side of the enemies of this country, the West and what used to be called Christian civilisation.

All credit to you, Fraser, for continuing to highlight this terrible tragedy - not only in Nigeria, but across the Muslim world.

The religion of peace is on the march and unless we act to defend ourselves Nigeria will be a stark warning of our own fate.

Verity

islam should be outlawed as a dangerous sect (and, ça va sans dire, all mosques in Britain sold off to normal businesses) and should be outlawed. Any country allowing this vile, contemptible, primitive belief system to operate on its territory should be disqualified from receiving aid of any kind - meaning money or expertise or places for students - from the West.

Tarka the Rotter

Ah, the Religion of Peace smites again...as for the FCO drawing a line in the sand...its more like a line on Etch-a-sketch...where is Lord Palmerston when we need him so badly?

TomTom

Funny how Saudi Arabia funds Muslim terrorist groups in Africa with the added advantage of bringing Nigerian Oil to Islam.....one day the stupid Westerners will have to open their eyes to see their own throats being slit

Paul L

The speed of the FO's response is matched by that of the Commonwealth.

daniel maris

It's all very well (and good) raising this issue Fraser,but you can't really do that while banning from this site and your magazine a proper anlaysis of the nature of Islam: its practice and ideology; the beliefs and practice of its founder; and what its leaders want for the world.

You need to ask, is Islam a mainstream religion able to be at peace with democracy and the modern world?

We are most definitely in a clash of civilisations. You could do absolutely nothing about that - you'd still be in a clash of civilisations.

You can see the proof in little things and big things: whether it is Iran's determination to destroy prospects for peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan allowing Osama bin Laden to live in one of their military towns, demands for women only swimming in our leisure centres, or the odd focus of the relatives of the 7/7 bombers on complaining about unreturned computer games,rather than the suffering of those injured in the bombing. The clash is going on everywhere.

And you can't understand why until you understand something about the nature of Islam. What did its founder actually do in his life, given he is held by all the religion's followers to be the "perfect example" for all men. Dare you discuss that?

teledu

Any Boko Haram boyos who might feel under pressure should the Nigerian authorities clamp down on them can rest assured that they'll find a safe haven here in the UK. We'll even chuck housing and benefits at them.

Edward Sutherland

Perhaps the PM's new best friend, Turkey, could take a lead in helping to bring their murderous co-religionists in Nigeria to heel.

Radford NG

Islam along the Niger was particulary vicious...but they had sexual equality.Male adulterers were impaled on a stake. The last impaling was two days before the British knocked down the gates.The British Governer then wrote his own(British)version of Sharia Law which few of the locals seem to have objected to for 90 years;until recently stirred-up.

Noa.

Daniel Maris

Yes agreed, excellent post!

Malfleur

Verity

Evidence in support of your position at 6.09pm:

"I finally mustered up enough courage to address my fears and doubts about Islam, and started searching and reading whatever I could lay my hands on. But still, it took me ten years to finally have the fortitude to leave that evil cult in October 2011. What brought about the changes, you might ask. I would definitely say the English translation of the Quran, and after reading it I realized that it is the most pernicious literature on the face of the earth. "

Extracted from: *ttp://liberatednow.blogspot.com/2012/01/mohammed-pioneer-of-holocaust.html

and also quoted in:http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Malfleur

A commentator on the site referred to in my previous post, notes a new venue online which devotes itself to other religions which islam targets around the world: http://www.peopleofshambhala.com/

Patriccia Shaw

I fear that the tenor of this post and the apparently critical reply of Dan Maris is inflammatory. Is it responsible for the mainstream media to attribute to a whole faith the irresponsible actions of a minority? This is what Ian Paisley did with the Catholic Faith in Northern Ireland.
Should you not focus on the underlying political and social tensions which lead to reaction from an unreasonable Muslim minority? Just as unreasonable actions of the Israeli regime provoke a minority in Gaza to resort to kicking by rockets.

Mr Shankly

Agreed Patriccia. Verity's response that we should 'outlaw' Islam from the UK because of a handful of terrorists in Nigeria is clearly an exaggeration. In the UK we should stand up for secularism and argue against any religion getting its hands on our children (faith schools) before they are mature enough to know better. Nigeria's problems are only religious on the surface.

Kevin

'Boko Haram' is translated as 'Western education is a sin'. Mr Shankly apparently believes 'Catholic education is a sin'.

How about adopting the philosophy live and let live, and certainly not forcing on the children of educated people the appallingly ignorant idea that something can come from nothing?

Mr Shankly

Hello Kevin, I didn't name any religion in particular, faith schools exist (and are being encouraged by the government) in all hues.

I'm all for 'live and let live' but branding kids as Catholic / Christian / Muslim etc as soon as they go to school is the beginning of the problem.

Keeping an open mind and a love of humanity is preferable to blind faith in things like virgin births, burning hellfire, and believers v infidels.

Derek Pasquill

See Martin Parsons' cogent piece at Conservative Home on why stopping Sharia should be central to the UK's foreign policy.

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2012/01/suffering-of-the-innocents-in-the-islamic-world-the-spread-of-sharia-enforcement-in-2011.html

s.kurup

it is ironic that christians;a great pity and in england people are proposing "root cause "studies. sucnose in the air attitudes unless they are hurt is frightening. christian proselytisation was bad but exterminating kafirs in twentieth century though winked at for many centuries should cause revulsion. kurup

michael

The expansion of Islam is the main aim of Muslims. They are communally obliged to support this. ALL methods of this expansion being moralised as a means to a righteous end.
Rewards for martyrdom are eternal. Behaviour that begets martyrdom is most definitely revered in England's Muslim communities, rather than being reviled.
The idea that a few Nigerian Jihadis have absolutely no influence is dangerously naive
and completely misrepresents 'the bleedin obvious' nature of Islamic globalisation.

... As a British Muslim choosing to change
faiths you would face the ultimate sanction.
Is this not fundamentally extreme?

Tiberius

Mr Shankly: why do you distrust our grown-children to dismiss religious teachings receive at school when they get to maturity, if they so wish? Are you so afraid to give people the right to a conscience? Sounds like a totalitarian view to me.

There is of course a problem with Islam, in that the right to turn one's back on it can result in rather serious consequences.

TomTom

"which lead to reaction from an unreasonable Muslim minority?" That is a very loaded statement Patricia ? why is it unreasonable ? They have cleared Christians from North Africa, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and now want to work on major African states. You forget that Britain waged a war against a German Government that quite legitimately sought to protect German minorities across Post-Versailles Europe from persecution by Czech, Polish and Hungarian majorities and had had a Minister for The Occupied Territories since 1919

Joseph Williams

There have been some previous posts damning faith schools as a divisive mode of educating children. Aside from the facts that these schools actually perform pretty well from an academic point of view, it seems people who criticise these schools fail to realise that a lot if these children will grow up into mature adults who will have to make their own minds to whether to follow the religion they have been brought up to believe.

And may i say how ridiculous the response has been from the foreign office apart from a flimsy condemnation by hague. Muslims in Nigeria have this common aim of making sure their religion is prevalent within Nigerian society. Even the so called "moderates" which westerners try to point to are themselves not standing for what is right an d condemning their counterparts, making them just as guilty.

Its also time that some foreign experts need to be deployed instead of these incompetent Nigerian security agencies who have no mechanism in place to deal with these terrorists.

Mr Shankly

Tiberius: surely the it's better to allow children to grow up without any of the pre-enlightenment superstitions being drummed into their enquiring minds, than to hope they see the light of reason when fully grown?

What's totalitarian about leaving religious brainwashing out of education, and allowing parents to choose schools based on secular considerations?

Does it please God to see British parents pretending to believe just to get their kids into the local primary?

You've already highlighted one problem with your preferred approach (although it is far from accepted within Islam that apostates should face the death penalty) and their are no doubt millions of catholics who would have preferred their education without the dogma and guilt (and much worse) to get over in adulthood.

Tiberius

Mr Shankly: your views are subjective and hyperbolic.

What is certain is that Christianity has brought you the environment and freedom to express them. It is reasonable to educate British children in the religion which has provided them with those same things. I trust people to judge for themselves whether they wish to adhere to those beliefs in adulthood.

However it is true that some people have made a horlicks out of advocating the New Testament. But that does not detract from its lessons.

daniel maris

Martin Parsons' article is v. good. The emphasis in terms of politics should indeed be on Sharia. As long as we ensure Sharia advances not an inch, not a millimetre, then we preserve our liberty. There are many ways we could begin to roll back Sharia, not least by requiring that all deliberations of Sharia courts in this country are recorded and translated into English and lodged with an appropriate authority. In fact I think we need a new authority with prosecutory powers: Monitoring of Non-sanctioned Courts Agency.

I know a lot of you don't like quangoes but that would be one would do some good.

Mr Shankly

Tiberius, you give Christianity far too much credit for our open environment and freedom. It is only the struggle AGAINST theistic rule that has brought us the freedom to question and decide about religion one way or the other.

Wherever Christian politicians have gained power - USA 1920's springs to mind - freedom and tolerance have left the building. Bans on teaching evolution, prohibition, and racist immigration policies were the contribution of Christian policy. We have learned about religion in politics the hard way - countries in Africa and the Middle East, alas, are still going through that stage.

The New Testament? Full of contradictions and nonsense, cobbled together over the centuries my men trying much too hard to make the whole story believable. There isn't a lesson in it that couldn't be taught in a more honest and less supernatural way.