Guess who they're laughing at? |
In recent times Europe has been shocked and shaken by a series of terror attacks performed by Islamist terrorists. These events have caused a lot people to state that the Muslim world in general is our enemy and that Muslims are a savage horde, living in an inferior, unenlightened, primitive culture that – in order to pacify the world – has to be transformed in accordance to the achievements and “values” of “the West”. But, there are a few points to be considered to see the whole picture:
First of all, there are many decent people who are Muslims and, for example, in London, Paris or Berlin, assiduously run a vegetable store around the corner, bring up their children, telling them to be honest and polite, to show respect to elder people and think highly of tradition and strict morals. These people emphasize the differences between the sexes and the necessity of hierarchy. They are against homosexuality, abortion, the destruction of the (patriarchal) family and the Enlightenment philosophies. They are even pious, but unfortunately they believe in the wrong religion, namely Islam. And although Islam is – in many respects – an evil religion, some people surprisingly and fortunately draw some good and wise conclusions out of their – maybe insufficient – common sense interpretation of Islamic faith.
So what we as Christians have to do is this: we have to try to evangelise and convert them. (Or should we – horribile dictum – say: proselytise them?) But how do we do that, if we say to them: You belong to a savage horde and an inferior culture?
A judgement like that is in itself an indication of an inferior cultural formation, because educated people know of the magnificent creations that the Oriental culture brought forth in the fields of architecture, poetry (for example think of Hafis, whose poems tops Goethe, whose “West-Östlicher Diwan” was influenced by them), fine arts and craftsmanship (for example goldsmithery or furniture-, fabric- and carpet production), the cuisine, and even music. The crusaders were so fascinated by the achievement of the refined Oriental culture, that the European aristocratic lifestyle was influenced by it, when the Christian knights returned to their unheatable castles in the foggy forests of Germany and northern France. (more...)
Worse than masonic dominion? |
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