Category Archives: Religion

Pope rage

As is now well known, Pope Benedict last week gave an academic lecture which has apparently caused offense to Muslims. You can read the lecture to see just how innocuous the remarks were here. His remarks seem to have been quite deliberately ripped out of context.

But the madness continues with violence, church burnings and street demonstrations. In this video clip, Infolive.tv gives an overview of the controversy.

Infolive.tv report

AFI welcomes agreement

ANGLICANS FOR ISRAEL today welcomed the joint agreement between the Anglican Church and the Chief Rabbis of Israel as a great step forward to a new and happy concord between the Anglican Church and the Jewish people. AFI director Simon McIlwaine said:

“This is an historic agreement on a par with Nostra Aetate. The Communique is a clear rebuke and a resounding reproach to those elements within the Anglican Communion who have been working obsessively to isolate Israel and delegitimise the Jewish State and People. We welcome the Church’s support for “all forms of constructive engagement, whether religious, humanitarian or economic, which seek to enable closer bonds between individuals and communities.” The Church has made it clear by these words that it will countenance no further attempts to boycott Israel, and that the Synod vote in February was a tragic aberration and is not in accordance with Anglican doctrine.

The enemies of Israel in our Church, though small in numbers, are likely to react angrily to this statement and will seek to undermine the Archbishop’s renewed commitment to loving interfaith relations with our Jewish brothers and sisters. In the months ahead, therefore, we,as faithful Anglicans, must ensure that these wonderful words are matched by our deeds and that-with God’s help- renewed campaigns to divest from Israel or companies doiing business in or with Israel are defeated.”

A great step forward

Archbishop of Canterbury and Chief Rabbis sign historic agreement

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger today signed a joint Declaration which sets out a framework for continuing dialogue between them. Dr Williams described the agreement as historic:

“This is a most significant step in developing better mutual understanding and trust between the Anglican Communion and the Chief Rabbinate and worldwide Judaism.”

The Archbishop was supported in the meeting by the Coadjutor Bishop in Jerusalem, The Rt Revd Suheil Dawani and by Bishops Michael Jackson and John Stroyan. The Chief Rabbis were supported by Rabbi David Rosen and by the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Sir Jonathan Sacks. The Archbishop paid tribute to Sir Jonathan and to Bishop Suheil for their constructive roles in the discussions leading to this meeting.

The agreement adds to the growing network of bilateral and multilateral dialogues between religious leaders in the Middle East and in the wider world. This network of dialogue is a major contribution to a world in which religious faith is an increasingly important dimension of people’s lives and of national policies.
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Jihadist threat goes unreported

A letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle from David Meir-Levi:

Jaxon Van Derbeken’s “Everyone needs to be killed” (SF Chron, 9.1.06, B-1), tells us how, on Tuesday evening (8/29/06), a 29-year-old Afghani, Omeed Aziz Popal, went on a rampage in his father’s SUV in San Francisco, killing one man and sending 14 other victims to the hospital, seven in critical condition.

But the article fails to connect some very important dots. Bloggers and on-line news sites report that Popal is a Moslem and called himself a terrorist. And this information connects Popal with a series of similar terror attacks.

Last month in Seattle, Naveed Afzal Haq, a Pakistani Moslem, shot six Jews, killing one, at a Jewish Community Federation office. He was specific as to his intentions and motivation: kill Jews as revenge against Israel.

On 3 March, 2006, at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, a 22-year-old Iranian Moslem, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, went on a killing spree in a rented SUV to “punish the government of the United States” and “avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world.” When making his initial statement in court, Taheri-azar expressed gratitude “for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah.” He also stated that he purposely rented an SUV in order to inflict more damage with the large vehicle.
Continue reading Jihadist threat goes unreported