Awakenings-Islam in Europe

In recent years successive Greek governments have been under increasing pressure to allow the building of a large mosque in Athens. As the number of Islamic immigrants has increased dramatically in the past decade, Muslims have been executing ntheir religious rights in open air gatherings in parks and squares or in private residencies and makeshift mosques. For years the late Archbishop Christodoulos had resisted the pressure and he was outspoken on the sbject of Turkey's entry in the European Union.
Several "non-governmental" organizations such as Amnesy International have been urging and often  succeeding in seeking the condemnation of Greece for not allowing the building of mosques.
Apart from their role in spreading multiculturalism these people and organisations seem to suffer from selective amnesia.

Greece has been for thousands of years the rock against which splashed the waves of Eastern invasions, from the Persians to the Turks. Hundrends of Leaders from King Leonidas of Sparta in 480 B.C. to Constantine Paleologos, the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, in 1453, have offered their lives as a sacrifice of the European people against the hords of barbarians flooding our lands.

(Oil painting by Iannis Nikou)

It is more than hypocritical to talk to us about human rights, when we fell under the Ottoman sword suffering nearly 400 years of oppression until the Greek Revolution of 1821 that gave to a relatively small part of what used to be Greece, its freedom. We still have several mosques and minarets standing following international treaties.

In the strugle to keep our homeland free, other European nations followed suit, defending Christianity in the Holy Land, and on European soil as in Vienna , Austria, in 1683 when Prince Eugene of Savoy saved Western Europe from the clasp of the Ottoman Turks.

Unfortunately, while Greeks are under the spell of media and intelligencia orchistrated propaganda, some nations refuse to surrender their identity to the mass marketed world soup. As reports the BBC:

(Picture credit The Telegraph)

"Swiss voters have supported a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets, official results show.

More than 57% of voters and 22 out of 26 cantons - or provinces - voted in favour of the ban.
The proposal had been put forward by the Swiss People's Party, (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which says minarets are a sign of Islamisation.
The government opposed the ban, saying it would harm Switzerland's image, particularly in the Muslim world.
But Martin Baltisser, the SVP's general secretary, told the BBC: "This was a vote against minarets as symbols of Islamic power."
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, in Bern, says the surprise result is very bad news for the Swiss government which fears unrest among the Muslim community.
Our correspondent says voters worried about rising immigration - and with it the rise of Islam - have ignored the government's advice.
In a statement, the government said it accepted the decision.
It said: "The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted." (...)
Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and has just four minarets.
After Christianity, Islam is the most widespread religion in Switzerland, but it remains relatively hidden.
There are unofficial Muslim prayer rooms, and planning applications for new minarets are almost always refused.
Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible with Swiss democracy.
Amnesty International said the vote violated freedom of religion and would probably be overturned by the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights.
Elham Manea, co-founder of the Forum for a Progressive Islam, added: "My fear is that the younger generation will feel unwelcome.
"It's a message that you are not welcome here as true citizens of this society."


In recent years countries across Europe have been debating how best to integrate Muslim populations.
France focused on the headscarf, while in Germany there was controversy over plans to build one of Europe's largest mosques".

What is also interesting to see, is the reaction of some Muslim readers in the BBC forums. Apart from the obvious cliches, one reads messages such as these:

We should not misjudge the Swiss people as they are simply trying to protect their own culture and religion and there is nothing wrong in that.Saudis and Pakistanis are doing that all the time. l. We should not over-react. KAYSVAN, SHAH ALAM

Religions should be practised in privacy - whether Europe or elsewhere, this being personal faith of individual.Swiss people have certainly showed their good understanding for future generations.
Ram Mehrotra, Delhi, India

May I close this long post with two posts coming from England.
One says:

So, let me see if I understand this....

The Goevernment let the people vote on this issue.
The people decided that they do not want Minarets.
The Government do not agree with the decision but, as Switzerland is a fair and civilised country, they are prepared to uphold and stand by the decision their people have made....
What a strange system they have - Perhaps we could try it some time Gordon!


msea biscuit, East Chinnock, United Kingdom

And here is a comment by a very sweet as it turns out, great-grandfather:

Minarets and religion are just symptoms of a problem. Let's face the facts. It is a natural instinct of humans to defend and preserve their racial background, culture and history. Anything perceived as a threat to those qualities is regarded by most as invasive and obnoxious, and so it has been throughout history. Man-made laws to eradicate so-called "racism" cannot change human inborn instinct.

So the Swiss vote should not surprise anybody. It's the way we are made.

[Anglobert], Surrey, United Kingdom

On another similar subject:

We have, since the 1950s, been politically brainwashed into accepting mass immigration to the UK. Anti-racist laws have been passed to stifle free speech on the subject.

Of course, my grandchildren accept our present society but, sadly, they cannot enjoy the proud, united, patriotic, lawabiding nation that I did before, during and after WW2.
Immigration is the one subject on which we should have had a referendum in the 1950s. You are now just wasting your time, Mr Brown. Decades too late.

(Let us hope and pray it is not)

On an entirely different subject that of "What makes a happy marriage" he had this to say:

Happy marriage? I marvel at my good fortune. In our 60th year of marriage, four great and happily married children, 11 lovely grandchildren and a g/grandchild, we have never had a serious dispute. I'll die with a thankful smile.

Lucky! Had served in WW2 and was at a loose end. A local girl asked me to go with her on a Church ramble. Me, on a ramble? My dear Mum told me it would do me good and persuaded me to go. Met this little Irish girl who still bowls me over. Lucky old me. Thanks, Mum!!

Wish us the same luck, Sir!