Now hold on! We are constantly told that Islam is entirely compatible with Western ideas of justice and liberty. Where is the reciprocity? Where are the Universal human rights that are so often proclaimed to be intrinsic to the very core of Islam? How did the scholars and people of Kuwait miss this oft trumpeted truth? Could those persuasive voices, the ones we keep hearing speaking with such conviction about the true teachings of authentic, peaceful Islam be - gulp - wrong?
You're darn right they are.
Take a minute to mull over the distinctions between the Western acceptance of Muslim migrants and the attitudes of Muslim majority countries to Muslim refugees. The Saudis themselves have refused to take a single Syrian refugee - although they magnanimously offered to build 200 mosques in Germany for such migrants - they cite the risk of bringing in terrrorists as being just too high.
Now Kuwait has decided not to permit the building of churches at all. Note please the reason given for the denial. Unlike in the West, this is not some group employing its right to demonstrate forcefully but peacefully against the building of a Mosque in, say, a provincial New Zealand town. This is the decision of a national government to discriminate entirely and only on the basis of religious law, a law which overrules all other considerations even when such "universal" considerations are given enthusiatic lip-service by Islamic leaders. When a real life test comes we see how the khubz really crumbles. And Kuwait is one of the more liberal Muslim countries of the Middle East.
Makes you think.
Should we believe what is said or what is done?
They do say "talk is cheap"...
... they also say "by their fruits you will know them".
This article brought to my attention by Gates of Vienna and thanks to Christian Today for the original article.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Plans to build churches in Kuwait have been rejected by MPs because they "contradict Islamic Sharia law".
The Gulf country's government, which is unelected and seperate [sic] from the elected MPs in parliament, initially accepted the church building proposals and allocated a number of sites for construction.
However it was rejected by MPs in the legislature. Islamist MP Ahmad al-Azemi said he and other MPs would reject the plans because they "contradict Islamic Sharia law".
He said his rejection is based on constitutional and religious grounds since Islam is the official religion of Kuwait and the main source of legislation. He added that Islamic scholars are unanimous in banning the building of non-Muslim places of worship in the Arabian Peninsula.
News that the government had approved sites for church building was reported to local press by Ahmad al-Manfoohi, general director of the municipality. It was met with extensive public criticism and al-Azemi urged the government against taking decisions that weren't in line with the view of Kuwait's conservative religious society.
Kuwait's citizens are majority Muslim with an estimated 60-70 per cent Sunni and 30-40 per cent Shia, although there are no official figures.
However the Gulf state, which is a US ally, also has a significant Christian expatriate population although the number of Kuwaiti Christians is very low.
Despite its conservative society, Kuwait stands out from other Gulf monarchies for having the most open political system. Women have the right to vote and stand in elections, although one ruling family holds most of the key posts.
The parliament, made up of ruling MPs, has the most power of any elected body in the Gulf but the ruling family make up the municipality, or government, which has final say over key decisions.
You're darn right they are.
Take a minute to mull over the distinctions between the Western acceptance of Muslim migrants and the attitudes of Muslim majority countries to Muslim refugees. The Saudis themselves have refused to take a single Syrian refugee - although they magnanimously offered to build 200 mosques in Germany for such migrants - they cite the risk of bringing in terrrorists as being just too high.
Now Kuwait has decided not to permit the building of churches at all. Note please the reason given for the denial. Unlike in the West, this is not some group employing its right to demonstrate forcefully but peacefully against the building of a Mosque in, say, a provincial New Zealand town. This is the decision of a national government to discriminate entirely and only on the basis of religious law, a law which overrules all other considerations even when such "universal" considerations are given enthusiatic lip-service by Islamic leaders. When a real life test comes we see how the khubz really crumbles. And Kuwait is one of the more liberal Muslim countries of the Middle East.
Makes you think.
Should we believe what is said or what is done?
They do say "talk is cheap"...
... they also say "by their fruits you will know them".
This article brought to my attention by Gates of Vienna and thanks to Christian Today for the original article.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Plans to build churches in Kuwait have been rejected by MPs because they "contradict Islamic Sharia law".
The Gulf country's government, which is unelected and seperate [sic] from the elected MPs in parliament, initially accepted the church building proposals and allocated a number of sites for construction.
However it was rejected by MPs in the legislature. Islamist MP Ahmad al-Azemi said he and other MPs would reject the plans because they "contradict Islamic Sharia law".
He said his rejection is based on constitutional and religious grounds since Islam is the official religion of Kuwait and the main source of legislation. He added that Islamic scholars are unanimous in banning the building of non-Muslim places of worship in the Arabian Peninsula.
News that the government had approved sites for church building was reported to local press by Ahmad al-Manfoohi, general director of the municipality. It was met with extensive public criticism and al-Azemi urged the government against taking decisions that weren't in line with the view of Kuwait's conservative religious society.
Kuwait's citizens are majority Muslim with an estimated 60-70 per cent Sunni and 30-40 per cent Shia, although there are no official figures.
However the Gulf state, which is a US ally, also has a significant Christian expatriate population although the number of Kuwaiti Christians is very low.
Despite its conservative society, Kuwait stands out from other Gulf monarchies for having the most open political system. Women have the right to vote and stand in elections, although one ruling family holds most of the key posts.
The parliament, made up of ruling MPs, has the most power of any elected body in the Gulf but the ruling family make up the municipality, or government, which has final say over key decisions.
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