But the Dutch Christian Democratic Party — Christian, mind you! — knows better than the most respected scholars of the Koran. It has studied the sharia, and found it not just compatible with democracy, but a positive force for the promotion of it.
According to NIS:
CDA Says Islam Can Promote Democracy- - - - - - - - -
THE HAGUE, 08/11/08 — The Christian democrats (CDA) conclude in a study that Islam can be a source for fostering democracy. The sharia, or Koran-inspired law, can play a role in this process, the study compiled by Arie Oostlander finds.
Oostlander strongly opposes what is known as the secularisation premise, which claims that democratic development benefits from reduced religious involvement. “I take a strong stand against the idea that Islam is incompatible with democracy. This premise plays into the hands of extremist groups. Islam can provide a basis for promoting the democratic constitutional state,” Christian newspaper Nederlands Dagblad quoted him as saying.
Oostlander was director of the scientific bureau of the CDA between 1975 and 1989. Jan Peter Balkenende, the present CDA leader and Prime Minister, once called him his ‘spiritual father’.
The West, Oostlander maintained, must try to link up with religious groups in Muslim countries that are open to democratic developments. He said he did not wish to be “naïve” about this, because there are also extremist groups that do not eschew violence. But space can be created for the sharia. “Not everything stated in the sharia is bad. We should be prepared to take part in discussion about this.”
Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen (CDA) took receipt of the study. “Religious leaders can play a positive role in reforms in a country,” he said. “But religion is not the only factor that decides someone’s identity. It should never be impossible for someone to participate in a discussion because of their convictions.”
Where the sharia is concerned, Verhagen maintained that “there must never be any excuse for stoning women to death” or killing homosexuals. But this does not alter the fact that people may allow themselves to be inspired by their religious convictions in shaping society, the minister declared. And this can be manifested in legislation in one way or another, he added.
Hat tip: TB.
6 comments:
It couldn't be more clear. The inmates are running the asylum.
I'm afraid we *will* need to flush the majority of the current political elite to the toilet.
Utterly hopeless...
We should ask him what are his sources for such a statement. He would probably respond "talking".
Some time in the 1850s an American citizen wrote a letter to his congressman. The citizen had only one question, which was expressed in this letter:
Excuse me, but is the majority always drunk?
Arie Oostlander should be arrested and put on trial for treason. Of course, that won't happen.
Such a statement might produce some nice family holiday trip payed by the gov. to some islamic country with a huge hotel at the sea-shore for Western guests - mostly interested in the local democracy conundrum and paraphernalia as shower and swimming pool or camel riding or water pipe smoking.
"Islam can be a source for fostering democracy" ... oh, really?
========================
Gee, what about Islamic opposition to "man-made" laws? Don't Islamic True Believers prefer to submit to the capricious whims of Allah, Mohammed's manufactured alter ego?
What about the democratic heresy of believing all humans have equal value in the sight of God? Remember, Mohammed "revealed" that women have half the value of men, and Infidels have half the value of women.
Mr. Oostlander needs to go mingle among the True Believers in their cesspit homelands and then get back to us on his "Islam fosters democracy" idea. A little trip to reality (and away from PC feel-good theories) might prove an antidote for the "Peace and brotherhood will blossom if we just embrace diversity hard enough" indoctrination offered by our liberal-left universities.
Post a Comment