Posted on 01/28/2005 6:38:46 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
COPENHAGEN, January 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Concerned their influence may draw voters’ support away from his party during the coming general elections, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on Muslim imams not to involve in the polls and to “stay out of politics”.
“In Denmark, politics and religion are separate,” Rasmussen was quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying Friday, January 28.
“Pastors do not use the church to push their parishioners to vote for specific parties. Imams should not do so either,” he added.
Danish voters are due to head for polling stations February 8 to cast ballot in the legislative elections.
Polls show the ruling coalition of Liberals and Conservatives, and parliamentary allies including the Danish People's Party (DPP), are set to win 100 of the 179 seats in parliament, according to Reuters.
Muslim Efforts
Rasmussen was angered by efforts of the imams in Denmark to draw up a common strategy to attract the voters' support for the Danish opposition parties against the ruling center-right coalition government during the legislative elections, AFP said.
The imams are planning to appeal to Danish Muslims, through prayers, on the Internet, in leaflets and in the media to choose parties that respect immigrants and that want to pull Danish troops out of Iraq, Kazem Said Ahmad, head of a political and media organization that represents the Muslim community, told Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.
Within this context, a group of twenty-five Muslim imams are planning to hold a meeting grouping representatives of Danish opposition parties on February 4, to discuss means of promoting the opposition parties during the February polls.
The Muslim imams' efforts came in the wake of several decisions taken by the incumbent Danish government that drew anger of the Muslim community in the European country.
The Danish government took a decision last November to award its “Liberty Prize” to Somali-born Dutch member of parliament Ali Hirsi, the script writer of the controversial film “Submission”, which shows women talking about abuse dressed in see-through robes with texts from the Noble Qur'an painted on their bodies.
The Muslim community was also resentful with the “ultra restrictive” immigration policies pushed through by Rasmussen's Liberal Party, his coalition partner the Conservatives, along with the far-right Danish People's Party, which informally supports the government in parliament.
Islam is Denmark's second largest religion after the Lutheran Protestant Church, which is actively followed by four-fifths of the country's population of 5.3 million.
Draw Fire
The Danish Prime Minister's remarks also drew fire from Danish lawmakers, who condemned what they named “the hypocrisy of the prime minister who himself mixes politics and religion by among other things having appointed a woman pastor as religion minister”.
“To say that pastors don’t preach politics is also not true. The government’s parliamentary ally, the Danish People's Party, counts two pastor MPs, who for the past 10 years haven’t stopped defending their policies not only in parliament but also in their churches,” Kamal Qureshi, an MP of the opposition Socialist Party, told AFP.
It is “legitimate for the imams to recommend to their followers to vote, not from a religious point of view, but to encourage them to participate in a democratic debate and to support parties that defend human rights and respect minorities,” he added.
The issue of imams training has recently taken central stage in several European countries.
Major Swiss Christian groups put forward a proposal to establish a government-supervised institute to educate imams on the “liberal” lifestyle in western societies, which split Muslim activists in the country down the middle.
German integration minister Marieluise Beck has further released a 20-point strategy recommending that imams coming to Germany should have a knowledge of the German language and society.
Rasmussen has taken several decisions that drew ire of the Muslim community in Denmark.
From “Submission”, which shows women talking about abuse dressed in see-through robes with texts from the Noble Qur'an painted on their bodies.
Ms. Ali of the Netherlands, as stated above, was the winner of Denmark's Liberty Prize.
Imams warn Danish PM: "Can you say fatwa?"
Imagine that, appointing a pastor as religion minister. Surely, he could have gone outside the "field" for such an appointment. Wouldn't an atheist be more appropriate?
Good post, John...thx.
Why don't they just kick the a*holes out?
A good question.
The Danes successfully resisted the Nazis during WWII, now, will they be able to do it again with another bunch of Fascists of the Islamo variety?
If the populace has common sense, yes.
Hamlet defeated Polonius but at a cost.
This is encouraging, the Germans, the Dutch and the Danes are slowly waking up. A note to the Muslims in those countries, when a guest don't abuse your hosts. These are not the French, and they will slowly respond with very cold deliberation once you get their attention. I would not be surprised to see some very tough immigration laws coming from those countries.
Probally and a Assimlate or Die provision.
Danish PM warns Imams, can you say "Vikings"?
Good for him. Put these nutjobs in their places. If things are made difficult enough for them in Europe, perhaps they will return to their camel herds where they belong.
They're not totally crazy. They really don't want to return to their dar-al-Islam hell holes. It just that they want to live in the superior comforts of the West while bringing the religion that wrecked their homelands with them.
why don't we?
this will happen here soon enough.
the west has grown soft but some are waking up....Holland and now Denmark but not us.
my beloved El Presidente loves open borders for all
and I have the right to disagree with him.
You are right. They will just move to another EU country, the one that treats them the best.
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