Short answer....
Posted on 09/16/2006 12:23:50 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Australia's Islamic clerics have been told they must draw on the teachings of Islam to condemn terrorism, and preach in English.
The federal Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Robb called on more than 100 Australian imams and Muslim leaders attending a government-sponsored conference to denounce extremist misrepresentations of Islam.
"We live in a world of global terrorism where vile acts are regularly being perpetrated in the name of your faith," Mr Robb told the two-day conference.
"Because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem.
"You cannot wish it away or ignore it just because it has been caused by others."
The taxpayer-funded conference, which was intended for earlier this year, was initially the brainchild of the now divided Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.
But organisation of the event was handed to the Muslim Community Reference Group members by Mr Robb after the AFIC failed to get it going.
A number of hardcore Islamists accepted invitations to attend.
Mr Robb urged delegates to do more to ensure young Australian Muslims knew the real meaning of the Koran.
"I say to you, speak up and condemn terrorism," he said.
"I know many in your community are doing this ... but too many are silent or simply protest that they are being branded unfairly."
But conference keynote speaker Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra from the Muslim Council of Britain said Muslim leaders and the government had a shared responsibility to denounce terrorism.
"We as imams and Muslim leaders have to shout out loud as loudly as we can that terrorism has no room in Islam, it is the exact opposite of what Islam stands for," Sheikh Mogra said.
"At the same time the politicians should hear our voice.
"I have been very, very disappointed ... when the acknowledgment is not there that we are condemning the violence. It's as if we are not being heard."
Sheikh Mogra told delegates they must encourage good government initiatives.
"I called on them to proactively engage the government, not to be cynical all the time but to pat the government's back when they get it right and to help them when they get it wrong," he said.
With 50 per cent of the 360,000 Muslims in Australia under 25 years of age, and most born in Australia with English as their first language, Mr Robb said it was essential for imams to have effective English language skills.
"For imams to present Islam in a truly Australian context, especially to second and third generation young Australian Muslims, it would seem essential that imams be able to preach effectively in English.
"The fact that I needed to have my address translated into several languages very clearly highlights my concern.
"(Young people's) view of Islam should come from the Mosque, not from the internet."
God could be use the Aussie government in exchange for our own government, ACLU, CAIR, etc. worshippers of the "Religion of Peace?
RACISM!!! /s
What a country!!
But deaf ears?
In 5 years, I have not hears a peep out of the Muslims that terrorism is evil. And we probably never will.
But you see, they don't think Jihad is terrorism. That's the problem here. The West is too quick to label it as "terrorism", when in fact it's Jihad.
So, they can condemn terrorism all they want, but the Jihad will continue.
Why can't any of OUR politicos say things like this!!!???
Maybe it's because right after W visited the WTC on 9/14, W said that "Islam is the Religion of Peace."
When I heard him make that statement, I jumped out of my chair in disbelief.
For Muslims to teach peace from their scripture they will need to rewrite the Koran as well as the Hadith by Bukhari, the Tarikh by Tabari, Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, and any other Islamic scriptures. Excluding facts from religious scriptures poses a serious problem for its practitioners.
Short answer....
Yeah, he nulliefied any condition for repentace. A real boneheaded move!
Long ago I remember an Australian Army outfit down the road. We were not supposed to visit them. Well, so much for military rules!
The loved to swap their stuff for ours, tell stories, be entertaining hosts, drink a lot of beer, and play the old "who has the biggest pair of balls". Americans found this way of life congenial, shall we say. Once you could figure out what the heck they were saying!
Anyway, all of those lads (actually they were a few years older than we were) did indeed have a big pair. Reckless almost but never when it counted. You could rely on them.
More than I can say for a lot of "Americans". Present company excepted, of course.
""Because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem. "
===
Exactly!
Hurray for the Aussies. We need more of this.
People need to realize that the Koran allows condemnation of terrorists acts (if it makes Islam look bad), but they cannot condemn any muslim in particular.
We need to always ask, "Do you condemn each person responsible?"
They won't, ever.
"Interesting response by the Aussies" ping...let us see if the muslims respond reasonably.
Maybe Bush has been taking notes? Re: the news conference performance yesterday.
Good news indeed! The muzzies in aussie are on notice. They'll whine and whinge of course, but the government's attitude is so reasonable if they don't like it they can go home.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.