Dr. Nazir-Ali, Monte's boy in England

[Uli]

from the bbc web site

"Prince 'cannot defend all faiths'

Dr Nazir-Ali writes for the Church of England newspaper
The Prince of Wales cannot defend all faiths because the differences between them makes such a position untenable, a senior Anglican bishop has said.
The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, said all faiths could not be defended because of serious differences between various religions.

He said Prince Charles would be obliged to take an oath to defend the Christian church if he succeeded to the throne.

Dr Nazir-Ali has also warned against "multi-faith mish-mash" in the UK.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the monarchy and the legal system had both emerged from the Judeo-Christian ethic.

'Values come from the Bible'

Born a Muslim in Pakistan, Dr Nazir-Ali said: "All our values come ultimately from the Bible.

"People of other faiths recognise this and they are not often the ones asking for a multi-faith mish-mash. They recognise the value of Britain being a Christian country."

The Prince of Wales first expressed a wish to become "Defender of Faith" rather than "Defender of the Faith" in an interview in 1994.

But you can't defend every faith, because there are very serious differences among them

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali Bishop of Rochester

He suggested the title held by all British monarchs since Henry VIII implied they would protect only Christians.

Dr Nazir-Ali said he would have no issue with the prince wanting to uphold the freedom of people of every faith.

He added: "But you can't defend every faith, because there are very serious differences among them."

'Secularisers'

Dr Nazir-Ali blamed "secularisers" for creating pressure to remove the distinctively Christian character from places like hospital chapels.

Speaking about a specific example of such a trend, he said: "The people it does offend are the secularisers who want to level us down to a lowest common denominator, so that faith doesn't make any impact on society whatsoever."

Several other prominent figures in the Church of England have also expressed concerns about the erosion of Christianity in public life.

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has called for the British people to remember their Christian heritage.

Meanwhile, former Archbishop Dr George Carey has said he has concerns a minority in leadership want to privatise religion. "

[Brian Olewnick]

From his own irrational point of view, of course, he's absolutely correct.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Originally Posted by Uli

The Bishop of Rochester

And to paraphrase Monte: "Up, up Nazir-Ali! And all the secularisers keeping themselves in slavery."

Originally Posted by Uli

from the bbc web site

.......Speaking about a specific example of such a trend, he said: "The people it does offend are the secularisers who want to level us down to a lowest common denominator, so that faith doesn't make any impact on society whatsoever."

...

Sounds familiar, sorta like our political correct crowd.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by Uli

Born a Muslim in Pakistan, Dr Nazir-Ali said: "All our values come ultimately from the Bible."

OK, I'll confess to a certain fondness for any former Muslim christian bishop called Dr Nazi Rally.

Whee!

But certainly he has every right, as a bishop of the Church of England, indeed he has a duty, to stand firm in maintaining that the executive officer of that church, which is the monarch of the United Kingdom, should, oh I dunno, treat the Church of England as though it was the one true faith. Hey, he doesn't have to go out of the way to prove it. Or exercise any vigor in defending it. Elizabeth II is styled 'the defender of the faith' and she's not out wielding sword and longbow against the racaille at Agincourt. But to hem and haw and strive publicly not to prefer one faith to another is perhaps an insult coming from the one person constitutionally mandated, historically, to bend his knee at the pew of the C. of E.

[Pedantic Wretch]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

But certainly he has every right, as a bishop of the Church of England, indeed he has a duty, to stand firm in maintaining that the executive officer of that church, which is the monarch of the United Kingdom, should, oh I dunno, treat the Church of England as though it was the one true faith. Hey, he doesn't have to go out of the way to prove it. Or exercise any vigor in defending it. Elizabeth II is styled 'the defender of the faith' and she's not out wielding sword and longbow against the racaille at Agincourt. But to hem and haw and strive publicly not to prefer one faith to another is perhaps an insult coming from the one person constitutionally mandated, historically, to bend his knee at the pew of the C. of E.

This issue is of almost total irrelevance, since only about 3% of the population regularly attend Church of England services. It is, like the monarchy, part of the carcass of the earlier British establishment, a permanent reminder of the partial nature of its bourgeois revolution.

[Monte Smith]

Amen, if you say so. I'm not sure about the permanent partial bourgeouis carcasses. It does demonstrate a fundamental law, though. The more total the irrelevance to the larger the percent of the people, the greater the outrage.