Comments on: Secular fundamentalists “the new totalitarians”

By: JDsg

JDsg — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:11:32 +0000

George wrote: “I think that’s a rather paranoid reading of Old Pickler’s post…”

Paranoid? Hardly. Wake up, George.

By: George Carty

George Carty — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:15:46 +0000

The people who object to these things are busybody council officials with nothing to do. And most likely atheists.

And by blaming the de-Christianization of the public sphere on a desire not to offend “those of other faiths” (read: Muslims), they can kill two birds with one stone.

By: George Carty

George Carty — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 20:13:50 +0000

You in turn decided to answer the question for your own benefit use it as an excuse to demand their expulsion via the nonsense which is a hallmark of every one of her posts.

I think that’s a rather paranoid reading of Old Pickler’s post…

By: DrM

DrM — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:12:50 +0000

George was simply wondering about the representation of the flag to British Muslims. You in turn decided to answer the question for your own benefit use it as an excuse to demand their expulsion via the nonsense which is a hallmark of every one of her posts. Not that I give a rodent’s behind but you really do hate Muslims, don’t you pRickler?

By: Old Pickler

Old Pickler — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:12:15 +0000

I wonder if Muslims have ever objected to the English flag? It wouldn’t surprise me if they saw ‘crusader’ connotations in it…

Well, they don’t have to live in England, do they? The flag is about politics. If they object to it, go elsewhere. That’s what I’d do if I didn’t like a country’s flag to that extent. Regarding religion, Muslims or any other non-Christians don’t appear to have a problem with religious symbols.

By: George Carty

George Carty — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 08:51:47 +0000

People often confuse secularism with atheism. America is a much more religious country than Britain, yet it is explicitly secular in its constitution,

Yes, but American secularism (religious neutrality) is quite different from French/Turkish secularism (anti-religious state).

whereas we have an established Church.

If it weren’t for the issue of the legal system, then the English monarchs from Henry VIII through James II could almost be considered to be Christian “caliphs”.

I have yet to hear of any Muslim, Hindu, Jew or Sikh objecting to Christmas lights, crosses etc.

I wonder if Muslims have ever objected to the English flag? It wouldn’t surprise me if they saw ‘crusader’ connotations in it…

By: Thersites

Thersites — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 08:28:56 +0000

More likely pagans who object to having their ancient festivals taken over by a bunch of foreign monotheists, actually.

By: Old Pickler

Old Pickler — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:33:39 +0000

People often confuse secularism with atheism. America is a much more religious country than Britain, yet it is explicitly secular in its constitution, whereas we have an established Church.

I have yet to hear of any Muslim, Hindu, Jew or Sikh objecting to Christmas lights, crosses etc. (A lot of the stuff associated with Christmas is Pagan anyway.) The people who object to these things are busybody council officials with nothing to do. And most likely atheists.

By: George Carty

George Carty — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:22:08 +0000

We all know that for most of the history of the Christian West, the various empires and kingdoms of this part of the world were not at all tolerant, using Crusades and inquisitions to spread Catholicism and eradicate not only local heresies but also Judaism and Islam.

Yes, but institutionalized intolerance was virtually the only religious aspect of the governance of pre-Enlightenment Christendom.

Almost all Christian states in history (at least in the West) have used versions of either Roman civil law, Anglo-Saxon common law or Code Napoléon, rather than Biblical canon law (the nearest thing which Christianity has to a Shari’ah).