Faithful Women
Of course, there is no simplistic divide between radical secular-minded feminists and faithful Muslim women the former are not whores nor are the latter doormats. Indeed, some of the most impressive representatives for Islamic organizations across the continent are themselves women, who sometimes hold senior rank in these groupings. In Spain, where white European converts are prominent in Muslim groups, we find leaders like Jadicha Candela, founder of the women's network al-Nisa, who retains...
In Search of Europe
Across the political spectrum, then, a diverse range of activists find it in their rhetorical interests to stress the inevitable coming of an Islami-cized Europe, sooner rather than later, and to present matters in the grimmest possible terms. They foresee ruinous religious violence, with Muslim minorities set against secular states and Muslim communities against Christian or Jewish neighbors. Yet although it may be approaching the status of a truth universally acknowledged, the vision of a...
Anglicans
This kind of innovation is not surprising when we consider the substantial intellectual and spiritual resources available to the mainstream churches. Even his most severe critics acknowledge that Pope Benedict XVI possesses as powerful an intellect as any predecessor for centuries past. And however sick the Church of England might be in its attendance levels, its leadership still includes figures as distinguished as any in its history. Since 2002, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been Rowan...
The Golden Age of Pilgrimage
The continuing popularity of pilgrimages also refutes simple claims that European Christianity is dead. Now, critics might question the kind of faith that such pilgrimages demonstrate, and both Protestants and many liberal Catholics are nervous about the theological content of a Marian healing shrine. But if we regard the pilgrimages to Mecca or Varanasi as symbols of the passionate faith of Muslims or Hindus, then we should treat Christian expressions with equal respect. The world's largest...
Explaining Secularization
Other factors, though, contributed mightily to the decline of religion, apparently making Europe a wonderful model of secularization theory in action. If these explanations are correct, this would have dramatic implications for the fate of other religions in that same environment, and particularly of Islam. Secularization theory portrays traditional institutional religions as fitting best in a premodern or prescientific setting dependent on agricultural production. Circumstances change when new...
Your Religion Tomorrow
If Europe were a woman, her biological clock would be rapidly running down. It is not too late to adopt more children, but they won't look like her. In 1989, the clerical regime of Iran issued a fatwa ordering the death of author Salman Rushdie for his allegedly blasphemous novel The Satanic Verses. In several European nations, the controversy spurred mass protests by Muslim residents hitherto known for their political quiescence. Some demonstrators carried placards reading Islam Our Religion...
Were Going to Outbirth You
In 1938, Anglo-French author Hilaire Belloc wrote, The future always comes as a surprise, but political wisdom consists in attempting at least some partial judgment of what that surprise may be. And for my part I cannot but believe that a main unexpected thing of the future is the return of Islam. He continued, Millions of modern people of the white civilization that is, the civilization of Europe and America have forgotten all about Islam. They have never come in contact with it. They take for...