"The flag of St George will not be flying over Radstock any time soon after town councillors decided it was inappropriate because of its links with campaigns against Islam hundreds of years ago...."Read it all hereWell, if that 's the case, then we should consider a complete ban on the crescent symbol of Islam, if only because of its 'links' with the Muslim campaign to subjugate Western Europe in the eighth century. It puts the (in comparison) rather feeble later attempts to recapture and then defend the Christian holy places in Palestine into perspective.
Emir Abd er Rahman's campaign was only halted by the victory of Charles Martel's Frankish army near the city of Poitiers (actually closer to Tours) in 732 - not that far from Radstock, when one thinks of the distance already covered by the advancing Arabs.
If there is anything worse than a politically correct fool, it's one without any knowledge of history. Given the existence of local elections, I suppose the people of Radstock get what they deserve...
Appropriate sensitivity to the faith of religious minorities is simply part of a charitable Christian concern for their welfare, and of a duty to maintain and defend the essentially tolerant civilisation of the West - something has been learned from the mistakes of the past; however, self-hatred born of ignorance leading to cultural suicide is another matter altogether.
The statue of Charles Martel in the Palace of Versailles
The good councillor is ignorant of more than just her own cultural history. I had dinner this evening with a Muslim family, friends of mine for many years. The family are devout Muslims, and the son will soon begin his training to be an Imam.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told them this story, at first they thought that I was winding them up. Several mobile phones and ipads were produced, and independent verification of my story was sought. They were MOST offended by the councillor's presumption that the average Muslim-in-the-street is so culturally thin-skinned that they would find St George's flag offensive. They also pointed out that St George is revered by many Muslims, and his shrine was a place of pilgrimage for both Christians and Muslims.
Many thanks indeed for that perspective. It's ironic, isn't it, that the recent Radstock example of liberal western 'vicarious victimhood'(expressions of unnecessary outrage on the part of those who aren't offended in the first place) should be occasioned by the symbol of a holy man revered by Christians and Muslims alike. It's William Dalrymple in his 'From the Holy Mountain' (I think) who mentions several times this traditional coming together of Christians and Muslims with regard to popular veneration of St George.
DeleteBut there is a also a very deep and worrying layer of cultural and historical self-hatred running through the contemporary western world; Orwell identified it among the left-wing intelligentsia from the 30s of the last century, it has grown to be even more significant since, particularly as it seems now to be academic orthodoxy in the Anglo-American - Scandinavian world at least... and very evident among the controlling bureaucracy of the E.U. as the Italians and others have discovered to their cost.
oh dear ... it sometimes seems that Western civilisation is painting itself into an ever small corner, using a paint with toxic fumes ...
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