Lord Harries
There are plenty of Muslims in Great Britain who are pushing for the inclusion of Islam into British society. The process of Islamization of Britain being well underway, they don’t really need any help from British political and religious authorities but they sure are getting it anyway [1] Prince Charles’s coronation service should be opened with a reading from the quran, a senior Church of England bishop said yesterday. The gesture would be a ‘creative act of accommodation’ to make Muslims feel ‘embraced’ by the nation, Lord Harries of Pentregarth said. But critics attacked the idea, accusing the Church of ‘losing confidence’ in its own institutions and traditions. [2] Pamela Geller wrote that “the Church of England has surrendered without so much as firing a shot. Vanquished.” [3] Whether you agree or not, any common sensed person is entitled to ask why? Why in the world should he read the Quran and not Shakespeare? Why not a Jewish prayer, a Hindu or Sikh prayer? Why Islamic — especially since so many bloody wars are being waged in the cause of Islamic imperialism? [4] That’s a good question that nobody wold dare to answer honestly. Lord Harries, a former Bishop of Oxford and a leading CofE liberal thinker, said he was sure Charles’s coronation would give scope to leaders of non-Christian religions to give their blessing to the new King. The former Bishop of Oxford, who continues to serve as an assistant bishop in the diocese of Southwark, made the suggestion about the Koran during a House of Lords debate. He told peers the Church of England should take the lead in ‘exercising its historic position in a hospitable way’. [5] He said that at a civic service in Bristol Cathedral last year authorities had agreed to a reading of the opening passage of the Koran before the beginning of the Christian ritual. He said: ‘It was a brilliant creative act of accommodation that made the Muslim high sheriff feel warmly embraced but did not alienate the core congregation.’ [6] He went on even further arguing that there should be even more of those kinds of “accomodations” in the future:
That principle of hospitality can and should be reflected in many public ceremonies, including the next coronation service. [7]
Lord Harries’ suggestion comes more than 20 years after the Prince first said he would prefer to be seen as ‘Defender of Faith’ rather than be known by the monarch’s title of ‘Defender of the Faith’. [8] Charles said in 1994 he ‘always felt the Catholic subjects of the sovereign are equally as important as the Anglican ones, as the Protestant ones’. ‘Likewise, I think that Islamic subjects, or the Hindu subjects, or the Zoroastrian subjects of the sovereign, are of equal and vital importance.’ [9] In 2006 the Prince made known that he wanted a multifaith coronation that would be more ‘focused and telecentric’ than his mother’s in 1953. [10] However traditionalist Christians condemned Lord Harries’s idea. Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute think-tank said: ‘Most people will be amazed at the idea that a Christian leader would consider the use of the Koran at a Christian service in a Christian abbey. People are just so disappointed when senior Church of England figures lose confidence in the claims of the Christian faith.’ [11] Andrea Minichiello Williams, a member of the CofE’s parliament, the General Synod, and head of the Christian Concern pressure group, said:
‘At a time when we are looking at what British values mean, we cannot have values in a vacuum. British values stem from our Christian heritage. We cannot pretend all religions are the same, or have the same benefits and outcomes for the nation.’… [12]
Douglas Murray, associate editor of the Spectator, said if Muslims were included in the coronation service, there must be room to for Hindus, Sikhs, and atheists. He added: ‘If there were to be a reading from the Koran at the coronation, surely as a matter of reciprocity, all mosques in the UK should have prayers for the King and the Armed Forces every week at Friday prayers.’ [13] Unfortunately, the British “Christian heritage” seems not to be in the cards as far as the political class is concerned, each and every day the people can see the British government giving more and more space to Islam and less space to Christianity. We can expect that Prince Charles sanctioned this craven act of submission. Oriana Fallaci, the Italian best-selling journalist who, with her book The Rage and the Pride was post-9/11 among the first to alert the West to the dangers of Islam, called him “babbeo,” a Tuscan term which could be reserved for the village idiot. [14]
Christians have forgotten part of the divine revelations they received: “From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done.” — Qur’an 5:14
Jesus is not the Son of God: “O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not “Three” – Cease! (it is) better for you! – Allah is only One Allah. Far is it removed from His Transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is sufficient as Defender.” — Qur’an 4:171 [15]
It is amazing the lengths of rationalization people like Harries will go to justify their own treasonous behavior. He actually believes that Muslims will give their blessings to Prince Charles because he recites the Qur’an at his coronation. The truth is that the Islamic world sees it as a sign of weakness and subjugation, not something worthy of respect. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It sure would be refreshing to see this “Bishop” demand more Christianity in Muslim lands instead of more Islam in his homeland. [16]
