Western Values and Muslim Community

 

Genesis 1

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground�everything that has the breath of life in it�I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

 

It is not forced on Christians as food laws are in other religions, it is a free choice.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_vegetarianism

 

http://www.jesusveg.com/index2.html

 

http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/mission.htm

Edited by believer - 26 February 2009 at 5:28am

Iftikhar wrote: Salaam   The western "values" suggest equality and freedom for all, that means society must allow religious freedom. The Christians and Jews have Church/ Jewish schools as well as kosher meat, yet when Muslims simply ask for the very same treatment,the Islamphobic secular right wing jump up and down screaming that somehow western values have been attacked.   The Jews throught out the western world have their own religious courts. Christians have been enjoying the right to be married in Church. Muslims should have the same right to get married in Masajid as well as they need Sharia Courts, dealing in marriage, civil matters and divorce.   It is easy to say" Go back to where you came from",but do not forget that British Muslims are actually born and educated here. They are in the unenviable position of trying to combine two diffent worlds. That is no easy.   Multiculturalism is not about separation, ghettoisation or balkanisation. It is, instead, a recognition of both diversity and the need for common ground, mutual respect,and cultural engagement.   Muslims all over the world never opposed English as a language what they did was opposition of the Western culture and their system of education. In Pakistan, the medium of instruction is Urdu and English and the official language is both English and Urdu. Pakistan is going to send English teachers to Korea for the teaching of English language.   Muslim parents would like their children to be well versed in standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity.   Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because state schools with monolingual teachers are not capable of teaching English to bilingual children.At the same time, they need to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.   I am concerned with the education of the Muslim children. It is nothing to do with integration or segregation. Those state as well as Church schools where Muslim children are in majority, in my opinion, may be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models.   Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school.   Iftikhar Ahmad www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Edited by Nausheen - 02 March 2009 at 7:51pm

This post reflects how fussy Muslims can be as a community. What they are unable to do as a Muslim individual, as a Muslim family or as a Muslim community they demand the government to do for them.

They pay the taxes, too, they should have a say over how THEIR money is spent.

Why are muslims so scared of others diluting their culture? Is it because their love and adherence to their culture is not strong enough? If so, something should be done within first, before changing the world around them.

I don't agree. Many people are selfish and lack foresight that it is impossible for them to correctly judge different cultures. For example, women in Europe were long back given freedom to work outside. For their own materialistic interests they chose to concentrate on their careers and have fewer children, although they had the means to support and take care of more children. Now, Europe abruptly finds itself with an overaging population with fewer and fewer young people to sustain the economy and pay the taxes to cover the pension of an aging population. The very survival of certain European nations is threatened.

What can be wrong in the native cultures of the children of immigrants that they take to alcohol and promiscuity when they grow up in Western countries, thereby harming their society and lives? Young people do so simply because they don't want to be left out. It's because of their desire to belong that they want to conform to decadent and immoral practices of Western "culture". It has nothing to do with the flaws of their own native culture (which I admit are not few).

Edited by candid_new - 04 March 2009 at 11:16pm

I dont even see a problem with Non-Muslim teachers teaching Arabic or anyother subject . . . . the only subject that I feel is exclusive to Muslim teachers and should remain so, would be related to Islamic Studies.

Remember the Battle of Badr? (i think thats the one, pl correct) The ransom of non-muslim POWs back then, was to teach muslim children. They could go free after teaching muslim children.