Conspiracy alert! Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk says “Muslims” are gradually conquering Europe. The comment from the Cardinal is fairly tame but and is directed more towards domestic consumption but still feeds into the narrative of conspiracy. (via Islamophobia-watch)
Czech Cardinal says Christian Europe is to blame for Islamisation
Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, the Archbishop of Prague, said Muslims were well placed to fill the spiritual void “created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives”.
“Europe will pay dear for having left its spiritual foundations and that this is the last period that will not continue for decades when it may still have a chance to do something about it,” he said.
“Unless the Christians wake up, life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society.”
The 77-year-old cardinal made his remarks in an interview to mark his retirement after spending 19 years as the leader of the Czech Church.
He said he did not blame Muslims for the crisis as Europeans had brought it upon themselves by exchanging their Christian culture for an aggressive secularism that embraced atheism.
“Europe has denied its Christian roots from which it has risen and which could give it the strength to fend off the danger that it will be conquered by Muslims, which is actually happening gradually,” he said.
“At the end of the Middle Ages and in the early modern age, Islam failed to conquer Europe with arms. The Christians beat them then.
“Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming.”
He called on Christians to respond to the threat of Islamisation by living their own religious faith more observantly.
Last year Cardinal Jose Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, warned Catholic women against marrying Muslims.
Italian Cardinal Giacomo Biffi also urged the Italian government to give priority to Catholic migrants over Muslims in order to protect his country’s religious identity.
The Vatican has also opposed Turkey joining the European Union partly because the Muslim country does not share the continent’s Christian heritage
January 7th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
In another post here last November, RE people who judge all followers of Islam as being people of potential harm conclusion was:
The actions of Islamic extremists–such as the 9/11 hijackers and Major Nidal Hasan–flout the normative tradition of Islam and the teachings which millions of Muslim Americans follow. It is therefore inappropriate to conclude that the religion of Islam itself advocates such things, or that these attackers were simply following their religion. Such a thing is offensive to say and quite frankly inaccurate.
On the Christian side: this Cardinal was not speaking for the Catholic Church or for all Christians. Most Christians are able to see this. They are also able to see that their Muslim neighbors are just that, neighbors and friends.
On both sides, prejudice is driving arguments. The Cardinal agrees with Muslims terrorist who say that the West is decadent. Many of us see this clearly as true.
As for religious fervor or even being a practicing Christian, IF we ever were in a war with most of Islam - he is correct - we would lose. We have no inner sense of god or of godliness. We would be fighting to protect our materialism, our nationalism. He is saying we ourselves have created a spiritual void and that the followers of Muhammed would fill it. Here he is being prejudice but he is also saying to Christians: Do you want this to happen? He would say this because he “works for” Christ.
In short, the same arguments are made over and over just clothed in different episodes. Most intelligent people on both sides regret what is happening because of the actions of the few. WE NEED TO PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION to WHO IS TALKING ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS DIVIDE AND NOT JUST TO WHAT THEY ARE SAYING.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Only 40% of Czech population is Catholic, the majority are atheist, Czech is the most atheist country in Europe. There is a small Muslim population, but it is growing, as can be evidenced from the video and the news story below.
Video Arabic /English - Scientist From Czech Republic Converts To Islam -
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/954872/a_czech_scientist_reverts_to_islam/
Czech Republic: Many Looking To Islam In Their Search For Spirituality
March 12, 2004 By Valentinas Mite
http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1051864.html
The Muslim community in the Czech Republic, one of the least religious countries in Europe, is small, but trends for growth are seen. Many Muslims come to live and study in this Central European country. There is also a tendency for some young Czechs to convert to Islam in their quest for spirituality.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Emperor thank you:)
sounds like the Cardinal was lamenting Christians embracing secularism and hedonism and forgetting God. It’s natural that he would want to decry religious apathy amongst Christians. I think we can respect true believers in their own faith, calling upon others to embrace their values as long as they do not force anyone or denigrate anyone elses religion. After all we proselytise too and accept and encourage converts.
This Cardinal is actually a friend of Muslims, in that he sided with them during the Danish cartoon debacle. He made some comments then, which actually resonate well and show his deep love of his own faith.
Below is an article regarding the cartoon publications and Cardinal Vlk lauding Muslims for respecting their religion. He said Christians should respect their religion the same way and not let Jesus be abused in the name of “freedom”.
Czech cardinal sympathises with angry Muslims
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/75544
06-02-2006 13:52 | David Vaughan
The publication of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper has brought violent reactions in some parts of the Muslim world, and heated debate in Europe about the balance between freedom of expression and respect for different beliefs. Indirectly, the Czech Republic has also found itself in the firing line.
…….Muslims here have found an ally in the Catholic Church. The Primate of Czech Republic, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, said quite unequivocally that he felt the Danish caricatures went beyond the accepted limits of freedom of expression:
“In our part of the world it has become acceptable to defame the beliefs of others, even using lies. That’s not just towards Islam but also Christianity. We’ve accepted this false sense of freedom, but Muslims have not been corrupted in the same way, and are willing to defend values they consider sacred.”
January 7th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Sultana,
I heard Iceland is the most atheistic of European nations, something like close to 80% of the population supposedly doesn’t believe in any Deity. I guess you are correct about continental Europe however.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I wonder what people here think of the fact that the more atheistic northern European countries tend to have higher birthrates than the more traditionally Catholic countries of southern Europe?
It certainly goes against the view of the most common form of the “Eurabia” hypothesis, which is that Europeans aren’t having enough children because they’re not religious enough. Perhaps the problem is that modern European society has made traditional families untenable (why? Are costs of living too high forcing both husband and wife into paid employment). This seems to be supported by the fact that most of the difference in birthrates is due to a higher rate of out-of-wedlock births in Northern Europe.
January 7th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
George, I find that an interesting statistic, what is your source for the claim. It would put a dent in arguments from the likes of Spengler (David P. Goldman) who hold that the breakdown of traditional culture are correlated to decreasing birthrates in Europe. However as you point out the higher birthrates could be attributable to higher out of wedlock births, which brings up a whole other set of problems.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
ustadh,
Iceland and the rest of Scandinavia do have a large proportion of atheists, but Czech and Estonia have the most. Europe generally is more atheist than any other place in the world. Remember, the atheist Swiss, voted for the minaret ban, as they find all religion distasteful. In actual fact, Iceland and the UK are about the same in atheist % per capita
It’s no wonder, the good men of the clergy in Europe are wringing their hands..i can understand their worries. Turkey is actually the most religious country in Europe, so no wonder they fear Islam will take over. Islam is actually the religion of choice for many Europeans now. Christianity is declining and Islam is gaining converts, add to that Muslim immigration, so the demographics change. But there are more conversions than births or immigration, thats somethings that Islamophobes lie about.
Most convert for the right reasons, because they love the faith, but others meet Muslim girls and convert to marry them. In my opinion, thats not a good reason to convert. Converting for a reward should be outlawed, some Imams reject such converts, but most accept them. Same with women, those who convert to marry a Muslim man shouldn’t be accepted. Faith is not for sale. We’re not like Evangelicals who do anything for conversions, even trick and lie and deceive.
Here are some interesting facts at Wikipedia
Demographics of atheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism
Several studies have found Sweden to be one of the most atheist countries in the world. According to Davie (1999), 80% of Swedes do not believe in God.[12] In the Eurostat survey, 23% of Swedish citizens responded that “they believe there is a God”, whereas 53% answered that “they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force” and 23% that “they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force”. This, according to the survey, would make Swedes the third least religious people in the 27-member European Union, after Estonia and the Czech Republic. In 2001, the Czech Statistical Office provided census information on the ten million people in the Czech Republic. 59% had no religion, 32.2% were religious, and 8.8% did not answer.[13]
January 8th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
@ Ustadh, George Carty.
The explanation given for that trend in this article seems fairly feasible.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/population-paradox-europes-time-bomb-888030.html
“So you might expect, then, that in Europe fertility rates would be highest in the Catholic south. But intriguingly the opposite is the case. It has a more rapidly falling population than the Protestant north. “Not just in Catholic Spain and Italy but in Orthodox Greece the strong traditions … are not boosting fertility rate as many might suppose,” says Coleman.
Why is this? A clue lies in a 2006 survey by the EC which asked women how many children they would like to have. The answer averaged out at 2.36 – which is one child more than they are actually having. They get nearer to that in north-west Europe for two reasons. One is that – though women here may laugh at the notion – men in France, Britain, Holland and Scandinavia help out more at home than their Latin counterparts. The other is that the state, through child benefit, tax breaks (on which France is keen), maternity leave and nursery provision, makes it much easier for a woman to juggle the twin tasks of work and running a home.
In Italy and Spain and Greece, by contrast, the feminist revolution is not so far advanced. There has been economic change. Women get the education and even the jobs. But social attitudes remain rooted in a model of the woman as mother and the male as breadwinner, what the Australian demographer Peter McDonald, calls “out hunting the mammoth”. But those Italian women who go out hunting the mammoth are still expected to change all the nappies; they do more than 75 per cent of the housework and child care.”
January 8th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
@ Sultana: “Islam is actually the religion of choice for many Europeans now. Christianity is declining and Islam is gaining converts, add to that Muslim immigration, so the demographics change. But there are more conversions than births or immigration, thats somethings that Islamophobes lie about.”
And you base this upon which stats? Oh, I see, you have none. And why is it that on every post you repeat the same thing? Are Muslims and Christians involved in some childish race to see who has the highest number of believers before God wreaks damnation (excuse the Christian connotations of that word) on earth? If so, I didn’t know that, so thanks for telling me.
As other posters have already told you, Islam in Europe has grown from a relatively small base of adherents. Therefore the growth numbers will seem exaggerated or “excessive” and “frightening” as the Islamophobes would describe it.
On the other hand, Evangelical Christianity has seen a substantial increase in followers in the UK as a result of immigration from Africa and Latin America (I should know, I was sort of forced to go to Church every sunday until 6 years ago and the Spanish speaking churches were always full to the brim. Something about finding comfort in the familiar I guess?). Also, as a result of the EU’s expansion, 600000 immigrants from Eastern Europe have served to bolster the ranks of Catholicism.
Given the relatively large numbers of immigrants from India, one can probably expect a notable increase in adherence to Hinduism, although with probably a very small contribution to that figure from converts to that faith.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Just to add, the growth in immigrants from Christian majority countries as a result of mass immigration probably provokes 0.00000000001% of the fear and controversy which immigration of Muslims does….