Saturday, October 28, 2017
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
– J. Spencer Trimingham writing in 1979 about the historical process of Islamization in Africa'Three stages mark the process of conversion: germination, crisis, and gradual reorientation. Germinating in the deeper levels of individuals-in-society and in the collective consciousness, the seed eventually forces the shock of crisis. This results in a new attitude which in time profoundly modifies individual and social behaviour. These stages also help us to understand the different levels of participation which one finds in the Islam of Africa.First stage. Preparatory. Contact of some sort, visits and settlement of traders and clerics, leads to the breaking down of barriers and the adoption of certain aspects, chiefly material, of Islamic culture – the wearing of Islamic amulets and dress. The religious system is not upset.Second stage. Involves the assimilation of real elements of Islamic religious culture – ritual prayer and recognition of certain categories of permitted and prohibited. They are at this stage religious dualists, but these changes are accompanied by a weakening of the indigenous culture, until eventually the community reaches a point of crisis. This marks the beginning of theThird stage. The dividing point when the old religious authority is consciously rejected, the village ritual pattern is disrupted, priests of communal cults lose their power, and the clergy take their place as the guides for the religio-social life. Ancestor-worship must go because it is the core of the old religion, but a great deal of the old is retained. Offerings continue to be made to nature spirits, and medicinemen since they are individual practitioners still flourish but the dualism has changed to parallelism. Islam is now really influencing society.The three stages are often paralleled by change over three generations. In religious change the family rather than the individual is the natural and significant unit. The process takes more than one generation and is a reciprocal interaction between three generations. We may express it this way. A pagan family (generation 1) is subject to Islamic radiation. This affects their children (generation 2) who become Muslims in name, without discarding much of the old, but their children (generation 3), under the influence of clerics, learn to despise the old inheritance, and generation 1, in order to preserve its authority and maintain the unity of the family, now become Muslims. So the cycle is complete.'
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Monday, October 02, 2017
BREXIT CANCELLED
'Last night
prominent Brexiteers piled pressure on Mrs May, telling her to prepare for a
“no deal” if the EU does not open trade talks by December. The eight signatories,
including former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson and ex-Brexit minister David
Jones, raised fears over whether the UK would accept EU rules in a transition.
The letter calls for Mrs May to revert
to World Trade Organisation rules if the EU will not negotiate a trade deal
quickly. The move reflects concern among Tory hardliners over the approach laid
out in her speech – including an “implementation period”, effectively keeping
the UK in the EU for two years after 2019, and insisting Britain would pay the
Brexit bill.
EU diplomats said they expect Mrs May
to make more concessions after the Tory Party conference, believing her hands
are currently tied by fears of a Brexiteer revolt. They added: “May's Florence
speech was actually full of concessions … that's why we have this change of
mood.'
– from an article in Saturday's Daily Mail
There are now stories that the EU might be
prepared to begin discussions on a future trading relationship by Christmas.
The problem with the contents of the above quote
is that it misrepresents the surrender that May issued in her Florence speech.
What May effectively did, was to cancel Brexit – a Brexit as nearly all Leave
voters would understand it. The so-called Tory hardliners should be in full
revolt.
The Florence speech was clear about what the
government was doing, and May was correct in saying that it represented the
implementation of what she has been saying for some time. Key to understanding
the May Government's approach, is to recognise that they are not even trying to
leave the EU:
'We
want to work hand in hand with the European Union, rather than as part of the
European Union. That is why in my speech at Lancaster House I said that the
United Kingdom would seek to secure a new, deep and special partnership with
the European Union.'
It is this pursuit of a 'deep and special partnership' that
is government policy – not leaving the EU. Indeed, the government in practice
is committed to staying in the EU until this new partnership can be negotiated:
'If we
adopt this vision of a deep and special partnership, the question is then how
we get there: how we build a bridge from where we are now to where we want to
be.'
The speech set out what May understands as Brexit:
'The
United Kingdom will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29th March
2019. We will no longer sit at the European Council table or in the Council of
Ministers, and we will no longer have Members of the European Parliament.'
However (italics the English Rights Campaign's own emphasis):
'As I
said in my speech at Lancaster House a period of implementation would be in our
mutual interest. That is why I am proposing that there should be such a period
after the UK leaves the EU … during the implementation period access to one
another’s markets should continue on current terms.'
It has been reported that May has set a two-year limit on
her proposed implementation period (there are reports that Boris Johnson has
claimed privately that it was only at his insistence that the period had not
been set at five years). That is untrue (italics the English Rights Campaign's
own emphasis):
'The
framework for this strictly time-limited period, which can be agreed under
Article 50, would be the existing structure of EU rules and regulations. How
long the period is should be determined simply by how long it will take to
prepare and implement the new processes and new systems that will underpin that
future partnership.
For example, it will take time to put
in place the new immigration system required to re-take control of the UK’s
borders. So during the implementation period, people will continue to be able
to come and live and work in the UK; but there will be a registration system –
an essential preparation for the new regime.
As of today, these
considerations point to an implementation period of around two years.'
It should noted that during the implementation period,
Britain would remain under full EU rule. Furthermore, payments to the EU would
continue:
'I do
not want our partners to fear that they will need to pay more or receive less
over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to
leave. The UK will honour commitments we have made during the period of our
membership.
And as we move forwards, we will also
want to continue working together in ways that promote the long-term economic
development of our continent. This includes continuing to take part in those
specific policies and programmes which are greatly to the UK and the EU’s joint
advantage, such as those that promote science, education and culture – and
those that promote our mutual security.
And as I set out in my speech at
Lancaster House, in doing so, we would want to make an ongoing contribution to
cover our fair share of the costs involved.'
In fact Britain has made no 'commitments' to fund the EU and
their demands for a divorce bill have no legal force. Britain is not legally
obliged to make any such payments.
May further committed to a similar regulatory regime
post-Brexit: 'When we differ from the EU in our regulatory choices, it won’t be
to try and attain an unfair competitive advantage, it will be because we want
rules that are right for Britain’s particular situation.' May ended her speech
once again emphasising her policy of establishing a new partnership with the
EU: 'A partnership of interests, a partnership of values; a partnership of
ambition for a shared future: the UK and the EU side by side delivering
prosperity and opportunity for all our people.'
The EU diplomats were understating things when they said
that the Florence speech was 'full of concessions' and one dreads to think what
other concessions they are expecting once the Tory conference is over. The
speech is a total surrender.
May has defined Brexit as being no more than abolishing the
MEPs and ceasing to have representation at the Council of Ministers. She
stated, in very plain language, that unlimited mass immigration will continue,
the payments to the EU will continue, and Britain will remain under EU rule and
European Court of Justice control. There will be no restoration of sovereignty,
nor any border controls, nor will Britain stop giving the EU money.
This is not a genuine Brexit. British democracy has been
abandoned. The referendum vote has been ignored. Brexit has been cancelled.