Religion & Society

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     The attacks in London on Saturday are the latest in a series of terror strikes that have led to the deaths of over 30 civilians of various nationalities. British PM Theresa May has expressed the outrage of most British people, declaring that “we cannot allow this ideology the safe space that it needs to breathe” and calling for the regulation of cyberspace to prevent the internet being used so effectively by terrorist groups to disseminate their poisonous ideology. These declarations by the British prime minister conceal a scandal. The signs of Britain’s current predicament were visible decades earlier, and successive prime ministers and cabinets proved incapable of anticipating the extent of the threat from Islamist terrorism.         A harbinger of Britain’s present problems was evident almost thirty years ago. In 1989, Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of British author Salman Rus...

( Vision Radio )   A Christian academic says the targeting of young people in the fatal terror attack in Manchester shows the terrorists’ intent to inflict the greatest possible offence against their opponents.    The Manchester attack killed 22 people and injured 59 others after a pop concert at Manchester Arena.    Professor Peter Riddell, a Professorial Research Associate in History at the University of London, has told our newsroom, while he believes the targeting of young people was deliberate, the extremists operate from an ‘us and them’ mentality – whereby they see the lives of any non-Muslims as being of lesser value.    He says while there are Koranic verses that talk about the value of human life, there are references in both Koran and associated literature that prioritise the support, defence, and advancement of Muslims.    Professor Riddell says the extremists use such parts of their religious texts to justify their attacks, a...

Indonesia provides a very good case study for the persistence and determination of Islamist ideology. When the nation gained its independence in the 1940s, a struggle took place to determine the shape and identity of independent Indonesia. Some were determined to follow the Western model of parliamentary democracy, considering it most appropriate to the multicultural and multifaith reality of the nation's population. However some among the almost 90% Muslim majority wanted an Islamic State, based on sharia law and its detailed enactments. In the event, the multicultural pluralists won the day and Indonesia was formed around a system of multiple parties, with regular elections and a presidential system. In response, Islamist groups launched a twelve-year rebellion which cost thousands of lives and imposed great strains on the political and economic fabric of the new nation. One particular bone of contention was what became known as the Jakarta Charter. This was a simple seven...