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| Europe |
| French Muslims Reject Conditions on Mosque Subsidy |
| 2003-11-20 |
| The French city of Strasbourg has angered local Muslim leaders by insisting they stop preaching in Arabic and help fight juvenile delinquency if they want a subsidy to help build a mosque. Mayor Fabienne Keller informed Muslim leaders last week that the municipal subsidy also required that they preach a âFrench Islamâ, guarantee womenâs rights and inform City Hall about their view on whether Muslim girls should wear head scarves. You want government money, you have to follow government rules. The association planning the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg rejected the demand and said it would rather forego the subsidy â amounting to 10 percent of the six million euro ($7.16 million) overall cost â than go along with the cityâs demands. âWeâre not asking for charity ...(we could) do without the cityâs help,â Abderrahim El Heloui, secretary-general of the mosque association, told the Dernieres Nouvelles dâAlsace daily in the eastern French city yesterday. "We have other sources of funding. Ali, place a call to Riyadh." On preaching only in French, he said: âThatâs a theological issue, politicians have nothing to do with it.â Most of Franceâs five million Muslims are of Arab North African origin. They consider themselves Muslims living in France, not French muslims. El Heloui also bristled at the suggestion that Muslim leaders help fight juvenile delinquency, saying it implied that the mosque was in regular contact with young lawbreakers. Yes, we have noticed that, itâs called "complicity". France launched a council of Muslim communities last year to help deal with issues such as construction subsidies, which the state offers to all recognized religions. Some politicians have said they hoped Muslim leaders would return the favor by exerting their supposed influence to bring more order to the unruly suburban slums where many Muslims live. France was trying to set up a French flavored brand of Islam, we all knew that was doomed to fail. El Heloui said the cityâs query about head scarves, which Paris is considering officially banning from public schools, was a political question he could not decide. âIf there is a ban, weâll be the first to Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament and Council of Europe, has for years debated the issue of whether it should allow its Muslim community to build a large central mosque. "One mosque to rule them all, one mosque to find them, One mosque to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 "One mosque to rule them all,... Very appropriate Steve. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-11-21 7:39:04 AM |
| #9 The association planning the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg rejected the demand and said it would rather forego the subsidy DeVillepin: See, you silly Americans, WE know how to deal with zee Islamists. If you do like zee French you can also have zis kind of success. |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-11-20 7:26:15 PM |
| #8 JH is absolutely correct. And even if the LLL's fears about a theocratically Christian US is fulfilled, Hypocrites and accompished actors like Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton would become Church leaders just to get their power hungry hands on the levers of power, and to hell with the flock. (Little consolation that they'd have stiff competition from some of the present incumbents in certain quarters...) Christians should have a say in how the government is run, and Christians, as citizens, should be able to run for and hold political office, become judges, and be permitted the same, not fewer or more, political privileges as anyone else. But let the political structure of one interfere with the other? No way! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-20 3:49:31 PM |
| #7 Alaska Paul For historical reasons the French laws about separation of church and state don't apply in Alsace where Strasbourg is. |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-11-20 3:45:16 PM |
| #6 Grand Mosque of Strasburg Why do I get the feeling that Chartes is in for its 11th redo? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-20 1:20:09 PM |
| #5 Why are these government idiots subsidizing the building of a mosque??? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-20 12:25:22 PM |
| #4 Radical separationists in the U.S. are usually worried about the religions controling the state. The reality is that in the modern world mingling church and state makes religion subordinate to the state. |
| Posted by: J.H. 2003-11-20 12:10:27 PM |
| #3 France was trying to set up a French flavored brand of Islam... French Vanallah? |
| Posted by: john 2003-11-20 11:53:30 AM |
| #2 France has separation of church and state issues that make the US stuff look like little league. Steve (one of the Army of Stevesâ¢)--- "One mosque to rule them all, one mosque to find them, One mosque to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." That one is a keeper! ROTFLMAO! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-11-20 11:40:49 AM |
| #1 ive been in synagogues where sermons were given in Yiddish, and one where it was given in Hebrew (of course in 98% - including Orthodox -its in English.) IIUC in the 19th C there were Reform Synagogues in the US where sermons were given in German - as also in some Lutheran churches. And of course there are gads of churches where i live today that advertise services in Spanish. But none of the above asked for government funds of any kind. " issues such as construction subsidies, which the state offers to all recognized religions. " See thats the problem. You dont have a Wall of Seperation, you inevitably get the govt involved in the details of religion. Where it dont belong. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-11-20 11:28:40 AM |