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 Topic: Austria's war on Islam

 (Read 1600 times)
  • 1« Previous thread | Next thread »
  • Austria's war on Islam
     OP - February 26, 2015, 01:47 AM

    Ok, I made that subject line up. But here goes:

    Quote
    Austria passes controversial reforms to 1912 Islam law

    The Austrian parliament has passed controversial reforms to the country's century-old law on Islam.

    The bill, which is partly aimed at tackling Islamist radicalism, gives Muslims more legal security but bans foreign funding for mosques and imams.

    Austria's Integration Minister, Sebastian Kurz, defended the reforms but Muslim leaders say they fail to treat them equally.

    The 1912 law made Islam an official religion in Austria.

    It has been widely held up as a model for Europe in dealing with Islam.

    The new measures, first proposed three years ago, include the protection of religious holidays and training for imams.

    But Muslim groups say the ban on foreign funding is unfair as international support is still permitted for the Christian and Jewish faiths.

    They say the legalisation reflects a widespread mistrust of Muslims and some are planning to contest it in the constitutional court.

    Mr Kurz told the BBC the reforms were a "milestone" for Austria and aimed to stop certain Muslim countries using financial means to exert "political influence".

    "What we want is to reduce the political influence and control from abroad and we want to give Islam the chance to develop freely within our society and in line with our common European values," he said.

    Mr Kurz also stressed the bill was not a reaction to recent attacks by Islamic extremists in France and Denmark.

    Meanwhile the legislation has drawn wide reaction from Muslims across the world, with Turkey's head of religious affairs, Mehmet Gormez, adding his condemnation on Tuesday.

    "Austria will go back 100 years in freedom with its Islam bill," Mr Gormez said, according to Turkey's state-funded Anadolu news agency.

    Roughly half a million Muslims live in Austria today, around 6% of the population. Many of them have Turkish or Bosnian roots.

    The parliamentary vote in Austria came as the French government announced plans to improve dialogue with France's Muslim community.

    French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the government would increase consultations with Muslim leaders.

    It would also double the number of university courses for imams - making them obligatory for Islamic chaplains in prisons and the armed forces - to ensure they are "faithful to the values of the Republic", he said.


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  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #1 - February 26, 2015, 02:28 AM

    How come there's such a thing as an "official religion" in austria?

    As a non westerner, i thought countries in "the west" were built upon the ideals of the enlightenment, which includes seperation of church and state. Is this not true for all "western" countries?

    "we stand firm calling to allah all the time,
    we let them know - bang! bang! - coz it's dawah time!"
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #2 - February 26, 2015, 02:59 AM

    As a non westerner, i thought countries in "the west" were built upon the ideals of the enlightenment, which includes seperation of church and state.

    That's.. highly optimistic.

    As a rule of thumb, unless a European country's either:

    a) currently constituted by areas that were fought over during the Reformation (e.g. Germany, the Netherlands), or
    b) had a successful Communist or other revolution that placed the established Church in its sights (e.g. France),

    it's less likely to have shed an established state religion (i.e. officially separated church from state). An officially recognised religion is slightly different.
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #3 - February 26, 2015, 07:20 AM

    Strict separation of church and state is more of an American concept. In Austria and other states, freedom of religion is combined with official recognition that gives them access to certain funding for religious instruction, for example. It is a different system.
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #4 - February 26, 2015, 08:15 AM

    Are they trying to stop Turkish imams from promoting Turkish nationalism or Saudi imams from promoting salafism. I've heard of a case where Turkish imam held sermon praising Ataturk, something unusual in other muslim communities. Eitherway, this is seems to be another limitation of freedom of expression in Europe in reaction to Islamic fundamentalism.Banning of foreign funding is a way that countries like Egypt,Russia and many other authoritarian states curtail the activities of international or local ngo's, often human rights organization.
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #5 - February 26, 2015, 04:42 PM

    How come there's such a thing as an "official religion" in austria?

    As a non westerner, i thought countries in "the west" were built upon the ideals of the enlightenment, which includes seperation of church and state. Is this not true for all "western" countries?


    No.  In England, for example, the Anglican church is the established religion, the Queen is head of state and head of the Church of England, Anglican bishops have automatic places allocated to them in the House of Lords.  Other states have no established religion, but give official recognition to various religions which gives them tax breaks, access to funding, the right to set up faith schools, etc.  Judaism is officially recognised in the Irish constitution, along with the Catholics and various Protestant denominations and it seems like Austria has a similar arrangement in their constitution with Islam.

    "Befriend them not, Oh murtads, and give them neither parrot nor bunny."  - happymurtad's advice on trolls.
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #6 - February 26, 2015, 04:58 PM

    Quote
    - Meanwhile the legislation has drawn wide reaction from Muslims across the world, with Turkey's head of religious affairs, Mehmet Gormez, adding his condemnation on Tuesday.
    - "Austria will go back 100 years in freedom with its Islam bill," Mr Gormez said, according to Turkey's state-funded Anadolu news agency.

    Turkish head of religious affairs, Mehmet Gormez condemning Austria for going back 100 years in (religious) freedom is rich. Turkey restricts religious freedom and does not allow non-Muslims to build temples and churches.

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    سارا سنسار ايک پريوار ہے
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #7 - February 26, 2015, 05:04 PM

    Are they trying to stop Turkish imams from promoting Turkish nationalism or Saudi imams from promoting salafism. I've heard of a case where Turkish imam held sermon praising Ataturk, something unusual in other muslim communities. Eitherway, this is seems to be another limitation of freedom of expression in Europe in reaction to Islamic fundamentalism.Banning of foreign funding is a way that countries like Egypt,Russia and many other authoritarian states curtail the activities of international or local ngo's, often human rights organization.

    I don't know about Austria but the UK definitely has the latter problem where salafism is promoted and taught at Saudi funded mosques. It extends further though; my local Shia mosque was built with the support from the Iranian government. I think it's a reasonable law, and can tackle both extremism and factors which undermine integration.
  • Austria's war on Islam
     Reply #8 - February 26, 2015, 05:12 PM

    I think its a reasonable law too, and if Austria starts to abuse it in the way Skywalker suggested, they can always be sued in ECHR.

    "Befriend them not, Oh murtads, and give them neither parrot nor bunny."  - happymurtad's advice on trolls.
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