Good luck with that

Train up imams in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it... That's what Germany thinks and they are trying to get the entire European Union behind them. Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested that the EU should promote the training of imams and called for an EU-wide dialogue with Muslims in an effort to integrate them better. Good luck with that.

His heart is in the right place. He has criticized both the burqa veil and traditional Muslim attitudes to women and 'pledged to use his country's EU presidency to promote integration.'

He wanted training for imams that could "strengthen those who can live with the European rule of law, universal rights and the achievements of the Enlightenment", he said, referring to the 17th Century European movement that put reason and universal rights ahead of tradition.

"There are still parts of the Muslim world where historical enlightenment still needs to be implemented," he told Brussels-based journalists on Thursday. BBC

That's an understatement. He greed with Jack Straw that the complete covering of women is "an element that hinders communication". In fact, as another blogger put it (can't remember who), it is impolite, rude, to hide one's face from others in the free world. In the West, when someone puts on a mask, a dark cloak, and hides, they are trying to scare others. It simply is not acceptable in modern society. Children think of Halloween when they see people hiding their faces.

On another topic, good luck with the United States trying to get Iranians out of Iraq, while the Iraqi government says the Iranians were "working under the approval of the [Iraqi] government." Tehran said the attack violated all international conventions. Russia said the raid was "unacceptable" and a violation of international law. The US said it believed the six people seized in Thursday's raid had targeted Iraqi and US-led coalition forces. (BBC)

Good luck with getting the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki' to meet the benchmarks set for by United States President George W. Bush. Maliki has broken promises in the past and not lived up to U.S. expectations in the past.

So far, Maliki's Shiite-dominated government has pumped few dollars into Sunni regions. That has raised questions about whether the prime minister truly wants a unity government. ...

"It's very difficult for the government to try and reach out to opponents outside the government, to bring them in a reconcile, when the government itself is not reconciled among its own members," he [Paul Hughes of the U.S. Institute of Peace] said. (NPR)

Good luck with the United Nations attempt to stop persecution and procure the release of political prisoners in Myanmar, a/k/a Burma, with Russia and China planning to veto the draft resolution.

At issue is whether rights violations in Myanmar are a danger to peace and security in the region, the council's mandate. Otherwise, the repression of opposition and minority groups by the Southeast Asian nation's military junta is an issue for the General Assembly, which has condemned Myanmar.

We think that it is not an appropriate issue to discuss in the Security Council," Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said earlier in the week. South Africa and Indonesia are also among the countries opposing the resolution.

But the United States argues that a million Burmese refugees were living abroad and that the junta had not done enough to curb the trafficking of people and of narcotics, or the transmission of contagious diseases in the region. (Reuters)

Good luck with all that! And good luck with congress passing legislation to stop our emails. "Senate Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that Will Keep You from Getting Needed Information". Go read about it and let your opinion be known here.

Good luck with that.

More on this topic at Common Sense America, Dhimmi Watch, and Doctor Bulldog

Other reading:
Never again? Could there be another Holocaust?, Peace and Freedom
Bush Talks Tough on Iran: Is It 'A Declaration of War'?, Jo Swift
Yoni the Blogger -- Al-Qaeda, Hizbullah and Hamas Are Gaining Strength, The Conservative Resistance Blog
Signs of the Times - Part II, Reflections of Faith and and Culture
Wake Up America, Fatalism of Failure: Lieberman Labels the Dems and Corruption in Congress: Pelosi Strikes Again
Bin Laden - poof! - outta there, The Machete' of Truth's Blog of Truth
History is often like a Worm Hole and folds back on itself so beware of the Islamic Threat...
, Power Tracks and Fever
High Desert Wanderer, Russell Klika - Online
Human Rights Watch On Credibility, Pursuing Holiness
Midday Cute: Hottie Air Force Sergeant In Trouble, Pirate's Cove
Outside the Beltway, Beltway Traffic Jam
Gone Hollywood
Conservative Cat, The Cat's Meow - 01/12/07: Political Arguments

Linked with
The HILL Chronicles, Open post OTA Friday’s
123Beta, Open Trackbacks

Comments

[Debbie]

Why don’t imams speak out? For one thing, when they do speak out, they are kicked out of their congregations. I do not have the reference right now (will try to find it for you later), but one such imam did speak out just recently and he was run out of the mosque. That is here in the United States by the way.

[John Carey]

I was particulary taken with your discussion of Muslims and Imams. The Muslim world seems content to remain as it is and NOT enter the 21st century.

John E. Carey

Where are the rational Imams?

http://johnib.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/terrorism-and-hate-as-religion-why-dont-the-imams-speak-out/