The new segregation, Muslim style

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Where there are large concentrations of Muslims in England, “no-go” zones are being established and, according to the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church of England’s Bishop of Rochester, non-Muslims who “trespass” in such neighborhoods risk attack.

Nazir-Ali, a native of Pakistan and convert to Christianity, writes in The Sunday Telegraph that a spiritual vacuum in Britain, along with its indifference to the rise of Islamic extremism and a growing “multi-faith” society, is robbing the nation of its Christian identity and putting its future in jeopardy.

He is not alone. A poll of the General Synod — the Church’s parliament — shows that its senior leaders also believe that Britain is being damaged by uncontrolled immigration.

Bishop Nazir-Ali warns of attempts to give Britain an increasingly Islamic character by introducing the call to prayer and wider use of Sharia law, a legal system based on the Koran. He is critical of the government’s response to immigration and the influx of “people of other faiths to these shores,” blaming the government’s “novel philosophy of multiculturalism” for allowing society to become deeply divided and accusing ministers of lacking a “moral and spiritual vision.” He says that multiculturalism has led to deep divisions in British society.

Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, believes the country is “sleepwalking into segregation.” David Davis, the shadow home secretary, goes further, accusing Muslims of promoting “voluntary apartheid” by shutting themselves off from surrounding culture and demanding immunity from criticism.

Anyone who has studied Islamic societies (as Bishop Nazir-Ali has, having been part of one) knows segregation and subjugation of non-Muslims is the norm, not the behavior of an “extremist fringe.” Former Muslims and others have issued dire warnings about the intentions of these immigrant invaders and their objectives to subordinate Western countries to their view of God’s will.

Segregation and intolerance are the first fruits of what they intend to impose on everyone. Political leadership in Britain and increasingly in the United States turns a blind eye to such things because they are prospecting for votes, including from those who would end democracy.

No wonder Britons are growing increasingly uneasy, even despondent, about life in their country. A poll conducted by the respected YouGov organization and published in the Dec. 30 London Times found that more than half of all men and four in 10 women said they would rather live abroad if given the choice. The main reasons are antisocial behavior among a growing underclass and immigration.

The “state of the nation” poll of more than 1,500 people found that concerns about immigration topped the list of issues of six out of 10 of those questioned. Among self-identified Conservative voters, three-quarters consider immigration among their top concerns.

Three British cities already have high Muslim populations, thanks to immigration, high birth rates and conversions (but don’t try converting any of them to another faith, which is one reason they are creating “no-go” zones). Seventeen percent of London’s population is Muslim (1.3 million out of 7.5 million). In Luton, it’s 14.6 percent. Birmingham has 14.3 percent. Other European cities have a higher percentage of Muslims.

Multiculturalism, globalism, and an emphasis on “inter-faith” (which is really inter-faithless because in this view Truth does not exist) are contributing to the decline of the West just as paganism, hedonism and greed undermined past empires. Rather than learn from their mistakes, the West thinks it can engage in such practices without consequence.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has expressed concern about the loss of “Britishness” and the failure to learn English and embrace the national heritage. But unless he does something to slow, even reverse Muslim immigration, Britain, as we’ve known it, will be lost and radical Islam will remake Britain in its own image.

As Bishop Nazir-Ali writes, “But none of this will be of any avail if Britain does not recover that vision of its destiny which made it great. That has to do with the Bible’s teaching that we have equal dignity and freedom because we are all made in God’s image.”

The segregationists didn’t believe that at one time in America and the Muslim segregationists in Britain don’t believe it now.

[Email Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.] ©2008 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.