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National Radio and Islam

Does Radio NZ have an infatuation with Islam? I'm not sure. So far, I've noticed two radio programmes in which converts to Islam have featured.

The previous programme, probably a month or so ago, had a guy talking about how he used to be Christian, but that concepts such as the Trinity didn't make sense to him. While as Islam's one God, Allah, he could get his head around. Yeah, I suppose if you think of it that way, Islam is a whole lot simpler.

Here's the blurb from their website on today's programme:
Islam is often claimed to be the fastest growing religion on earth. At the last census in 2006, more than 36,000 New Zealanders described themselves as Muslims.

Jeremy Rose talks to two of those New Zealand Muslims, Hisham Zaoui (right) - the son of Ahmed Zaoui - and Kiwi-born convert Fiona Lovatt Davis; and Chris Laidlaw explores the history and practice of Islam with University of Auckland law lecturer Mohsen Al Attar.
It just made me wonder if it's Islam that is getting this special treatment, or is Radio NZ as interested in other religions.  I'll have to investigate.

Related link: Ideas ~ Radio NZ

Comments

  1. Yeh, well RadioNZ needs to get an idea. It would be helpful to have a perspective from he other side. These guests they have are just going to present Islam as the "religion of peace" - a whitewash in other words. I'll bet the "history" this professor supplies leaves out the fact that Mohammed was a warlord that forced his religion on others by the sword.

    Douglas Murray sums it all up in 3 mins HERE

    He says there are three Islams -

    "Islam one, the Koran and the life of Mohammed, and the Hadith: Islam two, the tradition of the Sharia; Islam three, what Muslims do now.

    The first of those things, the Koran, Islam, and so on is BAD. It is BAD. There is a lot of violence in it; and what's worse, the peaceful verses are superseded by the violent verses. The violent verses are, sadly, far more numerous in number. Then you've got the life of Mohammed; again, a bad man; a very bad man, it has to be said. Not a great role model, if you look at it - takes child brides, abuses a small girl, multiple wives, himself a warrior, himself a war criminal, himself beheads Jews.

    This, I would have thought, would be a signal of not great peacefulness. Then you've got the tradition of the Sharia; again, not great peacefulness - still no schools of Sharia that people in this hall would want to submit to. Thirdly, what Muslims do now; thankfully, there is some hope in that because most Muslims [...] don't do what those texts say, because they exercise their judgement of moral beings..

    The fact is that Islam is many things, but to say it is a religion of peace is nonsense. It's to ignore reality and very difficult but necessary facts."

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  2. ps, I see that Muslim attacks/events are really stacking up. Just go to jihadwatch.com and you see that there are more everyday. Some of it is slipping through to the MSM but I don't think people really have an idea of how serious or frequent this stuff is.

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  3. I think the focus on Islam is fine.

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  4. Muerk,

    Would you be happy if in the reporting of Islam in a positive light (and ignoring the negative), if RNZ were responsible for the conversions of more NZ'ers to Islam?

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  5. I think reporting should be fair, and to be fair the vast majority of Muslims are good people. In New Zealand especially we don't have the kind of evil fanaticism that you see in Islam in other places. Therefore it makes sense that programes on Kiwi Muslims would be positive. It's the same for say Hinduism - there are fanatical Hindu organisations in India that are quite happy to murder people, but that is certainly not an issue here in NZ.

    I don't think positive radio programs are going to win converts. I think the innate desire to know God draws people to religion and that's what leads to new converts. If Islam is picking up new members of its faith then that is something Christians have to turn around and use to examine ourselves. Why would Islam get converts over Christianity? What are we missing?

    I studied Islam at university and there are aspects of it that I respect very much. I think much of the issues with Islam today are political and cultural as well as religious. For example the appalling treatment of women is often based on cultural behavior rather than religious precept.

    I think we have to be very careful in not demonising Islam. I think that plays into the violent rhetoric of the Muslim fanatics/terrorists. Alienating good people by telling them their faith is stupid and evil is IMO not productive. Instead I think we have to be critical of behavior, eg. death penalty for homosexuals, beating wives etc.

    I think we should engage with Islam under the shared God of Abraham and look for ways we can agree - God wants peace and justice. God wants happy, functional families, God wants us to be healthy and happy.

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  6. "I think we have to be very careful in not demonising Islam. I think that plays into the violent rhetoric of the Muslim fanatics/terrorists..."

    I think we have to be very careful to stress that islam is a total ideological system, not simply a religion.
    It is impossible to be a good muslim and yet ignore the words of the Koran, of the sura and haditha. And those words exhort muslims to conquer by the sword in the name of Allah.
    This has nothing to do with whether a person subscribes to--say--wahabbism. All of islam is extreme by Western standards since it recognises no separation between church and state. The politics are the religion, the religion the politics.
    Gullible fools who quote peaceful passages from the Koran need to look at those which follow--and therefore supersede--them.
    And at the end of the day, more than 10,000 lethal attacks since 9/11 by the "religion of peace" speak for themselves.

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  7. KG, as you say, it is the fact we don't have many Muslims yet that moderates our version of Islam here.

    A number of years back, I pondered why in France Catholic girls were converting to Islam. One of the reasons given was that it was far more definite about what was expected in terms of behaviour. Which we are Catholics have, but, it's not taken seriously. We pay lip-service to our beliefs in countries such as NZ and France. So, someone wanting a more definitive, explicit religion, that offered a connection to God, has no choice if the only people they see around them that really believe are Muslims.

    This is part of the reason I am so out there with my Catholic belief; being a shrinking violet does not win hearts and minds.

    Muerk, the Catholic Church is going to start engaging more aggressively with Muslims now, especially after the church attack in Baghdad. Just you wait. Just as in times past the Popes called on Christendom to stem the Islamic threat, they will do so again. And a big part of it will be to be real Christians and to not be afraid of living it.

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