One of the songs that I occasionally sing to my son at the breakfast table is “Morning Has Broken”, which was a huge hit for Cat Stevens in the early-seventies. I like the song for its Franciscan-Hopkinsesque evocation of the spiritual beauty of nature. Recently, I thought I’d play the original track and selected it on You Tube. I noted that the person who had posted the track had warned that all abusive comments related to Stevens’ conversion to Islam would be removed. For those who don’t know, Cat Stevens caused controversy many years ago when he became a Muslim. He now goes by the name of Yusuf Islam.
Obviously I am saddened that Stevens failed to see or understand the Christian alternative to modern hedonism before making the mistaken leap in the direction of the false Prophet but the abuse being posted on You Tube made me think about the motives behind such abuse. If the attacks on Stevens/Islam were motivated by a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that he is a Muslim, I am as saddened by the reaction to Stevens’ conversion as I am by the conversion itself. Stevens is wrong but so are those who prefer the heedless hedonism of modern England over the Islamic alternative. The whole scenario set me thinking. Which is worse? Islamic fundamentalism or secular fundamentalism?
As the UK is poised to follow its European “partners” in destroying traditional marriage in the name of homosexist iconoclasm, is it really licit to prefer such “freedom” to the “submission” of Islam? The Muslims are not responsible for the destruction of marriage, or the promotion of homosexism, or the butchering of babies in the womb. Indeed, and ironically, Islam is likely to put up more of a fight for the sanctity of life and marriage than the moribund Anglican Church, which is killing itself on the altar of the culture of death and the zeitgeist it worships.
Which fundamentalism is worse? Well, ultimately, we might choose to echo the words of Mercutio in wishing “a plague” on both their houses. One thing is clear, however. An orthodox Christian cannot fight for the libertine liberties of the culture of death, even if it purports to be fighting radical Islam. It is never licit to join Mordor in the war against Isengard.
“It is never licit to join Mordor in the war against Isengard.”
Love that line 🙂
Anytime the subject of religion comes up on youtube, expect it to get really, really nasty. I remember once long ago I was watching a music video on youtube, and the video was full of pictures of angels…FALLEN ANGELS, like Satan…and it elicited tons of nasty comments about religion by the usual crowd of idiots (though I believe they call themselves “brights”). All this…from a song about Satan. Go figure.
*If any of you are wondering why on earth I was listening to a song about the devil…let me first defend myself by saying it was prior to my conversion!! 😀
Also it was not a satanic song per se, merely about his fall. I’m not sure of the band’s religious affiliation, but most of their songs have some sort of religious milieu.*
My point in mentioning it was that even the mere imagery sparks the wrath of secular fundamentalists. It’s like they can’t let it go without making a nasty comment. They are so filled with hate for religion (particularly Christianity), it’s quite incredible really. It’s like they have been told that all their woes were caused by us. In fact, that is exactly what it is. That is also how the revoltionaries in France, Spain, Russia, Mexico, etc did it, how they stirred up their crowd in such a frenzy.