Muslims and Christians have similar banner [1]
Friday, April 27, 2007 - 06:05. Updated on Sunday, November 2, 2014 - 19:23.
Editor,
I apologise for another letter in as many hours, again in response to Rev. Dr. Ma'afu'otu'itonga Palu, however I feel his remarkable letter entitled, "Muslim School Rings the Alarm Bells" can not just sit unanswered, burning a hole in your quality news website.
Rev. Palu, I do not have any scripture to quote, so instead I will use the dialogue of my 12 year old daughter...
. "are you for real?"
Did you stop to think before you advertised the assumption that all Muslims, by their religious nature, are terrorists or condone such acts of violence? Did you expect anyone to take you seriously when you propose that a Muslim family attempting to set up a school in Tonga is a call for us to be on the look out for a terrorist training camp in our country?
Reverend ... don't try and gloss over or deny how much blood has been spilt in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. You claim that "our Muslim friends operate under an ideological banner" contradictory to our biblical principles but the reality is that Christians have this same banner too! (You generalize about Muslims so I will generalize about Christians.) Have you already forgotten:
- The sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, which in the last 30 years has been estimated to be responsible for over 3,500 deaths, mostly innocent civilians.
- The genocide of over 300,000 Muslims and systematic rape of over 100,000 Muslim women and girls by Christian Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo?
- What about Israel systematically destroying the Palestinian people?
- Then there is the "war on terror" ... when sometimes it is unclear who the terrorists are...
heard anything about the US Governments execution and torture rendition program? What about the indefinate detention of "enemy combatants"?
As you succinctly admit Reverend, you are "utterly unfamiliar" and have an "amateurish level of historical knowledge". Can I please suggest that until you have got your facts straight and brushed up on your understanding of Christian history that you do not promulgate your vilification of our Muslim community throughout the public domain ... this does more bad than good.
Editor and readers I apologise for my passion, however, I have a number of very close Muslim friends, all of whom appear to be more peacefully inclined than the vilifying Reverend. The Muslim community of Sydney, Australia already suffers from sceptics and scaremongers like Rev. Palu; Tonga is no place for this type of intolerance.
Faka'apa'apa atu
Viliami Lakasi