Sweden Democrats walk out of church over racism sermon

Stockholm Cathedral. Photo by Jürgen Howaldt.

It is no secret that on 19 September 2010, Sweden Democrats, a hard line extreme right political party was voted into parliament for the first time since it was founded in 1988. You would agree that the results of this historic parliamentary election clearly indicated that an increasing number of Swedes share the polarising ideology of the Sweden Democrats. Meanwhile in Sweden, dust is yet to settle after the extreme right electoral gains as Sweden Democrats have been on the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The most recent drama staged by the party was a walkout of church on 5 October 2010 over a sermon about racism and xenophobia.

During a church service in Stockholm's Cathedral (Storkyrkan) preceding the opening of parliament (Riksdag), the bishop of the diocese of Stockholm delivered a sermon about the ills of racism and xenophobia. Here is what the bishop reportedly said, among other things:

“Yesterday evening thousands of people gathered in Stockholm and in various parts of the country to make their voices heard. To call out their disgust at that which divides people. The racism that says that you don’t have as much worth as I do; that you shouldn’t have the same rights as me; aren’t worthy of living in freedom..."

Sweden Democrats' parliamentary delegation considered the sermon to be an attack against them, hence walked out of church in protest.

The party has tried over the years to distance itself from racism and xenophobia, but its manifesto suggest otherwise.

While it is true that this walk out in protest against a racism sermon could be attributed to an attempt by Sweden Democrats to score political points, it is also true that racism and xenophobia have no place in a free society and should be unequivocally denounced wherever "two or three" lawmakers are gathered.

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Stop killing Ahmadis in Pakistan

The Ahmadis, are members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Ahmadis believe they are Muslims, but orthodox Muslims think otherwise. This is the case because the Ahmadis do not believe that the Prophet Mohammed was the final prophet; they believe that the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community - Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1839–1908), was the "Awaited One", foretold by Prophet Mohammed. In other words, the Ahmadis do not believe in the "finality of prophethood." It follows. therefore, that in Pakistan, the Ahmadis make up a religious minority community. They face untold discrimination, persecution and killings - simply because their belief is considered to be flawed. In Pakistan, Ahmadis are up against threats, violence and killings, engineered by Islamist extremists. The Pakistani government should take immediate steps to stop the killing of Ahmadis.

According to Human Rights Watch - on 28 May 2010, Islamist extremist militants attacked two Ahmadiyya mosques -Baitul Nur Mosque and Darul Zikr mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. The attack left 94 people dead and many injured. On 30 May 2010, militants attacked an Intensive Care unit - where the victims of the previous attack were being treated. This time, 12 people were killed - mostly police and hospital staff.

No natural person should be killed or face persecution threats and violence, because of religious views. The killing of Ahmadis in Pakistan, and the impunity surrounding the killings, should be stopped by the government. Repeated attacks and threats against the Ahmadis, highlight religious intolerance in Pakistan, as well as the government's failure to bring perpetrators to justice.

It is worth mentioning that laws in Pakistan are discriminatory against religious minorities, and legalize persecution of Ahmadis. The Penal Code, for example, prohibits anyone from “indirectly or directly posing as a Muslim.” This, in my mind, targets the Ahmadis - who profess to be Muslims.

In Pakistan, blasphemy is a capital crime, punishable with a death penalty! As mentioned earlier, the Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the "Awaited one". In Pakistans, this belief is considered to be blasphemous. Consequently, numerous Ahmadis are charged under the Blasphemy Law and jailed.

It is true, that by failing to stop the killing of Ahmadis, prosecute perpetrators and repeal the repugnant Blasphemy Law - that discriminates against Ahmadis, the government of Pakistan has "emboldened the extremists" in Pakistan and worldwide.

Photo by CharlesFred

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Anti-Mosque Demonstration in Sweden!

Events in Gothenburg, earlier this Sunday afternoon went a long way to highlight the surge in xenophobia, Islamphobia, racism, intolerance, prejudice and bigotry in Sweden. You probably heard that a group of local neo-Nazis rallied for an anti-mosque demonstration in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, today at lunch time.

Why were there on the streets?

Well, the construction of a new mosque is scheduled to start on Tuesday in Hisingen - an island in Gothenburg. Apparently, neo-Nazis are opposed to the construction and secured a permit for their anti-mosque demonstration. However, little did they know that there will be up against a counter-demonstration led by the "Network Against Racism".

At midday today, police in Gothenburg had some work to do - in order to keep the peace and prevent the opposing sides from clashing. The police formed a human barrier, as indignation and animosity flared up between the neo-Nazis and the anti-fascist group.

When the news broke on The Local, I was taken aback and wondered aloud - what is Sweden turning into? Is Sweden now a haven for hate, religious intolerance, Islamphobia and fear mongering? Shouldn't Muslims have a place of worship? What's the next target group?

Something needs to be done as soon as possible to educate the Swedish population about the need for diversity in a civilized society. The anti-mosque demonstration in Sweden this Sunday was uncalled for and represents a threat to religious freedom in the Scandinavian country. Believe it or not!

You'd agree that such a demonstration has no place in a democracy. As mentioned earlier, construction of the Mosque will begin on Tuesday. I'll be following the story closely.

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What happened to Religious Freedom in Nigeria?

Do you worship or practice your religion freely? If you do, count yourself lucky because in some parts of the world, religious freedom is a luxury many can't afford.

Roughly defined, religious freedom is the freedom of a person or community to believe in, practice and promote the religion of their choice without interference or harassment. It is a fundamental human right and ranks up there with other basic rights and liberties like freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly; enshrined in many human rights documents, including the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Article 18 of the UDHR states:

"Everyone has the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, or freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

You'd agree that it took decades of religious wars, bloodshed and persecutions for states to realise that one of the major roles of modern governments is to protect the religious choice of people within its borders. Unfortunately, some states, including Nigeria are yet to fulfil this moral and legal obligation. The question is - what happened to religious freedom Nigeria?

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with a population of more than 150 million. The country is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians - with the former predominantly in the north and the latter in the south.

Outburst of violence between Muslims and Christians is not uncommon and the city of Jos, the capital of Plateau State happens to be a notorious battleground, recording bloodshed from religious violence since 2001. In September 2001, sectarian violence claimed more than 1,000 lives; in May 2004, more than 700 died; in 2005, up to 500 deaths were recorded; in November 2008, at least 700 people were killed in Muslim-Christian riots; in January 2010, violence between Muslims and Christians broke out in the same city. This time, at least 70 people were killed and about 600 injured. Most recently - March 7, 2010, at least 200 Christian villagers in Plateau State were brutally killed, according to Human Rights Watch.

How does this concern you? Well, I asked myself the same question before I watched the following videos. Viewer discretion is advised!

What are your thoughts? Do you think the government has done enough to guarantee religious freedom in Nigeria? It is worth mentioning that some of the atrocities are allegedly committed by government forces, but as you'd expect, the government refuses to shoulder responsibility. Below is Part 2 of the video:

I have not independently verified the allegations, but one thing is indisputable - for many people in Nigeria, religious freedom is an illusive concept.

Nigeria has a moral obligation to comply with the principles of the UDHR. Moreover, the government of Nigeria is party to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and has a legal obligation to guarantee religious freedom to all individuals within its territory and to provide effective remedy to victims of violations of the rights recognized by the Covenant.

Do you think Nigeria is doing enough to curb sectarian violence? Is the government culpable? Above all, where is the international community?



Is this not massacre?

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Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases!

Growing up in an African family with strong christian values, I learned quickly about the need to pray because - prayer is the master key. Right? My christian values were further concretized when I enrolled in a Catholic secondary school and remained a student in the institution for 7 consecutive years. During these years, I learned a lot and grew mentally and spiritually stronger. I must confess some of the things I learned at school, were learned the hard way, but the bottom line is - I learned them. One of the numerous religious lessons (some "unholy" things were learned too) I learned at school was the fact that devotion to the holy apostles should be cherished. Do you know the apostle St. Jude Thaddeus? Do you know he's the patron saint of hopeless and desperate cases? I got to learn about this in an unlikely fashion. You might be interested to know.

Back in secondary school (Form 5), English Language lessons were one of those lessons I didn't look forward to; not because I didn't like the course. It's fair to say the teacher (may he rest in peace) was a little bit too challenging. He expected nothing but the best from all of us and usually, he didn't like to repeat his instructions. I always remember the word, "in fact" - many people negligently spell it as one word. I'd also never forget the word, "cannot". Back in the days, misspelling such words (among other things) would incur the "wrath" of my English language teacher and qualify you as a hopeless case - a "Saint Jude's case." I was not the best student, but I was never a hopeless case in English Language. Coming to think of it, maybe I was in Mathematics. Were you a hopeless case under any circumstance?

When we were preparing for the General Certificate Examination (G.C.E), English Language was one of the compulsory subjects. Every student wanted to validate it, but according to my teacher, there were some students in the class who'd not validate the subject - without the help of the patron Saint of hopeless and desperate cases.

However, when the G.C.E results were published, I was happy to learn that my classmates - the "St. Jude cases", validated English Language. I guess they took the teacher's advise and prayed tirelessly to St. Jude Thaddeus.

This is how I learned about St. Jude Thaddeus. His feast day is October 28 and since my secondary school days, I pray to St. Jude, when faced with a hopeless or grave circumstance.

Are you in a hopeless situation? Are you in desperate need of a grave necessity? I encourage you to pray to St. Jude Thaddeus - the Patron Saint of Hopeless and Desperate Cases. He'd intercede for you.

As usual, I look forward to reading your comments and please, let me know when St. Jude Thaddeus helps you out of that hopeless and desperate situation!

Here are some Prayers to Saint Jude.

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