 An official from the European Union Commission said Turkish secularism is “quite dangerous.”
| "Oh, yasss! Ever so much more dangerous than Islamism!" |
An EU official speaking at a conference in Brussels said the state should be indifferent to religions, keeping an equal distance from all of them. However, he said what is witnessed in Turkey is the rejection of religion from the public sphere, which is “quite dangerous.”
| Brilliant. Simply brilliant. There's effectively only one religion in Turkey. That particular religion suppresses all other religions either officially or unofficially whenever it achieves state power. In fact, it did so in Turkey, officially and egregiously, when it did have state power. |
| Rejection of religion from the public sphere has been a long-held principle of the liberal-progressive Left, such that ... oh. That religion. Sorry, thought you were talking about Christians and Jews. |
François Massoulie, an EU Commission official from the Iranian desk, said his understanding of secularism was the indifference of state vis-à -vis religions but not the rejection of religion from the public sphere.
"Theory, meet practice."
"How d'y'do?"
"Practice, this is theory."
"Hi, there!" |
Massoulie said he found Turkish secularism “quite dangerous in that regard.”
| "I was ever so frightened! I'm very sensitive, y'know." |
Massoulie was speaking at a conference titled “Islam and Democracy in Asia -- does it work? Perspectives from South East Asia,” organized by the European Policy Centre in Brussels Tuesday.
| Oh, good place to bring up the subject, isn't it? Pakland's been suppressing other religions since long years before its founding. They've got a minister of relgious affairs who's not very interested in the affairs of the Shintoists or Wiccans, and they've got a religion column on their passports so the hated Ahmadis can't go to Mecca. Bangla, likewise nearly all Muslim, is overrun by the likes of Bangla Bhai, killing people so's to make them yearn for the joys of shariah, as the oozing corruption of its political system allies itself with its religious parties in a startling case of like-loving-like. And if Sri Lanka wasn't in the midst of a bloodthirsty Tamil insurrection they'd prob'ly be in the midst of a bloodthirsty Muslim insurrection like inoffensive, religiously free Thailand's going through. India, which has the Muslims outnumbered by Hindoos, Buddhists, Jains and such has them under control, though they periodically erupt in the mindless violence which constitutes the heart of the Koran. |
Replying to a question on whether secularism in Turkey was an “aggressive” and “undemocratic” one and the fact that EU has many different versions of “secularism,” Massoulie said he could even criticize secularism in his own country of France.
| "I'm very good at criticizing. Nothing ever pleases me." |
Underlining that fact that references to religion were not accepted during the debates on the EU Constitution, Massoulie said the EU had shown once again the principle that the EU as an institution is indifferent to different faiths. “Let’s focus on Turkey. There can be aggressive secularism, meaning that my vision of secularism is indifferent to religion in the public sphere. But we can not have the rejection of religion from the public sphere, which we see in Turkey and which I believe is quite dangerous,” he said.
| Oh, sure you can. You've had exactly that since the time of Attaturk, which is why Turkey's been more stable longer than any other country in the Moose limb world. |
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