- In “A special Christmas Thought for the Day recorded by His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales” on BBC radio on 22 Dec 2016, Britainʼs
Prince Charles lamented the persecution of Christians saying “We might
also remember that when the prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca
to Medina, he did so because he too was seeking the freedom for himself
and his followers to worship.” “Prince Charles: rising intolerance risks
repeat of horrors of past”, The Guardian, 22 Dec 2016,
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/22/prince-charles-rising-
intolerance-risks-repeat-of-horrors-of-the-past/. With barely disguised
glee, this newspaper reports that Prince Charles was implicitly equating
the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States with
Adolf Hitler becoming the Chancellor of Germany.
Prince Charles begins his speech by saying it is possible that within
five years Christians will have been driven from Iraq, and goes on to list a
number of minority faiths whose followers are increasingly under attack
(see https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2016/12/4790960/ for a
transcript of his speech). Whilst he does not mention Muslims as the
people doing this persecution, there is no Christian, Jewish or atheist
group who can be blamed for this. Yet he then goes on to lament the rise
in “populist” political movements in the countries to which “refugees” are
moving (these “refugees” are mostly Muslims and are not from the
“minority faiths” he described as suffering persecution). Charles says the
rise of these movements have “deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days
of the 1930s”. He then concludes his “Christmas message” by comparing
the flight of the parents of Jesus to the (supposed) persecution of “the
Prophet Mohammed”. One could hardly find more muddled thinking, and
this from a man who, if he ends up being the head of state, will also be
the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Most of the “refugees” coming into Europe are from Muslim-majority
countries, and there is no evidence to suggest that most of these people
are non-Muslims. (see “European opinions of the refugee crisis in 5
charts”, Pew Research, 16 Sept 2016, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2016/09/16/european-opinions-of-the-refugee-crisis-in-5-charts/).
dana p.
(Dana P.)
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