Wickham's musings from Chalke

 
Violence is increasing right across all muslim countries, not just in Afghanistan and Iraq which western nations are trying to police. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, to name just a few.

As a gross generalisation, western democracies have substituted financial greed for religious fanaticism. Muslim countries seem locked in the kind of environment we had in our middle ages. The trouble-makers seem to have no desire for material wealth, nor to have a mixed community of many cultures and religions.

About fifty years ago it was considered that the next world war would be between the west and the muslim nations. It seems to have started, not between nations, but between terrorists and any nation, even muslim ones.

I can’t think of any solutions other than to leave them entirely alone to work through their violence, barbaric legal systems and punishments and hope that trade eventually causes peace to dominate violence.

Although muslim terrorists seem to be religious fanatics, we in the western world seem to have forgotten one of the principal christian teachings which is to turn the other cheek. The logic of this, I suppose, is that if you don’t react when you are hit, you may get hit a few more times but the aggressor eventually gives up because he finds he is getting nowhere.

Bush and Blair have definitely not followed this biblical advice and seem to have roused the terrorists to further action.