The Liberals keep their election pledge – give or take – by changing one tiny detail:
The federal government’s much-anticipated Syrian refugee plan will limit those accepted into Canada to women, children and families only, CBC News has learned.
Clearly a last-minute change to minimize the political damage domestically. If it had been the plan all along, they would have announced it earlier.
??My point was that no matter how moderate or nominal many individual Muslims are, Islam is not a religion of moderation //
+
Religion, like class, race, gender & nationality are bases for motivating action.
ANY of the religions, offering as they do basic absolute values & codes of conduct, can be turned to warlike behaviour. It’s all down to interpretation, and the selection & interpretation in any particular case can be a mixture of sincerely held beliefs & pragmatic goals — power, money etc
Often sincerity & pragmatism distinguish the followers from the leaders:
“Religion is Believed by the People, Spread by the Clergy, Used by the Magistrate.”
Periods of chaos & suffering provide the opportunity for religious war. Obviously, Islam is the currently largest example, but Christianity had several periods of the same thing. Even now, warlike Christianity can be found in Russia, warlike Buddhism in Myanmar [& don’t forget Cambodia], warlike Judaism in the West Bank etc.
But isn’t this thread about Syria & Syrian refugees? Twenty years ago, Syria was known as a refuge for Christians [Armenians & Orthodox]
The people coming here are not religious warriors. Many are Christian. All are refugees.
Yesterday in Calgary
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/welcome-to-canada-syrian-refugees-arrive-in-calgary-to-tearful-family-smiling-sign-toting-strangers