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Personal Manifesto
Despite years standing for European solidarity I still get messages from petty nationalists who campaigned against our membership of the EU. They accused the East Europeans of simultaneously claiming benefits and stealing jobs, but government statistics show that they contributed more than they received. When I worked in the Construction Industry, I found them to be hardworking, honest and reliable. I am therefore baffled by far-rightists who think that I am on their side.
So, for the avoidance of doubt, I state my basic beliefs.
1) I distrust Parliamentary Democracy because it's controlled by big business, the trade unions, and various lobby groups such as the Zionists. I cannot recommend an alternative system but I believe in leadership and good government.
2) I believe in free speech and I like Oswald Mosley's idea that newspapers should publish replies from people they have defamed.
3) Race is more than just a social construct but it's not everything. Patriotism is fine but racism is unkind and unnecessary.
4) I believe that the union of Europe is inevitable. Even if the UK leaves the EU we will still be Europeans in every respect and eventually, our continent will unite. Most of the Little Englanders are elderly and it's only a matter of time before the younger generation prevails.
5) I believe in freedom of religion and I despise arrogant atheists who think that everyone agrees with them. Church attendance may be declining but that doesn't mean that people have stopped believing in God.
That's it. The world is driven by economics and the answer to almost everything is education. America got to the Moon because Jack Kennedy persuaded Congress to put enough money into the project. A similar effort could produce a cure for cancer, or wipe out starvation in Africa. We could easily build enough houses for everyone in this country if we really wanted to.
We are stuck in the past and still act as though we've got a great empire patrolled by the world's biggest navy. Half a century after the Suez fiasco we still have military bases in Cyprus and Gibraltar to defend the sea route to India; which we abandoned in 1947.
We are stuck in the past and still act as though we've got a great empire patrolled by the world's biggest navy. Half a century after the Suez fiasco we still have military bases in Cyprus and Gibraltar to defend the sea route to India; which we abandoned in 1947.
The UK is a fine country with a proud record of achievement but we probably have the worst newspapers in the world and our political system is corrupt and archaic.
I do not follow any party line or particular philosophy and I would be surprised if anyone agreed with me on everything. My sole purpose is to encourage free thinking.
Parliamentary Standards
We've got used to MPs fiddling their expenses and occasionally getting caught but recent events have reminded us of their sexual frailty. Every workplace has got a groper and explicit language is commonplace, but from time to time we suffer an outbreak of moral indignation and dirty old men are obliged to resign.
Michael Fallon has admitted inappropriate behaviour but a Tory spokesman has denied reports that a Front Bench Minister exposed himself at a Cabinet meeting and said: "What do you think of this Theresa?"
Unfortunately, sex makes fools of us all. Usually, rational men and women risk their careers and reputations for a fumble in the stationary cupboard. Such goings on are ideally suited to Parliament which employs men and women dispenses alcohol and provides hundreds of carpeted offices.
This dangerous combination of drink and women is known in the Catholic Church as "Punch and Judy." The Church has its fair share of sinners, but Parliament is the only place where our guardians fornicate while passing laws to stop us enjoying ourselves. Fallen priests, of all denominations, confine themselves to hypocritical sermons.
The Prime Minister has called for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct but it seems likely that rich and powerful men will continue to put their hands up the skirts of journalists. And healthy young women will continue to make themselves available to politicians, bishops, film producers, window cleaners and milkmen.
Before we succumb to fits of moral outrage we should remember that Lloyd George, one of our greatest prime ministers, was a serial adulterer, and so was our national hero Lord Nelson. Let those without sin cast the first stone.
The Art of the Possible
Otto von Bismarck (pictured) said: "politics is the art of the possible." Sometimes we should settle for what we can get.
Immigration is out of control but the National Front policy of rounding them up and shipping them out is not going to happen. We could devise a sensible immigration policy, deport undesirables, and resettle volunteers. We could also change our tactics. Ethnic minorities should be treated fairly but there should be no special privileges for immigrants, no 'positive discrimination' or employment targets. English must be spoken and justice must be administered by British courts. We should appoint a Minister of Resettlement to handle deportation and emigration, and his decisions should be final. That might not satisfy the NF but it's the best we can do.
The banks were responsible for the financial crash of 2008. They ran out of money and the taxpayer had to bail them out. But new legislation will stop them from overtrading and massive fines will teach them a lesson. Many people want to nationalise the banks but that's unlikely to happen. Well established banks operating within the law contribute £35 billion a year to the Exchequer. Usury is wrong but banks are entitled to charge reasonable rates of interest. We will not be arresting Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, anytime soon.
As a result of Dave Cameron's kamikaze referendum, we are about to leave the European Union. But we are an island just off the mainland of Europe and our economy is dependant on our trade with the EU. Just like Norway and Switzerland, we will arrive at a solution that satisfies the petty nationalist without ruining our economy. Once again that may not be what we want but it's what we are going to get.
We are proud of our armed forces but we need to ask ourselves what they are for. They should be for the defence of this country but they are used to back up American foreign policy under NATO. Instead of quitting NATO we should assert our joint European independence. Donald Trump would probably agree to an American withdrawal. We can't go back to the forties with a massive conscript army but we could be part of Eurocorp, the army founded by France and Germany in 1992. This may look unlikely with Brexit on the horizon but we are already tied to France under the Anglo-French Defence Treaty of 2010.
We can dream about what we want but we must settle for what we can get. Every political system harbours rich and poor citizens. Redistributive taxation has helped to alleviate poverty but it's still with us. We are finding scientific solutions to our problems but human greed and corruption undermine our efforts. We need is a charismatic leader to show us the way - someone like Otto von Bismarck - but until he steps forward we shall just have to do what we can.
Spies and Traitors
Anyone who doubts that minority parties are infiltrated with spies and traitors should read 'Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster' by Henry Hemming. The first fascist movement in the UK was the British Fascists founded by Miss Rotha Lintorn-Orman in 1923. It was infested with government agents and every patriotic movement since then has been subject to state interference.
Apart from police spies, there are also agents provocateurs belonging to the opposition or rival movements, and people with mental problems who can't resist plots and conspiracies.
In every gathering of the far-right, there is likely to be a Special Branch informer, someone from Hope Not Hate, an undercover press reporter, a member of a rival movement, and a sprinkling of nutcases. It is said that a meeting of the Communist Party of America in the fifties was abandoned when they realised that everyone present was a government agent.
Most spies are non-violent but some are criminal thugs who specialise in intimidation and physical violence. Apart from picking off individuals after meetings their favourite tactic is to publish names and addresses of members in the hope of causing them problems with their employment.
Government agents usually keep a low profile but some of them like causing mischief and spreading rumours. Derek Johnson was a foul-mouthed drunk who kept a junk shop in Battersea that sold Nazi tapes and films long before the days of the Internet when such things were hard to come by. He was revealed to be working for the 62 Group, a Jewish anti-fascist gang, but he was also a Special Branch informer. And so is Matthew Collins, a prominent member of the NF who came out on television in 1992.
Members of patriotic movements are advised to be careful but not to become paranoid. These spies and traitors are more of a nuisance than a threat.
Ted Davey (pictured) was a popular fellow who befriended members of Union Movement and most of the far-right parties over the years. But when he died we discovered that he was a Special Branch agent. Nevertheless, his dying wish was for his ashes to be interred at Berchtesgaden, the Fuhrer's favourite place.
A requirement of an IQ of about 160+ is absolutely vital if there are to be sufficient numbers of engineers, inventors, mathematicians, Scientists etc. Most Europeans have an IQ of about 100 and Blacks of about 70. The consequences for all this we can see in Zimbabwe and increasingly in South Africa today. The Africans will always be dependent on outside help for development whether that is from Europeans or the Chinese.
All this is the brutal hard truth. No amount of silly denial can alter this; by denying racial differences the cowardly politicians are flogging a dead horse, in the pursuit of doctrinaire equality, and doing a disservice to the British people in the process.
http;//nationrevisited.blogspot.co.uk
Parliamentary Standards
We've got used to MPs fiddling their expenses and occasionally getting caught but recent events have reminded us of their sexual frailty. Every workplace has got a groper and explicit language is commonplace, but from time to time we suffer an outbreak of moral indignation and dirty old men are obliged to resign.
Michael Fallon has admitted inappropriate behaviour but a Tory spokesman has denied reports that a Front Bench Minister exposed himself at a Cabinet meeting and said: "What do you think of this Theresa?"
Unfortunately, sex makes fools of us all. Usually, rational men and women risk their careers and reputations for a fumble in the stationary cupboard. Such goings on are ideally suited to Parliament which employs men and women dispenses alcohol and provides hundreds of carpeted offices.
This dangerous combination of drink and women is known in the Catholic Church as "Punch and Judy." The Church has its fair share of sinners, but Parliament is the only place where our guardians fornicate while passing laws to stop us enjoying ourselves. Fallen priests, of all denominations, confine themselves to hypocritical sermons.
The Prime Minister has called for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct but it seems likely that rich and powerful men will continue to put their hands up the skirts of journalists. And healthy young women will continue to make themselves available to politicians, bishops, film producers, window cleaners and milkmen.
Before we succumb to fits of moral outrage we should remember that Lloyd George, one of our greatest prime ministers, was a serial adulterer, and so was our national hero Lord Nelson. Let those without sin cast the first stone.
The Art of the Possible
Otto von Bismarck (pictured) said: "politics is the art of the possible." Sometimes we should settle for what we can get.
Immigration is out of control but the National Front policy of rounding them up and shipping them out is not going to happen. We could devise a sensible immigration policy, deport undesirables, and resettle volunteers. We could also change our tactics. Ethnic minorities should be treated fairly but there should be no special privileges for immigrants, no 'positive discrimination' or employment targets. English must be spoken and justice must be administered by British courts. We should appoint a Minister of Resettlement to handle deportation and emigration, and his decisions should be final. That might not satisfy the NF but it's the best we can do.
The banks were responsible for the financial crash of 2008. They ran out of money and the taxpayer had to bail them out. But new legislation will stop them from overtrading and massive fines will teach them a lesson. Many people want to nationalise the banks but that's unlikely to happen. Well established banks operating within the law contribute £35 billion a year to the Exchequer. Usury is wrong but banks are entitled to charge reasonable rates of interest. We will not be arresting Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, anytime soon.
As a result of Dave Cameron's kamikaze referendum, we are about to leave the European Union. But we are an island just off the mainland of Europe and our economy is dependant on our trade with the EU. Just like Norway and Switzerland, we will arrive at a solution that satisfies the petty nationalist without ruining our economy. Once again that may not be what we want but it's what we are going to get.
We are proud of our armed forces but we need to ask ourselves what they are for. They should be for the defence of this country but they are used to back up American foreign policy under NATO. Instead of quitting NATO we should assert our joint European independence. Donald Trump would probably agree to an American withdrawal. We can't go back to the forties with a massive conscript army but we could be part of Eurocorp, the army founded by France and Germany in 1992. This may look unlikely with Brexit on the horizon but we are already tied to France under the Anglo-French Defence Treaty of 2010.
We can dream about what we want but we must settle for what we can get. Every political system harbours rich and poor citizens. Redistributive taxation has helped to alleviate poverty but it's still with us. We are finding scientific solutions to our problems but human greed and corruption undermine our efforts. We need is a charismatic leader to show us the way - someone like Otto von Bismarck - but until he steps forward we shall just have to do what we can.
Spies and Traitors
Anyone who doubts that minority parties are infiltrated with spies and traitors should read 'Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster' by Henry Hemming. The first fascist movement in the UK was the British Fascists founded by Miss Rotha Lintorn-Orman in 1923. It was infested with government agents and every patriotic movement since then has been subject to state interference.
Apart from police spies, there are also agents provocateurs belonging to the opposition or rival movements, and people with mental problems who can't resist plots and conspiracies.
In every gathering of the far-right, there is likely to be a Special Branch informer, someone from Hope Not Hate, an undercover press reporter, a member of a rival movement, and a sprinkling of nutcases. It is said that a meeting of the Communist Party of America in the fifties was abandoned when they realised that everyone present was a government agent.
Most spies are non-violent but some are criminal thugs who specialise in intimidation and physical violence. Apart from picking off individuals after meetings their favourite tactic is to publish names and addresses of members in the hope of causing them problems with their employment.
Government agents usually keep a low profile but some of them like causing mischief and spreading rumours. Derek Johnson was a foul-mouthed drunk who kept a junk shop in Battersea that sold Nazi tapes and films long before the days of the Internet when such things were hard to come by. He was revealed to be working for the 62 Group, a Jewish anti-fascist gang, but he was also a Special Branch informer. And so is Matthew Collins, a prominent member of the NF who came out on television in 1992.
Members of patriotic movements are advised to be careful but not to become paranoid. These spies and traitors are more of a nuisance than a threat.
Ted Davey (pictured) was a popular fellow who befriended members of Union Movement and most of the far-right parties over the years. But when he died we discovered that he was a Special Branch agent. Nevertheless, his dying wish was for his ashes to be interred at Berchtesgaden, the Fuhrer's favourite place.
Keep it Simple
The following letter was sent by National Front organiser Milton Ellis to a South Wales newspaper. He uses data on intelligence to support his case that Africans are intellectually inferior to Europeans. But East Asians score higher than Europeans and the worst performing group in Britain are young White males. Economic and cultural factors account for much of the ignorance in Africa. Just as, the single-minded determination of Asian parents helps to produce the doctors, dentists and opticians that dominate our high streets. Data aside, there are plenty of African graduates and far too many uneducated Whites. I am opposed to non-European immigration because it is unnecessary. We could man every job from within Europe, and avoid the cultural friction associated with multiracial immigration. There are plenty of arguments against non-European immigration without getting involved in genetics and linguistics; subjects that are beyond the comprehension of most people. We should keep it simple.
Dear Sir,
Theresa May has recently had a Race and Equality audit in which it had been found that there is a disparity in racial performance between the white majority and ethnic minorities, in education, homeownership and unemployment etc. If everybody is equal then there should be no disparity. But what if the doctrine of racial equality is not scientific but only a Marxist pseudo-science?
In 2012 an international team of scientists found a gene HMGA2, which determines intelligence and achievement and completely displaces the nurture and cultural argument of the followers of Franz Uri Boas. There are differences in IQs and cognitive abilities, and an 11% overlap between races, but equality would require there to be 50%. The African languages have only a present tense, no past or future tense and a very limited vocabulary and this indicates an inability to plan for the long-term.
The following letter was sent by National Front organiser Milton Ellis to a South Wales newspaper. He uses data on intelligence to support his case that Africans are intellectually inferior to Europeans. But East Asians score higher than Europeans and the worst performing group in Britain are young White males. Economic and cultural factors account for much of the ignorance in Africa. Just as, the single-minded determination of Asian parents helps to produce the doctors, dentists and opticians that dominate our high streets. Data aside, there are plenty of African graduates and far too many uneducated Whites. I am opposed to non-European immigration because it is unnecessary. We could man every job from within Europe, and avoid the cultural friction associated with multiracial immigration. There are plenty of arguments against non-European immigration without getting involved in genetics and linguistics; subjects that are beyond the comprehension of most people. We should keep it simple.
Dear Sir,
Theresa May has recently had a Race and Equality audit in which it had been found that there is a disparity in racial performance between the white majority and ethnic minorities, in education, homeownership and unemployment etc. If everybody is equal then there should be no disparity. But what if the doctrine of racial equality is not scientific but only a Marxist pseudo-science?
In 2012 an international team of scientists found a gene HMGA2, which determines intelligence and achievement and completely displaces the nurture and cultural argument of the followers of Franz Uri Boas. There are differences in IQs and cognitive abilities, and an 11% overlap between races, but equality would require there to be 50%. The African languages have only a present tense, no past or future tense and a very limited vocabulary and this indicates an inability to plan for the long-term.
A requirement of an IQ of about 160+ is absolutely vital if there are to be sufficient numbers of engineers, inventors, mathematicians, Scientists etc. Most Europeans have an IQ of about 100 and Blacks of about 70. The consequences for all this we can see in Zimbabwe and increasingly in South Africa today. The Africans will always be dependent on outside help for development whether that is from Europeans or the Chinese.
All this is the brutal hard truth. No amount of silly denial can alter this; by denying racial differences the cowardly politicians are flogging a dead horse, in the pursuit of doctrinaire equality, and doing a disservice to the British people in the process.
Yours Sincerely, Milton Ellis (Newtown).
Father Frank Gelli
Rant Number 747 - Music and the Devil
Your teenage offspring announces: 'I am giving up listening to music'. Aghast, do you rush to tell the cops? You might. Because it is a sign of 'radicalisation'. A clue the boy is plotting mischief. Inclining towards terrorism. Joining ISIS. Maybe driving a van into pedestrians - God forbid! The notorious Prevent anti-extremism strategy claims that much. Chilling, eh?
'I am a Muslim. I don't listen to music'. A fellow named al-Wahab revealed during a seminar I attended in Islington. 'Because the Qur'an forbids it. It's like hearing the Devil's whisperings. Intrigued, I asked for the reference. He obliged. Surah Luqman, ayat 6. I looked it up. The voice from Heaven promises 'a humiliating torment' for those who engage in 'idle talk' or tales to mislead from God's ways. That's what it says in Arabic. Music and songs are the commentator's take. (Naturally, it is a Salafi-Wahhabi annotation.) Other translations say nothing about music. Too bad for naïve al-Wahab.
Can some music have a negative, demonic influence on people? Giuseppe Tartini's violin sonata, The Devil's Trill, resulted from a dream in which the composer sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for the score, hence the sonata's alleged diabolical influence. Legend has it that if you listen to it something strange will occur afterwards. I did and zilch followed. Maybe crafty Tartini indulged in a PR stunt? And Tolstoi's novella, The Kreutzer's Sonata tells of a man who murdered his wife after discovering her affair with a violinist. The two lovers had played Beethoven's composition together. Then the husband felt that music was an awesome thing. The Kreutzer's Sonata, he believed, should not be played before women misbehaving, so next day he stabbed his wife to death. A story about jealousy, certainly, but about evil music? Hhhmm...
Philosophers too have taken a dim view of some music. In his blueprint for a righteous society, The Republic, Plato talks about it as part of education, as an accompaniment to songs. Socrates, Plato's mouthpiece, distinguishes several types of music and links them with different feelings and moods. Some are fine for soldiers, to represent courage and discipline, others not. And Socrates declares a preference for the lyre, the instrument of the god Apollo, as opposed to the flute, favourite of satyres, the ithyphallic companions of Dyonisus. (A satyr, Marsyas, challenged the god to a contest. Apollo won and skinned Marsyas alive.) You can imagine what Plato would have made of Eminem and bands like the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or even Michael Jackson. Pity Apollo wasn't around to flay alive that lot.
As to Aristotle, he held that music served a fourfold end: amusement, moral education, recreation and purification. Art can use any of those ends but mere amusement cannot be an ultimate goal. Too bad for the universal line: 'That was fun'. It wouldn't have pleased the great philosopher a little bit. No wonder Aristotle was a snob.
Even if the Qur'an does not condemn music, what about the hadiths? Sharia, Islamic law, is a blending of Qur'an and hadiths and there is a prophetic saying, of an eschatological flavour, and reported in Salafi-Wahhabi notes to the Qur'an, which declares musical instruments (ma'azif in Arabic, probably meaning drums) unlawful, along with men wearing silk. Debate rages about it. However, even hardline Sunni 'Popes' like Yusuf al-Qaradawi permit instrumental music. Moreover, what about the Turkish Mevlevi Order of Dervishes? They danced the Sema', a mystical and musical ceremony, as well as being the crack units of the Ottoman armies that got to the gates of Vienna. The examples of Moghuls and Persian Safavid also militates against any Islamic ban on instrumental music. And even the puritanical Saudis dance the Sword Dance - a favourite of Prince Charles.
Even the dumbest fundamentalist could never invoke the Bible against music or dancing. The psalms are religious songs. Many with musical directions, addressed to the choirmaster, including 'with string instruments'. When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, King David himself danced 'before the Lord', girded with only a loin cloth (11 Samuel: 14). St Matthews's Gospel says that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper. And in Church tradition, the psalms feature in settings like Vespers by Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Mozart. Gregorian chant is one of the glories of monastic spirituality. I confess, it bores me a bit but then music was never the priest's ruling passion - God so willed it.
After knocking al-Wahab's scriptural exegesis. I must agree with him on the radicalization issue. Rightly or wrongly, he believes that his faith and music are incompatible. An opinion to which he is perfectly entitled. It may be extreme but why extremist in the sense of violent extremism? Or, for that matter, even non-violent extremism? Why should he be harassed by Prevent? Jehova's Witnesses have peculiar ideas about blood transfusions but the British government doesn't treat them as 'extremists'. Mormons don't believe in sex before marriage or homosexuality, yet they are an all-American, hard-working, supremely law-abiding lot. Does President Trump brand them as extremists?
The Prevent strategy is loopy. It led someone to report two Muslim students because the didn't look at females. Given the present hysteria about men touching women's knees, that is perhaps rather reassuring.
As to his satanic majesty, the Devil. He is man's eternal enemy and gets up to all sorts of tricks to make humanity stumble, as he did in the Garden of Eden, but music per se isn't one of them.
Father Frank Gelli
Rant Number 747 - Music and the Devil
Your teenage offspring announces: 'I am giving up listening to music'. Aghast, do you rush to tell the cops? You might. Because it is a sign of 'radicalisation'. A clue the boy is plotting mischief. Inclining towards terrorism. Joining ISIS. Maybe driving a van into pedestrians - God forbid! The notorious Prevent anti-extremism strategy claims that much. Chilling, eh?
'I am a Muslim. I don't listen to music'. A fellow named al-Wahab revealed during a seminar I attended in Islington. 'Because the Qur'an forbids it. It's like hearing the Devil's whisperings. Intrigued, I asked for the reference. He obliged. Surah Luqman, ayat 6. I looked it up. The voice from Heaven promises 'a humiliating torment' for those who engage in 'idle talk' or tales to mislead from God's ways. That's what it says in Arabic. Music and songs are the commentator's take. (Naturally, it is a Salafi-Wahhabi annotation.) Other translations say nothing about music. Too bad for naïve al-Wahab.
Can some music have a negative, demonic influence on people? Giuseppe Tartini's violin sonata, The Devil's Trill, resulted from a dream in which the composer sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for the score, hence the sonata's alleged diabolical influence. Legend has it that if you listen to it something strange will occur afterwards. I did and zilch followed. Maybe crafty Tartini indulged in a PR stunt? And Tolstoi's novella, The Kreutzer's Sonata tells of a man who murdered his wife after discovering her affair with a violinist. The two lovers had played Beethoven's composition together. Then the husband felt that music was an awesome thing. The Kreutzer's Sonata, he believed, should not be played before women misbehaving, so next day he stabbed his wife to death. A story about jealousy, certainly, but about evil music? Hhhmm...
Philosophers too have taken a dim view of some music. In his blueprint for a righteous society, The Republic, Plato talks about it as part of education, as an accompaniment to songs. Socrates, Plato's mouthpiece, distinguishes several types of music and links them with different feelings and moods. Some are fine for soldiers, to represent courage and discipline, others not. And Socrates declares a preference for the lyre, the instrument of the god Apollo, as opposed to the flute, favourite of satyres, the ithyphallic companions of Dyonisus. (A satyr, Marsyas, challenged the god to a contest. Apollo won and skinned Marsyas alive.) You can imagine what Plato would have made of Eminem and bands like the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or even Michael Jackson. Pity Apollo wasn't around to flay alive that lot.
As to Aristotle, he held that music served a fourfold end: amusement, moral education, recreation and purification. Art can use any of those ends but mere amusement cannot be an ultimate goal. Too bad for the universal line: 'That was fun'. It wouldn't have pleased the great philosopher a little bit. No wonder Aristotle was a snob.
Even if the Qur'an does not condemn music, what about the hadiths? Sharia, Islamic law, is a blending of Qur'an and hadiths and there is a prophetic saying, of an eschatological flavour, and reported in Salafi-Wahhabi notes to the Qur'an, which declares musical instruments (ma'azif in Arabic, probably meaning drums) unlawful, along with men wearing silk. Debate rages about it. However, even hardline Sunni 'Popes' like Yusuf al-Qaradawi permit instrumental music. Moreover, what about the Turkish Mevlevi Order of Dervishes? They danced the Sema', a mystical and musical ceremony, as well as being the crack units of the Ottoman armies that got to the gates of Vienna. The examples of Moghuls and Persian Safavid also militates against any Islamic ban on instrumental music. And even the puritanical Saudis dance the Sword Dance - a favourite of Prince Charles.
Even the dumbest fundamentalist could never invoke the Bible against music or dancing. The psalms are religious songs. Many with musical directions, addressed to the choirmaster, including 'with string instruments'. When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, King David himself danced 'before the Lord', girded with only a loin cloth (11 Samuel: 14). St Matthews's Gospel says that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper. And in Church tradition, the psalms feature in settings like Vespers by Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Mozart. Gregorian chant is one of the glories of monastic spirituality. I confess, it bores me a bit but then music was never the priest's ruling passion - God so willed it.
After knocking al-Wahab's scriptural exegesis. I must agree with him on the radicalization issue. Rightly or wrongly, he believes that his faith and music are incompatible. An opinion to which he is perfectly entitled. It may be extreme but why extremist in the sense of violent extremism? Or, for that matter, even non-violent extremism? Why should he be harassed by Prevent? Jehova's Witnesses have peculiar ideas about blood transfusions but the British government doesn't treat them as 'extremists'. Mormons don't believe in sex before marriage or homosexuality, yet they are an all-American, hard-working, supremely law-abiding lot. Does President Trump brand them as extremists?
The Prevent strategy is loopy. It led someone to report two Muslim students because the didn't look at females. Given the present hysteria about men touching women's knees, that is perhaps rather reassuring.
As to his satanic majesty, the Devil. He is man's eternal enemy and gets up to all sorts of tricks to make humanity stumble, as he did in the Garden of Eden, but music per se isn't one of them.
Nation Revisited
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