BOOK SHELF
"The 21st Century Culture War in the West" by Danny Nalliah, D & M Publications. Price $15 plus postage.Order through Catch the Fire Ministries: www.catchthefire.com.au (under products) or Phone (03) 9703 1620. Reviewed by John Morrissey
Pastor Danny Nalliah is known to most of us as one of the two evangelical pastors who were finally cleared of allegations of religious vilification against Muslims, and for his prophecy months before the Black Saturday bushfires that Victoria would suffer for the 2008 Abortion Law Amendment Act. The latter was represented in the press as a particularly insensitive comment after the 2009 tragedy. Members of Endeavour Forum know him better as the man who came to Babette Francis's rescue in 2014 with a secure venue for the World Congress of Families Regional Event which she organised.
Pastor Danny grew up as a Christian Tamil in Sri Lanka, where he witnessed race riots against his ethnic group and the birth of a lengthy civil war. He is one of many who regret the end of British rule in his native country, for it had been based on Judeo-Christian values, the corner stone of which are the Bible and the Ten Commandments.
As an adult and employed in Saudi Arabia, he took up pastoral duties and along with his wife and children risked death for practising Christianity and the possession of smuggled Bibles. His first hand experiences make him a particularly credible voice in the debate which we have to have about the growing presence of Islam in Australia.
He tells us of his victory for free speech when the Islamic Council of Victoria and the Equal Opportunity Commission prosecuted him under Victoria's Racial and Religious Vilification Act, for merely reading from the Quran to his congregation in 2002. His victory in the Supreme Court came after five years and required $2 millions of funds and pro bono legal work.
With reference to the relevant sura in the Quran, he outlines the religious obligation of Muslims to bring all people, peacefully or by force, back to the original true faith of Islam, and the alternatives of death or paying the jisya tax and living like slaves. While this is only possible in Muslim-majority countries, it is the essence of Islamic belief. He also warns of the dangers of accepting Saudi endowments to Western universities, sharia finance, interfaith dialogue and permitting Muslim prison chaplains.
Pastor Danny explains that multiculturalism, as we know it, is flawed in that while it gives minority groups all their rights it is at the cost of the rights of the majority. In Islam, culture is inseparable from religion and sharia law, with all of the implications, such as the subjugation of women and the marriage of underage girls. We should be promoting a multi-ethnic society instead. Multiculturalism has already failed in Europe, where there are ethnic enclaves, referred to as "Culturally Sensitive Zones", in large cities and thousands of churches have been converted into mosques.
He fears a Muslim population explosion in Australia, fuelled by men having up to four wives to bear children. Centrelink has already confirmed that a politically correct toleration of polygamy is supported by the taxpayer, under the banner of multiculturalism. Indeed, political correctness is the root of the problem in the West, where we lack the guts to resist, for fear of being labelled intolerant racists.
Pastor Danny tells of visiting Auburn in Sydney, which seemed like the Middle East, and where young men were recruited to fight in Syria, and he was threatened for what his Rise Up Australia party demands, that is integration into the Australian community. Other anecdotes closer to home, in Melbourne's outer-east, show how such enclaves are formed, often with the support of local government. Non-Muslims tend to move out, whether from an aversion to foreign annoyances such as prayer-time traffic, or from more sinister pressure to sell-up. Pastor Danny says that most Muslims in Australia don't want sharia law and integrate well, but that newcomers from other backgrounds don't include so many who demand that the West follow their way of life and absolutely reject Australian culture.
The acceptance of Islam as just another religion ignores the example of Mohammed which underpins the Muslim faith. The slaughter of infidel men and taking of their wives and daughters as slaves, which are recorded in histories of his life are the model for extreme Islamists today, whom Pastor Danny regards as the greatest threat in the 21st century. He refers to coercion of women to wear the full face covering burqa and what it also implies about women who do not wear it, linking this to outrages on non-Muslim girls provoked by their alleged lack of modesty.
The book concludes with several appendices containing valuable
references to the Quran which pinpoint Islamic doctrine, reproductions
of news items featuring the author's activities, and
other interesting information. Danny Nalliah pulls no punches in
this little book, warning Australians of the consequences of helping
Muslims to settle in Australia on their own terms, while rejecting
Western culture.
However, he questions whether Islam can ever be compatible
with a democratic society, as the War Against Terror tried to
achieve, and this is where we might take exception. We should all
recall the inspiring voter turn-out for the first Iraqi election after
the fall of Saddam Hussein. In spite of all the dangers involved,
participation was higher than that in the UK and USA, where voting
is also voluntary! 