With its intimate FCO links ever since British intelligence created it specifically in order to agitate against Egyptian independence, will the Muslim Brotherhood use its position in an Egyptian government to agitate for Commonwealth membership? I hope, and even rather expect, that it and the Copts will both do so. Just as I hope, and even rather expect, that any Palestinian Declaration of Independence will appear over the names of, among other people, the leaders of the indigenous Christian communities while at the same time placing the new state under the protection of, among other people, the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth.
And what of Lebanon? Unlike Egypt and Palestine, but like several recent recruits to the Commonwealth, Lebanon was never part of the British Empire. It is ties to France that are cherished by the Christians in the new governing coalition, just as it is ties to Syria that are cherished by the Muslims in it. But the eastward-looking Muslims now recognise a wider dimension, primarily focused on Iran. Matching and mirroring that, Commonwealth membership, entailing a link to the only Christian monarchy (other than the Papacy) to retain a global role, could, should, and I increasingly expect will be the westward-looking Christians' wider dimension.
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We all know the sources of your Great Expectations.
ReplyDeleteLove this. Also remember that there are already much more Muslims than Christians in the Commonwealth.
ReplyDeleteImagine if an Egyptian government including the Muslim Brotherhood, a Lebanese government unofficially led by Hezbollah, and a Palestinian government officially led by Hamas all applied for Commonwealth membership.
Imagine if they openly did so because they also included the Copts, or the Maronites and other Lebanese Christians, or the many Christian communities of Palestine.
What would the George Weigels and Damian Thompsons of the world say? Would they be too angry to say anything?
Miss Havisham, ever considered getting sources of your own?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, in the US they have orthodox Catholics to answer the likes of Weigel from a paleocon or an old school populist Dem perspective. But here Thompson has the field to himself, we are seriously presented with a gay neocon as the voice and arbiter of orthodoxy.
You can understand Protestants who have either never heard of the Middle Eastern Christians or do not much care about them, but not Catholics. One of many inexplicable things about Catholic neoconservatives.
ReplyDeleteSuch as Damian Thompson. As you know, he pays some Telegraph bloggers but not others. You have said before that you were never paid. I bet you anything you like all the paid ones at the same time were pure blood Caucasians.
It would not matter if he now pays Birbalsingh, what matters is what was the situation when you worked for him. He probably told you that it was unpaid and you only found out later than some people were not in that position.
You can get legal aid for that sort of thing. Based on past victories in this field you would easily win this case.