http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/sep/07/christianity-islam-religion
[Guardian] 12 Sep 2009--The question: What is the future for Anglican conservatives?
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali has been of one of the well-informed voices that has exploded the myth that the Qu'ran really belongs to moderate liberal Muslims and not to the militants who ex animo believe it.
But I would respectfully argue that Nazir-Ali would be better placed to counteract the persecution of Christians by Muslims as a diocesan bishop than he is in the peripatetic role he is anticipating for himself. It is difficult to see how an ex-bishop hopping on and off airplanes can influence foreign governments, such as Pakistan's, to provide proper protection for their Christian minorities.
Apart from a newspaper editor, who is more "ex" than a diocesan bishop?
Whilst an Anglican bishop does not wield the social influence he once did, nonetheless an articulate and proactive bishop representing the Christian communities he is called to serve in his diocese can exercise opinion-forming influence. During his episcopate at Rochester Nazir-Ali was able to demonstrate that the tenets of Christianity and Islam regarding eternal salvation are incompatible – salvation is to be found through faith in the incarnate God the son, the Lord Jesus Christ, a contention denied by the Qu'ran; that Islam is intrinsically opposed to religious toleration as has developed in the west; and that it is a threat to Christian-influenced western civilisation.
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