MOSLEM AND INFIDEL FAMILY PROBLEMS

Those who believe in Allah are Moslems or followers of Islam. The rest of us are infidels meaning that we have no faith.

The world is being divided into Moslems and infidels according to the Moslem point of view. An infidel is one who does not accept the beliefs and practices of Islam.

There are major similarities and differences between the two groups. Christians and Moslems all derive their faith from the Middle East and both declare a lineage going back to Abraham. Both groups have a faith that starts in Old Testament times.

The Moslem faith allows polygamy of men marrying more than one wife. A woman may not marry more than one man and is leaving herself open to be stoned. 

In a tribal setting, polygamy is the way that a man of power bring unity to groups in an area of influence. He marries a woman from each area. 

It can also cause violence as wives conspire with their sons to take control within the family. It is potentially a family at war with itself. A woman with several husbands would bring violence and chaos.

The Christian faith permits only one wife to be lawfully married to a man. Both men and women are leaving themselves open to a charge of bigamy.

But both groups share common goals for bringing up a family. Children are to obey their parents. Girls are to grow to become good wives and mothers with chastity. But there the comparison stops.

Moslem fathers maintain total control over their wives and daughters. They are to stay within the confines of the home and must not have relationhips with outside men or boys.

Christian families see the issue differently. There is to be a developing friendship between boys and girls. Men and women are to have friendship. They can work together in employment, church activities and sports.

There has been a protocol going back centuries where men and women can dance together but follow certain protocols. A married women may not dance in an intimate way with another man.

English people enjoy the barn dance by which the community joins in a circle and every woman dances with every man.

Christian parents want their boys and girls to stay at the house and go out in limited ways until they have become adults. They can bring boy or girl friends home to meet the parents.

But that is not possible in Moslem families. Boys have freedoms but the girls are totally limited in any friendship with the opposite sex. It can and does lead to honour killing.

There is a disturbing trend in western countries where young teenagers go out at night to binge drink and take drugs. Girls drink as much as boys and many take part in drunken fights. Girls and boys have sex.

This is a horrifying situation for both Moslem and Christian families. The young people are out of control, more so the children of the non-Moslem families.

In the European Christian world, there are limitations placed by certain ethnic or religious families. All families want their children to marry within their ethnic or faith group.

Where there is racial or religious tension, parents want their children to marry as close as possible to their own group.

Catholic families in Northern Ireland did not want their child to marry a Protestant. It was based on race more than religion.

The Catholics were Irish. The Protestants were seen to be the English invaders who took the best land centuries ago. Catholics were said not to recognise marriage outside the church.

Times have changed and the Catholic church permits mixed marriage. But the non-Catholic partner was expected by the priest to convert to Catholicism and allow the children to be brought up Catholic.

The Moslem families are quite inflexible. Centuries of warfare in Europe have made the Moslem determined that the children marry close to the family as possible.

Marriages are decided by the father and uncles. A Sunni man must never marry a Shi’ite woman. That is the formula for family annihiliation. Someone has to die and the slate wiped clean.

Moslems like the Jews are most tied to the family lineage that may go back as far as Abraham. It cannot be spoiled by a daughter marrying an infidel. The shame will exist for centuries.

Norma Khouri in the book Forbidden Love wrote of her friend who suffered honour killing for her love for a Catholic Jordanian man.

So the problems of the Moslem and Christian families are very similar. The main difference among some Moslem families is that a woman who breaks family tradition may well be murdered by father, uncles or brothers in an honour killing.

The common problem for all faiths is the gay, lesbian and paedophile push to take over access to children who are being told that homosexual sex is beautiful and an option for all. They are told that they have rights including the right to disobey their parents.