Just in case there are any others, I seached “Oxford Mosque” on the Telegraph website when your link didn’t work. I found a few articles in January and February 2008, since then nothing fo rover three months.

There clearly was no Planning Apppliation then. One comment was about making a Planning Application once building work was finished. I suppose that may happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if its never heard of again.

Meanwhile, I get traffic announcements from Local radio interruptiong Radio 4 in my car. I know of several mosques that use the same technology to broadcast the call to prayer. Very effective in reaching those that choose to receive it, and no disturbance to anyone else.

You say:

“A mosque in Oxford has been accused of seeking to send out the call to prayer from a loudspeaker, but it ain’t true.”

Ain’t true? How do you explain this then:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1575506/Loudspeaker-plan-re-ignites-‘call-to-prayer’-row.html

I’m happy to take an apology for the imputation of falsehood.

As for Poland, perhaps I shouldn’t have Poland as a transformed state but it is well on the way. I think from what I have read that the power of the Church is declining. However, even if I’m wrong on that it is immaterial. The decline in the power of the Church in Ireland and Italy is clear and I am simply putting that forward as an example of how a religion which once appeared invulnerable can quickly decline. Something similar could happen with Islam.

A mosque in Oxford has been accused of seeking to send out the call to prayer from a loudspeaker, but it ain’t true. Only the East London Central Mosque in Whitechapel does that. It is in a busy and noisy main road, and was the centre of a funeral for a victim of the 7 July London bombings.

Have you never come across a muslim feminist? One I know is inviting me to Charles Darwin’s house this weekend. A good starting point might be the muslim tradition that marriage is a civil contract.

As for the balance of power in the UK Parliament, there are currently 4 muslims in Parliament, all Labour, all male and all Pakistani. Female Labour Muslim candidates for the next general election include 1 Bangladeshi and 1 Cypriot, both of whom were candidates in 2005.

I don’t think I’m pessimistic. If I was I wouldn’t bother, would I?

It seems to me that peering into the future one can see a number of scenarios. One scenario is that Muslims punch way above their weight due to communal voting and hold the balance of power in Parliament. In a democracy that can be hugely important. If that is combined with a complete relaxation of immigration control we could see remarkable changes.

Who would have thought that in the space of 50 years the UK could go from being essentially a homogenous society, not unlike Japan now, to one where 25% of new primary school children do not have English as a first language. That’s a pretty significant change. So we shouldn’t underestimate the extent to which countries can change. It’s not just demographics, ideas change as well. Can anyone seriously believe that the youth of today would be capable of suffering the dangers and privations of war such as World War 2? People now place their own personal comfort way above the demands of their society – not necessarily a bad thing. But this is why I think we could see the phenomenon of Kufr-flight becoming a huge outward migration if ever it looks like Islam is gaining influence here. Once we’ve got prayer calls blaring from loudspeakers, don’t be surprised to see this pick up (think I’m joking – a Mosque in Oxford is already trying to push that one through).

But there are alternative scenarios. One is that the non-Muslim secular population, polite up till now, become thoroughly fed up with appeasing Islam and other religions and demand that politicians defend secular democracy. If that happens sooner rather than later then Britain can be made safe from Islam.

Because the historical forces are not all acting in one direction. Islam is under pressure – big pressure – from the demands of modernism: science, technology, human rights, feminism. It’s not dissimilar to the situation of the Catholic Church in countries like Italy, Ireland and Poland. 60 years ago the Church seemed incredibly powerful. Now, its power is utterly reduced in those countries. Catholic ideology was strong, but eventually the demands of modern society got the better of it.

I’m not sure I have a copy of the “Communist Manifesto” although I recall reading it once. When I made that post I was looking at my copy of “The Road to Power [Der Weg zur Macht]” by Karl Kautsky, new translation published in New Jersey in 1996.

Note that this is some years after the deaths of Antony Crosland and Clement Attlee.

I put it back on the shelf next to “How to be a Minister” by Gerald Kaufman.

That’s a questionable interpretation. There are plenty of examples of Marx’s disdain for democracy. Why not read the Communist Manifesto again with its call for the subjection of the rural population to military discipline. Hmmm – wonder where the Khmer ROuge got their ideas eh?

I don’t think detailed study of anybody’s faith or world view is necessary to explain some opinions they express. The social psychology of bounded perception is well known. So is people attaching more importance to what they are against than what they are in favour of.

The USA has not been implicated in any reactionary coup since the fall of the Soviet Union or since Ronald Reagan left the White House. Loads of people really haven’t noticed this change or attached any importance to it.

So they are unwilling to accept that they or people of the same nationality are responsible for their ills, blame America because America is rich and powerful, and don’t get their brains in gear before noticing the simplest and most vocal critics of America.

Who needs any explainations more elaborate than that?

Marx wasn’t a Leninist. In his lifetime what the German Socialdemocrats meant by “revolution” was establishing a democracy in place of the German Empire, and using it for very far reaching reforms. That is why Lenin was so keen to denounce Karl Kautsky.

I hope you’re right. Sadly, though, I don’t think you are. The Rowan Williamses of this world are responding to the unrelenting pressure come from within the Islamic community.