Norwegian politician confronts Islam - Islamic ambassadors protest

A thing I should mention before I even start on this post: in Scandinavia, especially between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, we have a continuous "brotherly competition" going on on pretty much everything.

That said, chairman of the Norwegian rightwing Progress Party has become an object of attention much like the newspaper Jyllandsposten has in Denmark. Five moslem ambassadors have authored a letter accusing Hagen of "having insulted 1,3 billion moslems and violated the principles of tolerance and freedom that Norwegian society is built upon". The expressions Hagen is condemned for uttering in a speech to the christian group "The Living Word" are the following (the story thanks to Danske øjne på svenske forhold, from Aftenposten, in my translation from the Norwegian):

"They are well on their way, they have come far in Africa, and are well on their way in Europe - and thus we have to speak up"

"If we passively - and actively when it comes to certain politicians on the left wing - in silence accept that terrorism gains ground and Israel wins the one and last war, then there isnt much hope left for Europe, either. That is why Israel has to be defended"

"We Christians are very fond of children. Let the small children come to me, Jesus said. I cannot imagine that Muhammed said the same thing. If so, he would have said: Let the small children come to me, so I can exploit them in my war to islamicize the world"

"I cant see any resemblance with the morals and the justice found in Christianity"

The article goes on to recount the content of the letter the moslem ambassadors wrote in response:

- Neither is islam a religion that encourages militarism and extremism, the letter, that also condemn all forms of terrorism, says.

At the same time, they write that it is necessary to meet the conditions that create hopelesness and despair, "so we already now can stop the use of extraordinary measures to seek satisfaction.", as the ambassadors write.

I other words: do as we say, or you will be subjected to "extraordinary measures".

The usual suspects in any PC political environment of course condemn Hagen for his outspokenness, but the extraordinary thing is that he actually also gets some support from people outside his own party. Especially elements in the Christian Peoples´ Party have supported Hagen, uttering disgust with their own party´s lack of support for Israel.

And the "Brotherly competition" I mentioned at the start? Well, the letter to Hagen was only signed by five islamic ambassadors. The letter to Danish PM Fogh over the paper Jyllandspostens 11 drawings of Mohammed was signed by ten. So there.

Denmark 10, Norway 5 :-)

Henrik