Leaders of some Christian denominations at Camden on Sydney's south-west fringe have joined forces to oppose a bid by the Quranic Society to build an Islamic school.
It came as a shock to many Christians committed to interfaith dialogue to read that Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary officials expressed their views in a letter sent last week:
'Our concern is the Quranic Society inevitably advocates a political ideological position that is incompatible with the Australian way of life. This includes promoting Quranic law as being superior to national laws and regarding followers of any rival religion as inevitably at enmity with it.'
Until now, Christian opposition to the school has been confined to more extreme elements. In December 2007, the Rev. Fred Nile explained at a protest rally that he opposed the school because Islam opposed Christianity.
Last Thursday, local opposition to the school was further buoyed by a separate statement of support from the General-Secretary of the Baptist Union of NSW Alan Soden, and the Principal of the Baptists' Morling Theological College Ross Clifford.
They stressed that they are 'committed to living in harmony with people of all faiths and no
faith', and that 'the Baptist Union of NSW acknowledges the place of
multifaith dialogue and encourages warm personal relations between
members of all religious groups'. But they declare:
'Australians absolutely oppose all form of seditious activity. No politician or community leader would want to be associated with decisions that could lead to a religious-based legal system overriding or operating in conjunction with Australian law.'
The problem is that their argument appears to be based on an assumption that Camden's Quranic Society is predisposed to promoting such seditious activity. When contacted by Eureka Street, Mr Soden conceded his suspicion, warning that Australian Muslims could follow those in the UK in attempting to introduce elements of Sharia law into their communities.
It is in fact arguable that partial adoption of Sharia law within Muslim communities in western nations could be desirable. Indeed last year the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams controversially accepted its inevitability.
It seems that the Baptist Union, and the Camden Christian leaders, could make a better contribution to harmony in the Camden community by taking positive steps to find out what the Quranic school actually plans to do.
They could encourage opponents of the school to meet with the Quranic Society, and perhaps get to know them socially. It is ironic that the residents'