Italy's interior minister is now accused of religious extremism, not Christian extremism - which is his religion, rather extremism for Islam.  This was a result of Galliano Amato's announcement; he can not oppose Muslim women to wear Hijab, simply because the Virgin Mary wore it as well!  She is not only the mother of Jesus (peace be upon him), but also one of four women considered most honorable since the beginning of time - according to Islamic view, the most honorable four women are Virgin Mary, Asiah the wife of Pharaoh who protected Moses (peace be upon him), and Prophet Mohammed's wife Khadija, and daughter Fatima. 

The Interior minister is now subjected to secular pressure calling to counter the spread of hijab amongst Muslim women in Italy, including Italian women who embrace Islam.  They consider this phenomenon to be a danger to Christian culture.  Galliano Amato responded "if the virgin was wearing Hijab, how can you ask me to oppose any women wearing it", explaining that the woman who is the recipient of most love over history of mankind, has always been pictured wearing Hijab.  This caused a real disaster as such groups are now calling to change all the images of the virgin, replace them with new images without Hijab! 

This Italian battle over Hijab is not a joke, but rather a trend of tailoring religion to fit one's culture, likes and dislikes.  Should this come to us as a surprise?  Not really, here in the US, one can find images of Jesus (peace be upon him), not as a middle eastern man, rather a blond man with blue eyes in some white churches, or a black man in some black churches!  There are even statues of him as a Latino man!

See Learning Bridge for Published Lectures, Friday Sermon, Audio & Video Lectures 

Reflections