I was reading this article about a Muslim rapper calling for the kidnapping and murder of right wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders (who is indeed a xenophobe), and started thinking about how even the slightest challenge to Muslim precepts and "values" is met with accusations of xenophobia and racism at best, and calls for violence (and often, real violence), at worst.
While I do accept that Europe in particular is guilty of insidious and covert racism, I have often wondered how people who migrate to Europe in order to have access to the many advantages we enjoy (a well developed, wide-ranging and inclusive welfare state, excellent social services that range from free education and healthcare to government subventions for the poor, mostly equal rights, protection from discrimination and abuses, freedom of speech and association, electoral participation, etc), would be the first ones to try to destroy the very system that has allowed them to flourish away from totalitarian states the ideological tenets of which are akin to pre-Medieval Obscurantism and radical theocracy.
In addition, the rampant homophobia that we, as gay people, are exposed to from these rapidly expanding communities is a source of worry. We are not talking about the minor inconveniences caused by cultural differences, but a process of gradual invasion and religious-based radicalism that can have a nefarious effect on all of our lives.
Oh, and before anyone starts whining about me being racist, allow me to ask you: why is it that Hindu and Oriental immigrants easily adapt to their host countries while maintaining their own traditions and religious beliefs? You never, EVER hear about them causing any problems. On the other hand, Muslims behave as if we were all guilty for the Crusades (conveniently forgetting to mention their invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the constant warfare at the Balkans, which they still view as "their" usurped territories).
Are we in for a darker than usual future? I definitely think so.
	
		
			
		
		
	
				
			While I do accept that Europe in particular is guilty of insidious and covert racism, I have often wondered how people who migrate to Europe in order to have access to the many advantages we enjoy (a well developed, wide-ranging and inclusive welfare state, excellent social services that range from free education and healthcare to government subventions for the poor, mostly equal rights, protection from discrimination and abuses, freedom of speech and association, electoral participation, etc), would be the first ones to try to destroy the very system that has allowed them to flourish away from totalitarian states the ideological tenets of which are akin to pre-Medieval Obscurantism and radical theocracy.
In addition, the rampant homophobia that we, as gay people, are exposed to from these rapidly expanding communities is a source of worry. We are not talking about the minor inconveniences caused by cultural differences, but a process of gradual invasion and religious-based radicalism that can have a nefarious effect on all of our lives.
Oh, and before anyone starts whining about me being racist, allow me to ask you: why is it that Hindu and Oriental immigrants easily adapt to their host countries while maintaining their own traditions and religious beliefs? You never, EVER hear about them causing any problems. On the other hand, Muslims behave as if we were all guilty for the Crusades (conveniently forgetting to mention their invasion of the Iberian peninsula and the constant warfare at the Balkans, which they still view as "their" usurped territories).
Are we in for a darker than usual future? I definitely think so.


						