Here is your reading assignment:
Okay, now that you've read the NYTimes article you can comment to yourselves about what it means. I will make an analogy that perhaps will be off base, but I'm trying to express my own feelings about the issue of Muslim immigrants IN EUROPE. I think it is a different story in America. Not unrelated, but different.
Say I have a gated community called "Free Love". It is sort of a hippie-ish compound where we claim to accept everyone as they are. I've essentially thrown open the doors, though I still claim ownership of the community. One reason I've thrown open the doors, is because in my newfound sense of love for peace and light, I've had to come to terms with the fact that my gated community has done some VERY bad things to the people down the hill. We've enslaved them. We've dumped our trash on them. We've dictated how they should live. Well, I'm above that now, so to make amends, and some free love while I'm at it, I'm throwing open the gates! Everyone in! A few months later, many of the people from down the hill have come in. They are working. They are living a higher standard of living than they did, but they don't seem to want to join in all the free love we're having over here. In fact, they seem to be rather disgusted by it. "Hey neighbor!" I shout, "care for a backrub and a Cosmo?" (who wouldn't want a backrub and a Cosmo from a gorgeous Northern European like myself?) It turns out, that the folks I've invited in ARE rather disgusted with my behavior, just like they were disgusted when I came down the hill and did unspeakable things to them. Both things it turns out, are rather against their religion. They seem to be feeling a little ill at ease, let's insult their holiest of Holies and see what happens. "Your Prophet is a big fat idiot!" I say, OH! They DO seem to be upset! Well, that's not very free love is it? In Free Love we say what we please and then have a civil discussion about it! Instead, they are lighting my compound on fire! How rude! Let's expel them! Oh! They don't seem to want to leave! They seem to want to keep burning things!!!!
This is my vision of how it is in Europe right now. Simplistic? Yes. Does it solve any problems? No. But it is how I see it. The problem is, when you piss all over people, they tend to get upset. If you stop pissing on them, and lend them a hand off the ground, they tend to still be upset about the whole pissing thing. You see, you're SUPPOSED to help people up, you are not supposed to piss on them. And that is precisely what the West has been doing for the past 300 years to Muslims and others in the East. Little wonder they will opt to live a better life, but not embrace our lifestyle.
Note though, that if the Turks had managed to defeat the West in the Battle of Vienna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna) It would be us asking for a hand up, and the Muslims doing the pissing. Thankfully the Poles had the finest cavalry of the age and trounced the Turks saving not only Vienna, but probably all of Europe. But that is a slightly different topic. Do though, note the date of the Battle of Vienna: September 11, 1683.
Posted by ian at October 12, 2006 01:25 AM!! Not bad. Of course, had the Poles not had a decent cavalry, we all would now be muslims, and nobody would be carrying on in the middle east! So maybe it's all the Poles' fault!
Posted by: Pop at October 14, 2006 02:16 PM