Multiculturalism gone wrong.Women Against Shariah has posted this very interesting story about a feud stoked to flames in a Toronto apartment building- all because one man , Matthew Coutts, had the audacity to greet a Muslim wife with a friendly "good morning." Matt describes himself as hugely friendly man, one who runs errans for unfamiliar neighbors in the pouring rain and strikes up storms of conversations in the laundry room. Your typical, outgoing, well-meaning neighbor. But when he greeted the wife of the new Muslim couple across the hall, they confronted Matt and demanded that he not speak to the wife nor look at her.
Now, make no mistake. I'm not calling this couple a pair of jihadi-crazed Islamic radicals. But their behavior is exemplary of a disturbing trend we've seen growing among the more fundamentalist Muslim immigrants in the Western world over the past 6 or 7 years; a refusal to integrate into the societies they immigrate to.
This is no isolated example. Just take a look at Britain; where it had its own British culture 5 years ago, it's now steeped in Shariah-like culture. Look at Michigan, too.
For anyone who's pounding their desk screaming 'racist' right now, let me put it to you in another context; Mexican immigrants, legal or not, cross into America in search of work so they can make money to send back to their poverty-stricken families in Mexico. Many Asian immigrants- Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.- come here for similar reasons.
But they INTEGRATE. They adapt to their surroundings, and respect their home-away-from-home's culture and social laws. Many of these Mexican and Asian families hold on to their cultural roots in America. Many of them don't even speak English. That's fine. That's America.
But when you come to this country, demand that your boss give you 5 breaks a day to pray, demand that your local hospital remove a cross depicting Jesus Christ because it offends your religion, and get into fights over a friendly, everyday "Good morning", it all belies an ulterior reluctance to integrate into the society you've thrust yourself into. If someone moves to a country, they need to be ready to learn the cultural and social laws of the land. At the very least, they better damn well learn to accept them. If I moved to Saudi Arabia tomorrow, I'm not about to expect the entire Saudi community change their way of life to make me feel more at home. If I wasn't comfortable in a foreign setting, then I have no business traveling to Saudi Arabia in the first place.
If adaptation is necessary, then it's the immigrant's job to adapt to a foreign society, not the other way around.
The sad fact is that for these fundamentalist Muslims, multiculturalism is a one-way street. They're operating under this belief that their host countries owe it to them to flip the mountains upside down and alter the orbit of the sun to make them feel more comfortable. No, no one should have to give up their roots and personal way of life when moving to a new country. But don't impose on the country that was gracious enough to bring you in, be it America, Kurdistan, or South Korea.
I love experiencing foreign culture. It's my dream to travel the world and immerse myself in different cultures. I would love nothing more than to travel abroad and throw myself into Japan, France, India, Greece, even a more moderate Arab country for a couple years. But when I do, I'm not about to demand that my host country and its citizens change their ways of life just to suit me.
Yes, Muslim immigrants have the freedom to come to the United States and keep to their own culture. As they should. And I'm sure they're wonderful people. But they do not have the right to forbid us from enjoying our own. If you come to America, be prepared to deal with an American society.
