...is that it rarely actually touches on the current set of problems we face.
for instance, why is it no one is doing any thinking about the connected problems of islamic tradition, islamism and jihadism?
what's the difference between these three issues?
islamic tradition is closely connected with the practice of female genital mutilation. we don't want to import these kinds of barbaric customs (although frankly, male circumcision for non-medical purposes is also grotesque).
islamism is the fundamentalist reading of the koran and its adherents want to impose islamic beliefs and doctrines on western society. not what folks expected when doing refugees and economic migrants a favour by inviting them to live in the enlightened world.
jihadism is the terrorist branch of islam. this is easily justified by an islamist reading of the koran (peaceful scholars interpret things differently, of course). such people want incarceration.
unfortunately for us, these expressions of islam account for quite a large number of moslems.
how do we distinguish these groups from the kinds of moslems we ought to welcome?
the answers from our politicians are what, exactly?
1. pretend the problem doesn't exist.
2. treat all moslems as terrorists.
surely we can do better.
alongside this, at least in europe, there is the economic issue of large numbers of folks from islamic backgrounds who don't have a job. is this an issue of prejudice? or of moslem cultural inadequacy? i don't know, but it is true in several countries with very different incumbent traditions. if it isn't properly addressed, then people will draw their own conclusions about the benefits of immigration from islamic countries.
surely politicians who employ the argument that immigrants help improve economies must answer this problem thoughtfully.
again, the question of cultural integration is one politicians should be asked about. a british moslem wished his christian neighbours a happy easter. he was murdered for it. this tells me that hostility to the host culture may well be widespread. unacceptable, in my view. what do politicians say about this? not much.
clearly we don't want to create a situation similar to germany in the 1930s. but i think we do create it by ignoring the issues instead of talking about them plainly.
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