The New York Times magazine section this Sunday has a story about the difficulties that confronted a Bavarian village in Germany that was invaded by large numbers of Muslim immigrants and how it was dealing with its Islamophobia. Being that this was the Times, I prejudged the direction that this article would be taking me -- small-mind Germans disrespecting an upright Muslim family trying to escape the horrors of civil war and, as a result of an enlightenment, opening up their hard Teutonic hearts -- and didn't finish reading it. (Go peruse it yourself and see if my prejudice is mistaken ... see: The New Europeans.)
But it did get me to thinking about this supposed curse of the small-minded people like myself. How should I approach this "mania" that is sweeping the secular world ... that an alarmingly large number of Muslims, enabled by the billions of oil money that has dropped into their laps and by the leader of the free world's forbearance, have resurrected their ancient hope for an Islamic caliphate that would convert the rest of the world to this "religion of peace" and so force us to embrace all of its covenants.
Like many politicians on other sticky problems, I have been "evolving my attitude on this issue" to where now I believe that the solution to this mania lies totally within the Muslim communities ... and, if after a reasonable time period, they have not solved it, then it needs to be dealt with somewhat sharply by the rest of us.
And how should these Muslim communities deal with this problem? Let me count the ways:
- The Imams of all the mosques around the world need to publicly disavow this notion of a world-wide caliphate forced upon the rest of us. Those unwilling to take such a step should be defrocked by the Muslim higher authorities.
- Muslim communities should shoulder the responsibility of identifying and reporting on the radical elements that are festering within. If this means that they suffer retaliation from these terrorists, then this is the price they should be willing to pay.
- The Muslim religion itself needs a reformation movement wherein the more violent and antisocial elements of the Quran are deemphasized or recast in the context of the times in which they were written ... indicating that they have been misinterpreted in today's world.
- Muslims should take concerted efforts to integrate themselves into their communities. This means no "no go" Muslim enclaves, no Sharia law overriding local ordinances, no insistence on severe Islamic garb that hides identities, no attacks of the mores of the communities in which they reside, and pledging allegiance to their current countries.
- Countries that are Muslim theocracies should allow secular instincts to take hold without undemocratic suppression. Places like Iran that put down such populist instincts should not be kowtowed to ... like they have been in recent times by our current poobahs.
These conditions seem quite unlikely to happen.... even with a reasonable subset of same. (I'd settle for any three.) So, I guess our (and their) lives are going to get much more difficult.
Afterward: See also: English Regrets.
