This article is a great example of the egregious hypocrisy of Westerners/Americans who complain constantly about Muslims not 'assimilating' to the culture in the US/Europe - yet have little to say about the West's crusade to bring about regime change and impose their economic and political systems on other countries through extreme force and violence.
The most ridiculous example of this was the 20+ year effort to try to turn Afghanistan into some sort of US-like 'Western democracy' or whatever nonsense propaganda was spewed to justify that idiotic project. Did anyone bother to ask the Afghans if they really wanted US-style politics and an economic system with all its lobbying, grift, corruption and unfettered consumerism destroying their environment before dropping bombs to try to bring this about?
This is why the US empire invades and occupies countries. We're told it's all about preventing terrorism (even as it makes that worse), but it's really about resources, geopolitical 'interests' and mineral/oil extraction (and keeping other competing empires like China and Russia from them).
Clearly, Afghans were as enthusiastic about adopting our broken and corrupt democratic and economic systems as most Europeans/Americans would be theirs. No one in Afghahistan asked to be forcefully assimilated at gunpoint to US culture or economics.
Yet, that's exactly the paranoid fear some Westerners like this author have: That Muslims are going to take over the world and impose their will on others.... literally the exact thing the West has been doing to them for decades.
Muslims in the Middle East have good reason to loathe the West. The 2,000lb 'reasons' were dropped on their houses by stealth bombers and fighter jets. All the West has ever meant to many in that region is occupation, bloodshed, resource extraction, and exploitation.
Yet somehow Westerners like this author are aghast that Muslims might have different values that they wish to adhere to in their own countries rather than worshiping unbridled capitalism and financial usury - the very thing that is also crippling Westerners and Americans in ours.
Furthermore, the vast majority of Muslims in the US (for example) do live peacefully here and coexist with their neighbors. They're an integral part of our city, pay their taxes, work hard, and contribute to the community.
It's the people like the author of this article that don't believe in 'multiculturalism' that are the actual toxic poison in our communities - not the Muslims.
The KKK also didn't believe in 'multiculturalism', nor do many of the right-wing domestic terror groups and various militas obsessed with committing acts of terrorism and infrastructure vandalism in the quest to ignite some 'race war' they fantasize about.
I'm far more concerned about lunatics like the guy in this news article that was caught plotting to blow up power stations, than my Muslim cab driver not 'assimilating' to 'my' culture:
What does that even mean? He needs to eat more non-Halal junk food? Buy more junk on Amazon? Who decides whether an immigrant has 'assimilated' enough? This is all just code for 'get out of the country so it can be white again'. These are all just recycled tropes that bigots and racists have been using for decades.
Years ago, it was the Jews that were turned back from the US out of fear of them not being 'compatible' with US culture. Now many of the same sorts of people who would have turned Holocaust survivors away are tripping over themselves proclaiming that the US always has been a 'Judeo-Christian' country in a thinly-veiled attempt at Islamaphobia.
At one point, the Irish were the targeted minority that was refusing to 'assimilate'. Now, Americans enthusiastically celebrate Irish Holidays like St. Patricks day and are proud of their Irish heritage.
Italians in New York still eat a lot of Pasta. Should we kick them out too for living in communities together and doing Italian vs American things?
Finally, Muslims serve honorbly in the US Military, even despite the appalling bigotry and stigmas they face. I can't think of a more extreme way of 'assimilating' to a country than volunteering to fight for it - even if the 'war on terror' was a collossal mistake.
It reminds me of how Japanese and Blacks also served in the US military, even while their families were segregated and put into detainment camps back in the US. Despite the ferocious bigotry against them, they still wanted to defend the country they lived in - despite all its flaws.
Gays serve honorably as well, although they weren't always allowed in the US military. I do find it peculiar that this author is very open about his homosexuality - something that was discriminated against for years in the US military - yet fails to exhibit any sort of empathy for people of 1 particular religion that also face the same sort of stigma and biases in US culture. Then he goes off and proclaims that they are ALL incompatible with 'Western Values'.
In other comments he says he's fine with them living how they want - but the implied unsaid part is: "just not in MY country", because we have Judeo/Christian values blah blah blah [then claps as the country of 'Judeo Christian values' drops bombs on Muslims who really were just trying to live how they wanted in Iraq/Afghanistan/Gaza]
I served alongside Muslims in the US military that were serving this country and risking their lives to do so. But apparently I guess serving in the US military is not 'assimilation' enough for 'rogue4gay'. I wonder if he ever served. Perhaps not. Perhaps he wasn't allowed to when the 'Judeo Christian' country (the one he claims would never discriminate against gays) weren't allowed to serve openly in the military prior to 'don't ask, don't tell'.
I think this guy is an evangelical Christian zealot who is merely projecting his own bigotry onto others. He told me in a different comment that he doesn't believe in multiculturalism, and that religion should be the basis for government - which is contrary to the US ideals of seperation of church and state. Apparently, he doesn't like crucial parts of the US Constitution, and talks constantly about breaking the US up into independent countries based on religion or 'morals' or something...
Perhaps it is he who has failed to 'assimilite' to the American concept of separation of church and state, and acting as a UNITED country bound by common ideals, interests, and goals that can be shared by all people regardless of the religion they choose to practice.
Here's the 1st Amendment from the US Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Not establishing a religion...
It's literally the FIRST thing in the FIRST amendment.
Yet, according to 'rogue4gay' who advocates breaking up the US into separate religious fiefdoms and throwing out the entire concept of separation of church and state... it is the Muslims that are not accepting of American (or Western) ideals.
I think he's got it all backwards, or is perhaps confused.
Christians don't want to be ruled by Muslims and vice versa. The Jews don't want a cross or Christmas tree on their national identity papers or passport. I doubt the Muslims want a Star of David on theirs. This is why we have a secular government in the US that ideally preserves the religious freedom for anyone to worship how they wish (or not at all). That's en entirely separate (and personal matter) from secular laws governing trade, commerce, defense, and citizenship.
But, 'rogue4gay' wants to throw all that out, and do the exact opposite thing where we have every state going off and declaring their own official religion and setting up various theocracies, caliphates, zions, holy kingdoms, Republic of Gilead, and whatnot (that I'm sure everyone will be totally fine with and definately not fight over *cough* *cough*)
Hey wait, didn't we already go through something like this with the Civil War?
The 'founding fathers' of the US had many flaws. They failed to take a hard stance on slavery, and initially kicked that to the states to decide for themselvs (like what rogue4gay wants with everythnig). We saw how well that worked.
But this separation of church and state idea might be one of the things they got right.
