"Islam and the West: Cultural wars, immigration and pluralism" by Vexen Crabtree (2006)

There are peaceful Muslims in the West, and any policies towards Islam must be careful not to alienate or radicalize them. But, there are problems with Muslims in the West. The murder of Leo van Gogh in Holland for making a film that highlighted the role of Islam and the Qur'an in the oppression of women showed us that Islamists are everywhere. This follows from the riots, violence and threats that have left over 100 dead as a result of a Danish newspaper publishing Muhammad cartoons. And before this, the book burnings, shop bombs, violence and mass riots that resulted from Salmon Rushdie's book (and the murder of a translator of it), that examined the life of Muhammad in a non-traditional way. The murder of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn 'for Dutch Muslims' because he questioned the ability of Muslims to integrate into the West shows us that honest opinions, artistic freedom, freedom of expression and intellectual criticism are being challenged by religious superstition again. It is mature and civil to accept criticism without resorting to violence: How can we teach our Muslim populations to restrain their own immoral extremists?

I look at a few methods:

1. Laissez-Faire - Let them come (a failed technique)
2. Alienation, Racism and Intolerance (makes things worse)
3. Citizenship and Values tests for immigrants
4. Citizenshop schooling for all UK children
5. Stricter immigration and security checks: Already in place

Tags: globalism, islam, pluralism, religion, tolerance
Current Location: Afghanistan