Posted on 01/28/2015 3:07:55 PM PST by Uncle Miltie
Some cultures in the US have been allowed to remain distinct, so why the double standard?
European no-go zones that non-Muslims may not enter have made headlines recently, despite the inconvenient fact that they don’t exist. Because of an overwhelming and unexpected reaction from France and England in particular, Fox News issued an apology for letting anchors and guests repeatedly discuss such zones. Yet there are those who refuse to back down. Case in point: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential Republican presidential candidate.
In an interview with CNN, he reiterated a point that others on the right have recently made (and that some on the left, such as Bill Maher, appear to agree with):
The huge issue with nonassimilation is the fact that people want to come to our country but not adopt our values — in some cases, not adopt our language, in some cases, want to set apart their own enclaves and continue to hold on to their own values. I think it is dangerous in America and it’s dangerous in Europe.
The comments came on the heels of a speech he gave in London in which he said that nonassimilationist Muslims “carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home.”
Such arguments are grossly misleading. Enclaves tend to form because immigrants of lower socioeconomic status don’t have the tools to adapt to a new culture and seek the comfort of the familiar, not because they want to consciously threaten mainstream culture. History shows that with time, enclaves often collapse. Just as important, religion-based nonassimilation has been allowed to flourish in pockets in the United States, sometimes buttressed by the First Amendment, which protects the free exercise of religion. So why the double standard?
After all, according to an article by Rachel Aviv in The New Yorker, Hasidic Jews in New York City have long been given much leeway. “In exchange for the community’s loyalty, politicians have given Brooklyn’s Hasidim wide latitude to police themselves,” she wrote. “They have their own emergency medical corps, a security patrol and a rabbinic court system, which often handles criminal allegations.”
A New York Times article published in November noted the extent to which Hasidic children’s learning deviated from what is taught in public schools: “Boys in elementary and middle school study religious subjects from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. followed by approximately 90 minutes of English and math. At 13, when boys formally enter yeshiva, most stop receiving any English instruction.”
The subject of the article, Naftuli Moster, an activist trying to bring systemic change to education in Hasidic communities, said that in his yeshiva, English, math and science were considered profane. It is not surprising that many come out of school with a limited grasp of English.
New York state law requires that all schools have curriculums that are equivalent to public schools’, yet schools in the Hasidic community are allowed to get away with completely divergent teaching.
“The haranguing attitudes of Gov. Bobby Jindal and his ilk are alienating the very populations they accuse of not integrating. ”
The Hasidic community is not alone. A 1972 Supreme Court ruling exempts Amish children from mandatory schooling after the eighth grade, on the grounds that schooling infringed on their right to freely exercise their religious beliefs and, as then–Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote, exposed “Amish children to worldly influences in terms of attitudes, goals and values contrary to beliefs.”
The Affordable Care Act exempts certain Amish and Mennonite religious orders from having to purchase health insurance, which is tied to the fact that they are also exempted from having to pay Social Security tax.
In 48 states, children can be exempted from vaccinations on the basis of their parents’ religious beliefs. This despite the fact that, according to one study, unvaccinated kids are 35 times more likely to contract measles and are at higher risk for getting whooping cough.
Given these exceptions, far from adopting a blanket critical view toward nonassimilation, would-be critics should first analyze its outcomes. The Amish take care of their old and sick, and so the health insurance and Social Security exemptions they receive may be reasonable. There is arguably less justification for depriving kids of a solid education simply because of their parents’ beliefs — particularly in a country that promises no child will be left behind.
The truth is that Muslims in the U.S. are fairly well assimilated. In a recent article, “Islamic, yet integrated,” The Economist cited a 2011 Pew Research Center report that found that Muslims in the U.S. came from at least 77 countries. “Mixing breeds tolerance,” the article stated. “Most American Muslims think that their faith is open to multiple interpretations.”
Overall, household income for Muslims is comparable with other Americans’, and some Muslim communities, such as the Bangladeshi diaspora, are better educated and earn more than the general U.S. population.
This is not to say that each and every Muslim in the U.S. is a fully assimilated part of American culture. There is a small percentage of American Muslims who sympathize with extremists. But the question Americans should ask is, “While safeguards have been put in place to guard against Islamic extremists, how must the vast majority of Muslims be regarded?”
Last year a boy who had just arrived from Baghdad and couldn’t speak English enrolled in my son’s school. The class teacher requested two kids to come forward and help him navigate the cafeteria and playground. She found a website that translated words from English to Arabic so she could communicate with him at a basic level. Meanwhile, he enrolled in English classes for speakers of other languages. Within a matter of weeks, he was able to understand others, and within months, he had adapted to school life.
When it comes to facilitating assimilation, I would wager this sort of supportive approach is preferable to the haranguing attitude and double standards of Jindal and his ilk, who are possibly alienating the very populations they accuse of not integrating.
This screed is why both Arabs and Israelis try to shoot Al-Jazeera Nazis when they show their faces.
What is wrong with our government?
Because if they don’t, we will kill them all.
Bunny, are you sure those people are Muslims? There are many Arabic speaking Christians too.
I remember very shortly after 9/11 hubby went to a barber shop in Bayonne, NJ. He came home relieved the barber hadn’t slit his throat.
He was a Muslim hubby said, and what’s more the guy had a terrible toothache!
Some time later I went with him to this same barbershop (despite the toothache the guy had given hubby a great hair cut, no easy take without much hair to work with).
As soon as I walked in the place I realized they were Christians. They had a Bible behind the counter, a calendar with Saints on the wall.
They also had some wild old black and white movie playing on the TV. It was in Arabic (I think), not dubbed, taking place in I guess the late 40s or early 50s, it was all about some goings on at some kind of nightclub. I wish I could ever find out what that was about!
All, I can say is that LA is known as Tehran-gelsons because of the many people from Tehran, Iran.
When the Shah was deposed inIran, they took over our embassy for about a year. They are Muslims.
They don’t need to assimilate. They need to go home to the Middle East.
I don’t want them to assimilate. I want them to vacate. Leave. Return to whatever Godforsaken hellhole they slithered out of. I don’t want them in the country, assimilated or not. Just stay the f___ away!
That's it in a brief sentence. Americans don't really make a lot of assimilation demands, in language, dress, music, diet...but we do demand one thing: that the Constitution be the law of the land and supersede any additional legal codes that may come with the culture. Cultures where that is impermissible will not get along here. Cultures intent on subverting it, from Communism to Islam, will be resisted as the enemies they have proclaimed themselves.
Because Hasidic Jews and the Amish DON’T CUT OFF HEADS OF THOSE THEY VIEW AS DHIMMIS OR JUST DIFFERENT.
Al Jazeera has finally come out of its covering closet as a full-fledged Islamic jihadist propaganda operation against the West.
Because these other groups cited in the article, Hasidim, Amish and Mennonites, are not trying to covert others to their faith. They only seek the freedom to live quietly in their own ways. They do not force themselves on others.
The Balkans are a prime example of your point.
Try Dearborn Michigan or Patterson NJ.
Very simple. The author is apparently a progressive and therefore has deep mental issues. Progressives claim to demand tolerance, but are intolerant themselves. Muslims do not allow people to avoid assimilation inside Muslim countries. You must assimilate or pay an extra tax. And even then you are not allowed any of the things Muslims do not allow to be imported or manufactured locally. One must assume the enclaves will be the same. For example, try to practice catholicism in Saudi Arabia. Try to sell ham sandwiches in Dubai.
Does the writer have a good reason for these people to leave their own countries to come here? I don’t think so - at least not one that he/she is willing to share! It certainly wouldn’t be the reason we believe they come for. We’re not talking about American converts to islam as they wouldn’t need to assimilate - they already live here and speak the language.
“”All, I can say is that LA is known as Tehran-gelsons because of the many people from Tehran, Iran.””
You mean L.A., not LA - Louisiana... I agree about the number of Iranians there. They love the big house, the big cars, BIG FURNITURE in their homes. I worked with an Iranian gal and her home looked like a furniture store - BIG, HEAVY FURNITURE - dining room table that would fit at least a dozen (perhaps more) guests. Heavy, heavy drapes over the windows - garish colors. I left her home the night she said bin laden was the smartest man on earth - that was 2006..I spoke to my husband and told him it was time to leave and we did.
They shouldn't!
They are murderers. They should be rounded up, assessed and either deported or incarcerated.
Don’t want to assimilate? Then get you and your burka the f@ck out..!
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
-PJ
If you HATE the American lifestyle - with females voting, driving and wearing bikinis on the beach - go back to that hellhole you came from.
Full agreement here.
The whole point of coming to a new country is to fit in because the one you left behind didn’t work for you personally.
Problem is they go to places like Italy and have ruined the culture. They keep their bad habits and burkas and refuse to understand that until they are citizens, they are guests and should act accordingly.
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