[LeGrande]

I will spell it out for you :)

Tradition is a fluid and ever changing concept. Some cultures sacred values are crap to others. Our traditions and values have changed dramatically over the years and not all of them have been positive. Some of our traditions and "rights" are killing us, literally, abortion, low birth rates, socialism, etc. to name a few. Basing your morals on tradition makes even less sense than trying to understand why we have the traditions and morals in the first place.

Instead of attacking each other because of ignorance, maybe we should try and figure out solutions before we follow Europes path into doom. Our number one problem is how to increase our birthrate. For some reason prosperity is almost always linked to a declining birth rate, we need to figure out how to break that link.

It could be that the muslim culture will beat out our culture simply by out breeding us. Then what will our precious values and morals amount to?

[steve-b]

For some reason prosperity is almost always linked to a declining birth rate, we need to figure out how to break that link.

Breaking natural adjustment mechanisms is stupid. In this case, it is clearly necessary for the birthrate to adjust downward once individual resource consumption, energy use, etc rise to levels characteristic of a mature economy (otherwise, the various bleak forecasts of environmentalists become fact rather than Chicken Little doomcrying). The fact that it happens naturally is fortuitous, as it avoid the need for government intrusion upon the family (which would also be incurred by any social engineering efforts to "break the link" of natural adjustment).