Posted on 10/20/2010 9:11:40 AM PDT by NCjim
Multiculturalism has completely failed.
That’s the assessment of Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, in a recent speech before the youth wing of her conservative political party, the Christian Democratic Union. The idea that disparate peoples can “simply live side by side and live happily with each other” has failed, she said. “Utterly failed.”
Merkel insisted that Germany still welcomes immigrants, particularly those whose high-tech skills make them valuable workers. But she conditioned that welcome upon a warning: “We feel bound to the Christian image of humanity — that is what defines us. Those who do not accept this are in the wrong place here.”
To put that another way: Muhammad, go home.
Merkel’s words have yet to gain much traction on this side of the Atlantic, but they have roiled the political landscape in Germany, which — like much of Europe — is struggling to manage an influx of immigrants of Arabic origin and Islamic faith. The U.S. State Department reports that Germany is now home to 3.5 million Muslims.
So there are mosques where there were not before — along with women in scarves, people with foreign accents, ghettoized poverty and a fear that some core aspect of the nation’s character, its very “German-ness,” is under assault.
Last year, the head of Germany’s central bank published a book, “Germany is Destroying Itself,” arguing that the influx of Muslims was lowering the nation’s intelligence. He was censured and fired, but the book was popular and the country seemed to agree with its thesis. The Guardian newspaper of London reports that, according to one recent poll, a third of all Germans believe their country is being “overrun” by foreigners.
And if Merkel’s declaration has received scant notice in the United States, that will likely change soon. Her words will surely be manna to the constellation of xenophobic bloggers and pundits for whom it is an article of faith that Muslims — and Hispanics — are agents of ruin. They would laud her contention that multiculturalism is unworkable and undermines national character.
Of course, America isn’t Germany. America’s mainstream culture is already made, and has always been made, of other cultures. So that if apple pie is quintessentially American, well, so are burritos, borscht, sauerkraut, paella and sweet potato pie.
That said, proponents of multiculturalism should concede this much: It is not easy, being diverse. To the contrary, it’s a challenging thing.
Diversity raises questions that are thorny and defiant of easy answers. From the Muslim woman whose religious sensibilities required her employer, Disneyland, to design a uniform with a head covering, to arguments over a schoolbook some American Cubans thought painted too rosy a picture of that island, from debate over whether and how to dismantle the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” restricting gay service in the military, to arguments over how and when Español “es hablado” in public, managing diversity often means managing a delicate balance between accommodation and coercion, between expectation and fear, between reverence for what was, then, and sensitivity to what is, now.
The only thing worse than living in a nation that seeks to achieve that balance is living in one that does not.
So with due respect to Germany, it is impossible not to consider the source here. We should all be alive to the grim historical resonance of a German chancellor declaring the idea of disparate cultures living peaceably side by side a failure. What, after all, is the alternative? Shall Germany officially declare itself a nation with room enough for one culture only? For the record, that’s been tried already. And it didn’t work so well, either.
Turks in Germany will be offended by the author’s claim they are “Arabic.”
Briefly looking through her comments in German, it seems to me she's addressing the fact that many muslims don't strive to learn German and that they have to follow German law, regardless if it is based on a culture they don't identify with.
That's the point of her multicultural statement. It's not going to work here. Basically, when in Rome...
There is another extreme. Where I live, anyways, the eastern Europeans (Russians & Poles, mostly) all try to speak German. I even heard an eastern European mother alone with her child in the store speaking to him in German the other day.
Germans will accept those of islamist heritage. Merkel used the high profile example of Turkish descent Oezil from the national soccer team, who has accepted the German environment and strove to assimilate.
Not speaking German, which means your not going to be employed and on welfare, and using sharia as an excuse for criminality are what is really pissing people off, IMHO.
Merkel simply addressed that.
It isn’t surprising that people who believe in and love Western civilization would tire of people who are intent on destroying what we have. Especially when those seeking our destruction have done little in the history of their philosophy but bring poverty, oppression, and brutality from their religious tyranny. Why would we want what Muslims have, and why should we sit back and watch them destroy what we have? Islam is evil.
Hey what a novel idea! According to Pitts and all the the mutitcults White Westerners have no right to exist. Only if we allow for invasion and the destruction of our cultures is it all good. GFY Pitts!
Multiculturalism is a failure. I’m glad Germany has recognized this. I hope we do, too.
Not all of us share that view.
What do we know that Merkel doesn't?
Leonard Pitts is an absolute Liberal POS. F him. Merkel is right. The same could be said for those who refuse to assimilate in this country. They need to go back from where they came from.
This is the typical tongue lashing of a coward.
Blame the Germans for the failure of islam?
No, they were welcome, given jobs, housing & a society of tolerance that asked them to assimilate into the fabric of Germany. That’s all.
Instead, the parasites built a mound of destruction within the foundation of Germany, eating everything it could consume until it came out from the walls demanding more from those intolerant Germans.
islam has proven throughout time that it is a destroyer of worlds & now it’s inside the Western World.
DDT is the order of the day to save tomorrow.
That is some seriously racist political cartooning there.
Danziger also missed the polls where over 80% of current Germans now refuse to be bashed in the head with the shame hammer over the actions of their grand and great grand parents.
In the end... fools like Danziger make it easier for all Germans to laugh off any opinions of the US East Coast elites...
Bump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91u-j1po9o&feature=related
I hope they have better luck with the Muzzies than we have with our illegals here.
If all the German women look like this, I think I’ll move over there and displace a Muzzie!
If the liberals can’t shove this bs down the German’s throats then they are about to get the biggest ass kicking they’ve ever received across the Western world.
I don’t have that much of a problems with Muslims moving into the West as long as they understand some things will be frowned on and they will have to assimilate and their children might want to move away from their parents culture.
Also Anti-Semitism even with the actions of that retard Soros is better dead and buried.Coming into Germany and beating up Jews,just because of Israel,isn’t going to endear Muslims to anyone.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.