Message from the Chief Rabbi of Belgium
A lot like the good old days:
There is a sense of fear in the streets, the Belgians understand that they too are targets of terror. Jews now pray in their homes [as opposed to at synagogues] and some of them are planning on emigrating,” Gigi said. “Since Shabbat the city has been paralyzed. The synagogues were closed, something which has not happened since World War Two. People are praying alone or are holding small minyanim [small prayer groups] at private homes. Schools and theaters are closed as are most large stores and public events are not permitted. We live in fear and wait for instructions from the police or the government,” he said.
I wonder, actually, what the Belgians thought would happen when they failed to culturally assimilate the Muslims they accepted into their country in such huge numbers. Assimilation is not a game; it means that newcomers should adopt the customs of their host country. It is paradoxical that espousing values of tolerance and freedom of religion in modern Europe encouraged countries to be sanguine about taking in so many immigrants who did not accept and adopt those values. The process has undermined the liberty and safety of all.
In the US, we used to do a lot better than that with assimilation. The melting pot may always have been somewhat of an unrealizable ideal, but we came fairly close to achieving it. A combination of factors has made things worse now, even in the US. The first is that we’ve lost pride in, and even knowledge of, our own culture and traditions and what makes the country so exceptional, and we’ve stopped insisting on transmitting them in the way we once did. For example, bilingual education may have sounded like a nice idea (although I never thought so), but it was always a bad one. The second factor is that Islam is a religion that’s more conceptually at war with liberty and tolerance than most modern religions. The third is that Islamic fundamentalism of a particularly strict and intolerant sort has become far more popular in recent decades, and has been purposely and aggressively spread by propaganda throughout much of the Muslim world.
I am still surprised the Europeans did this too. I always thought the idea was simply to destroy the US since it was seen as the big imperialist bogeyman for the left. But they’re doing it even in Europe… so something is wrong with my model… I am not getting it yet.
May I commend a lecture (1:13:00, give or take) from the point of view of political philosophy on the subject “Religion and the Commonweal” to all? The lecture was delivered by Leo Strauss to an audience at the Hillel House at Chicago University in 1963. I have made a transcript which I can make available to any who wish to have it (by e-mail): only say.
In Europe (as in our country for some time), a flagrant case of “willful blindness”
We used to believe in assimilation and take pride in our success in making Americans out of immigrants, or at least out of their children. Now we are all supposed to believe in multiculturalism, which is the exact opposite of assimilation. Multiculturalism has become nearly beyond criticism in polite society even though it is completely against our longstanding traditional attitude.
The replacement of assimilation by multiculturalism is a sign that our ruling class, you know who I mean, no longer identifies with the population, but regards itself as a separate interest, maintaining itself in power by the very old tactic of divide-and-conquer.
Europe’s Jews are starting to leave. Most European socialists have nowhere to go.
SLR,
Load enough guilt on someone and the only escape is suicide. The majority of Europe’s socialists are not communists, they are liberal leftists who are willfully blind to the truth that socialism inescapably devolves into communism. Denial of reality, that socialism is unsustainable both economically and by dint of human nature (producers will not provide ever increasing support for non-producers) is what allows that willful blindness.
I know this is a little off-topic, but I’ve been thinking about the difference between multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism, which is a term I haven’t heard used for many years. One difference is that multiculturalists insist on retaining barriers of identity, while Cosmopolitanism works toward eliminating all divisions by blending cultures and erasing national boundaries. Maybe that’s not what we want, but it’s interesting that the terms have shifted, isn’t it?
There is something in left-wing ideology that finds common ground with Islamic imperialism. The right-wing Jews are, once again, negotiable assets.
To be fair, with the State-establishment of a pro-choice cult in liberal societies, in principle, every human life is negotiable and disposable. Principles matter.
“In the US, we used to do a lot better than that with assimilation.”
A “Melting pot” works very well when the people “melted” were already pre-melted, like in having a common culture. And there is such a thing as a Western-European culture which shaped most of the successfully “melted” immigrants in the USA.
Now me I’m always a bit surprised that the USA thinks it invented the “melting pot”. I’m Flemish, what am I? I’m of German ancestry, sure, but what else. From our history a good input of French, Italian, Spanish, German, Walloon, Austrian, … (and who knows what came with the Spanish and the Austrians, a bit of everything I think), and so on.
Who for instance is Kowalski, probably Polish but he might be a German Rhinelander. Flemish, for sure, one my sister’ friends is a Kowalski, she has a Flemish mother and a Polish father, a soldier who stayed in Flanders after the war thanks to Fjodor Roosevelt’s “Uncle Joe”. Perhaps French? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Take Peter de la Billié¨re, a British general who commanded in the Gulf War, take General von Frané§ois, commander of the German First Corps in WW1, both of French Huguenot descent. And so on, and so on.
I rather think that the USA should reflect on what made the success of the “melting pot” and especially were it failed else it will just make the same mistakes as Europe did, or more correct, it will continue making the same mistakes as Europe. What saved the USA until know was geography and historic links.
BTW, it’s not simply a question of race. For example, there would be only temporary but no permanent problems with taking in Arab Christians. And there is the example of non-Europeans who succesfully integrated in the USA, like the Japanese, but they were already westernized, Filippinoes, same thing and mainly Christian to boot, Viernamese, same thing, … The main point being that none of those peoples came from a culture which was actively hostile to Western culture. People who themselves wanted to be become part of us.
“I wonder, actually, what the Belgians thought would happen when they failed to culturally assimilate the Muslims they accepted into their country in such huge numbers. ”
We didn’t “think”. The sixties and seventies were the golden years, a big party, “kumbaya” (also very popular in the USA, wasn’t it?)and so on. Of course, after that came the hangover. But anyway, there were people who thought it would turn into a disaster and who protested, they were called “racists”.
As for the USA’s opinion let me recycle part of a comment I made yesterday;
“What was the attitude of the USA at the time? Well, I remember reading an issue of “Newsweek” end of the 1980s. I believe it was called “The Changing face of Europe”. It still makes me angry when I think of it. If there were any problems with immigrants then it was because of “colonialism”, that is, the immigrants came from ex-European colonies and logically were therefore hostile. The European populations just had to lump it and, oh, stop being racist. Islam was not mentioned as a cause of course. But the example of the glorious American melting pot (a damnable lie) was used to show us, Europeans, how it was done. And the future was “bright”. In other words, the USA was (also) incredible naive and stupid and history did not begin on 9/11.”
” The first is that we’ve lost pride in, and even knowledge of, our own culture and traditions …”
That I have to agree with. When we ourselves don’t take any pride in our own culture how can we expect immigrants to respect us? I sometimes wonder what it would have been for Flanders and Belgium and Europe if the Catholic Church hadn’t collapsed under the “Spirit of Vatican II” (and ditto for the Protestant churches). I rather think that a substantial part of the immigrants would have converted but even more the massive immigration wouldn’t have happened anyway. It all comes back to the sixties, for Europe as well as for the USA.
The thing Islam has in common with the hard left is hatred of the West. It’s as simple as that.
SLR Says:
November 25th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
I am still surprised the Europeans did this too. I always thought the idea was simply to destroy the US since it was seen as the big imperialist bogeyman for the left. But they’re doing it even in Europe… so something is wrong with my model… I am not getting it yet.
%%%
For Heavens sake. Stop trying to analyse the world as rational.
What you’re dealing with is Moral Preening conducted by European elitists.
( One must toss in those who have pretensions that they are elites because of their moral and intellectual presumptions. )
You’re looking straight at it: it’s wholly addictive.
Moral preening is a DRUG.
It also is quite the balm for ‘True Believers.’
For what you’re looking at are TWO mass movements.
That of the hijrah — the Muslim invasion — Womb War.
That of the European “Doing Betterers.”
Their benchmark is America — which must be left in their wake as they race to win the Morally Superior Sweepstakes.
%%%
It absolutely GALLS European elites — the real McCoys — that they are currently second and third ranked powers — ever sliding down the greasy pole of international prestige and consequence.
EVERY international institution (of consequence to the West) since WWII sprung from America’s loins.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Challenge-Jean-Jacques-Servan-Schreiber/dp/0689102461
“The American Challenge” STILL haunts France, the center of European moral preening.
It’s not for nothing that it was published in Paris — and is still an essential read in French polytechnic.
&&&
In sum, the entire affair is not rational in the slightest.
It’s really subliminal rage.
&&&
It also galls Enarcs that America keeps draining the planet of polymaths, geniuses, and lesser talents.
At some infantile level, the French figured that they could begin to attract imported talent.
And, for a time, indeed this was possible. Yes, even from Francophone Africa — a population that has an average IQ of 70.
( The wonders of rotten pre-natal nutrition and consanguineous marriages to shockingly young girls. )
That population is so vast, that it still produces geniuses and creative talents.
However, the bottom of that talent barrel was too soon reached.
But, the system, the laxity, that permitted African and Algerian immigration was left in place.
The results are concentric ghetto rings all around French cities.
And the occasional car-bee-que.
Belgistan? Sharia Showdown Looms in Brussels
Note the date of the broadcast ….
By now, what do you expect?
As to the Zeropean Jews … vociferous multicultists.
What do you expect?
Wake up people ….
Zeropa has a serious problem:
Swedish Minister Weeps Before Cameras After Country Cracks Down on Migrants
The call of the harem ….
They should come here. The last thing I’m afraid f is armed Jews.
H3ll, as far as I’m concerned the more armed Jews the better.
I’m anti-terrorist, you see.
I’m also not much scared of armed black men.
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=80612
“For heroism while serving at Naval Station Norfolk Security Detachment, Norfolk, Virginia on 24 March 2014. While performing his duties as Chief of the Guard, Petty Officer Mayo was alerted to a suspicious individual walking towards USS MAHAN (DDG 72) on Pier 1, Naval Station Norfolk. Petty Officer Mayo pursued the individual up the brow of the ship while both he and the Quarterdeck watch-standers directed the individual to stop and provide identification. Failing to comply, the individual approached the Quarterdeck, attacked and disarmed the Petty Officer of the Watch. After boarding the ship, Petty Officer Mayo realized that the Petty Officer of the Watch no longer had control of her weapon. With complete and total disregard for his own personal safety…”
I mention this because, all the self-proclaimed non-racists don’t join the military. Which must mean I’m a racist. Yet, I don’t have a problem with -black man equipped with an M-16.
Hillary Clinton on the other hand does.
Matt_SE said:
The thing Islam has in common with the hard left is hatred of the West. It’s as simple as that.
Don’t forget the willingness, even gladness, to sacrifice anything and everything, including human lives for the sake of ideology, the complete rejection of reason in favor of Orwellian “truths” and a deep-seated dedication to lying to serve the ends of their ideology.
The hard left and Islam are barely distinguishable when you strip away the cultural artifacts… and they both emanate from the same place.
Neo writes, “Islam is a religion that’s more conceptually at war with liberty and tolerance….”
Also, socially exclusive and supremacist, and therefore politically imperialistic.
(It is difficult to generalize about Islam without either parsing too much – and into uselessness – or by being bold.)