The experience of the West is that it always starts out this way. In very small numbers, Muslim populations generally confine their needs to their own community, and otherwise, are an unobtrusive presence. The Western European experience has shown that once the population hits the 5%+ mark, things change. The Muslim community, having reached critical mass, begins to make itself apparent. Blocking off streets for prayer. Demanding the labeling of food as halal or non-halal, or demanding that all food served in schools be halal. Importing radical imams from unstable regions of the world. Referring to the citizens of their host countries as kuffar who must accept the rule of Islam (you can even find adherents to such beliefs here on defence.pk). After this special treatment is rebuffed, the alienation begins. The Muslim population demands to be treated differently, and then when it is, individual Muslims begin to wonder why they are looked at differently from other citizens. Instead of reversing course and assimilating, the alienation deepens, the extremism enters, and then comes the terrorism.
This has been the experience in Western Europe.
These social tensions are real, and the balance to accommodate religious belief with the requirement of assimilation for social stability is a difficult task. Japan is far from grappling with these issues, so it is of course very easy for Japan to be accepting, since Islam is still little more than a curiosity in Japan. Japan did not benefit from tolerance of Aum Shinrikyo, and long before that, the Japanese Red Army. The lesson will be learned again, it would seem.
No traditional Nation state that had been built around shared ethnic identities are capable of absorbing ANY people deemed significantly different, so the focus on Muslims is a load of horse manure that merely serves a convenient political narrative. The fact is that Multiculturalism does not work for traditional nation states, that’s all. I know a bright Afghan girl in Germany who speaks several languages fluently - including German - has a Business degree in Marketing, was born into a Liberal family that do not wear head-coverings, but has been incapable of finding a simple job therein. When she finally did secure employment, it was in the island of Malta, surrounded by people who look more like her. In contrast, I’ve a cousin who was raised in Germany and has assimilated well, although with his height of 6.5, fair skin and thin brown hair, he can easily be mistaken for one of them. His Afghan wife too ccan be easily mistaken for an English woman.
Make no mistake about it that the European experiences of white Afghans as opposed to non-white Afghans differ remarkably.
The racism I am alluding to which is alive and well across Europe, contributes to alienation, social immobility, and at the end, the radicalization of pissed off youth who were born therein. I've personally met "friendly" Europeans who after discovering my ethnic origin change their tunes to such patronizing levels that it makes me want to puke. Even their pro-Multiculturalists can barely contain themselves. In fact, the only Europeans I’ve found capable of looking me in the eye as equals are those who needed something, like a job for instance or a business transaction. I don’t hide the fact that I quite dislike most EuroPeons, with the exception of Italians, Greeks, Southern French and Spaniards who although are just as racist, can’t even accept that I’m from Afghanistan.
Having said that, I would concur with you that BOTH Europeans and Japanese are incapable of assimilating Muslims, but mostly because of their own shortcomings, rather than solely on the part of Muslims. Do you suppose the following antics are as a result of Muslims?:
In Europe:
In Japan:
The only nation states that are indeed capable of assimilating Muslims as well as others, are either the United States, or any other that resemble your nation, hence Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I’ve known countless Afghans who’ve embraced and assimilated in these countries without a hiccup, but especially those living in densely populated cities across the United States, where there's immense diversity. Many among them have become flag carriers like any other American and feel offended when their “American exceptionalism” is criticised, which I enjoy tugging at when contradictions are apparent.
As for the real problems that do add to self-alienation among some Muslims even in the United States, it’s all about politics. As you can appreciate, an American Muslim would find it harder to fall in line with the media’s depiction of his ethnic kindred back in the motherland as a bunch of savages. Those caricatures may be enough for the average American to support wholesale bombing campaigns, but for those who can relate to them, it’s always different. I hate the Taliban, but when I see any of your troops mistreating any Afghan, my blood boils. But even still, this mind-set alone isn’t responsible for the radicalization of Muslims among you. What does contribute significantly is the added issue of professional failure on the part of leife's failures who meet with radical Mullahs that preach in Mosques. If preachers merely focused on leading prayers and motivating people to do good works, then there wouldn’t be a problem. However, given the lack of any formal schools of thought among Muslims that understand and embrace the Enlightenment, most Muslim preachers do indeed indulge in political language. To the stupid and the vulnerable, this is the spark for the fire of radicalism.
Given that in the United States, even hate speech is tolerated constitutionally (until the Anwar al-Awlaki episode that is) and that radicalism is available on the internet, then policing it is impossible. However, the solution is more Islam, not less. To counter the radicals, I would urge you to start listening to those of us who are indeed raising the lantern for the Islamic Enlightenment. To date, I‘ve seen no American say to me “hey, your ideas are worth pursuing, so let’s disco”. Instead, we’re rather conveniently dismissed as on the PR bandwagon of apologists for the Islamists, only pretending to be civilized.
Frankly, I’m sick of it.
Why don’t you just grow a dick and tell us that you’re more interested in those Muslims that help you draw the perfect caricatures for selling your wanton wars across the globe to the American people? After all, even Osama Bin Laden was less interested in what you do back home and more interested in what you are doing in his own home country and region. He might have been the perfect poster boy, but we both know that the US has always been more interested in the State(s) that have used him for plausible deniability when attacking the US.
