On paper and in practice, religious Islam is the antithesis of all things Western. If so, why do Western governments prioritize immigrant Muslims over local citizens?
Nearly everything about Islam stands in opposition to accepted behavior and rules in the West. Below are just a few points associated with Sharia-compliant Islam:
- No tolerance for homosexuality
- Women needing to fully cover themselves
- Honor killings
- Women being considered as chattel with beatings allowed
- Multiple wives
- Five prayers per day
- Halal food
- No alcohol
- Dislike of dogs
- Islamic law over local rules
If one were to look at the list above and put a minus sign before each entry, that would be a good description of our modern, not very religious Western citizens. They have enormous tolerance for homosexuality and trans, women are equals in every way, there is no polygamy or acceptance of "honor killings". Most Westerners probably do not pray, at least not formally, have no external limitations on food beyond doctor’s orders or a diet, and drink now and then. As to dogs, many have taken them or cats in place of children.
So if pretty much everything about Islam is so foreign to Western society, why has there been tilting of the law in favor of Muslims? In England, the grooming gangs got a pass. Mark Steyn brings the shameful case of a freelance journalist manhandled and arrested by Montreal’s finest for the crime of filming a recent pro-Hamas rally. She did not engage the protesters or violate any law. But just as Ontario police provided Muslims coffee during a similar protest in the past, the Montreal police now exist to protect anti-Canadian Muslims from the locals. One sees British police arresting native Brits for showing any distaste for pro-Hamas rallies or displays of Palestinian flags. Laws have been passed that make it a crime to burn the Koran or insult the Muslim prophet. There are no blasphemy laws for Judaism or Christianity. Why is the West twisting itself into a pretzel to accommodate a religion whose values and practice are ostensibly an anathema to all things Western? Many Muslims in the West have stated clearly that they want to replace their host governments with a caliphate.
I don’t know if there is a single answer or if there are multiple reasons for allowing no-go zones or imported Muslims to threaten and harass locally-born Jews and Christians. Maybe some of the behavior is based on fear: one does not have to invoke Charlie Hedbo to understand that playing hardball has its risks. Some of it may be due to historical guilt over conquest of Muslim lands: while in the past we ruled over their ancestors, today we’ll make it up by giving them whatever they want, including large public spaces for prayers. Maybe some of it comes from their attempt to practice what they preach: we claim to be an open society that is not bigoted so we can’t act otherwise, even with those who hate our culture. Let's prove it by importing people who hate us, do not integrate, and want to get rid of our government and replace it with their own. Maybe some behave this way because of the Holocaust: we didn’t help those Jews, but we’re not going to make that mistake again with a different minority group generally called "refugees"!
However, one possible reason for the tolerance of attitudes and actions that are fundamentally opposed to Western concepts may be a form of longing. Why do we watch top athletes in almost any sport—from golf to track to football and basketball? Sure, part of it is entertainment. But there is also a realization that we will never be that great. Watching Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps or Tiger Woods was a thrill, in part because we saw people who dedicated their lives to their chosen professions. If Christianity were still strong in the West, it would never have tolerated the mass entry of a foreign religion, especially when its practitioners have stated that they don’t want to be like their hosts. But with the decline in religion, Europeans are somewhat in awe of seeing people who actually believe in something. The immigrants are stringent in their dress, food requirements, daily prayers—they are what Europeans of the past were. It is no surprise that in countries where Christianity is strongest, there has been the most significant resistance to the mass import of Muslim immigrants. It is not out of religious bigotry. Instead, it stems from an understanding that the nature of their countries is at stake, and they refuse to abandon their history and values, which they still hold dear.
I imagine that many in England, France, Holland and Sweden did not expect that mass immigration would come with the possibility of the end of their countries as they have known them for hundreds of years. Much of the immigration policy that did not demand full integration came top-down, with the people in towns and cities being the ones who had to deal with the decisions made in Whitehall, the Elysée Palace, and the like. Did Brits expect mass protests in favor of a terror organization when they welcomed Muslim illegal aliens from the Middle East? Did Sweden expect car bombings and grenade attacks against the locals? Did France expect parts of Paris to resemble Islamabad more than the City of Light? Probably not, but the game is binary: either force integration and make your visitors like you or lose the country you had.
It has always been a mystery how “Trans for Palestine” could march with people who would send their friends off of tall buildings. Explaining to our enlightened lefty friends that Muslims find everything about them an abomination falls on deaf ears. Nothing trumps ideology—often until it is too late. The Muslims are wisely biding their time and using their lefty friends to add heft and legitimacy to their anti-Western efforts. Once they have enough power and people, they will not need these useful idiots and will dump them in a heartbeat. Only then will the compliant left realize that it has been played. By that time, it will be too late.