Brit PM: Multiculturalism A Failure

Update Feb. 9: Terrific column on this very topic in the WSJ today by Douglas Murray.

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Anti-multiculturalists everywhere must be cheering British Prime Minister David Cameron, who issued a scathing indictment of the practice in a speech today in Munich.

It's probably difficult for we Americans to relate to the problems many European nations face. They have a greater number of Muslim immigrants than we do — which is not in itself a bad thing — but a far greater percentage of European Muslims have been radicalized. And attempts to integrate them into the greater society have largely failed — either because they're alienated and don't want to assimilate or because their beliefs (e.g. the near-total the subjugation of women) are totally at odds with most Westerners.

 Cameron surmises:

As evidence emerges about the backgrounds of those convicted of terrorist offences, it is clear that many of them were initially influenced by what some have called 'non-violent extremists' and then took those radical beliefs to the next level by embracing violence. This is an indictment of our approach to these issues in the past. And if we are to defeat this threat, I believe it's time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past.

In other words, Brits have to confront this problem and do something about it, rather than practicing insanity, as defined by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So if you're a mulitculturalist and are offended by Cameron's words, just remember that European nations face a growing threat to their way of life and that the mitigation of this threat is undermined by those insist that no one culture is better than another.

If you love your country, as Cameron obviously does, then why is it considered bad form to state that emotion publicly and acknowledge that there are those who would like nothing better than to destroy it? We don't have that sort of problem yet in the United States, but if we did, I'd be firmly in Cameron's camp.

I love the quote from the website where I found the graphic above:

While our own cultural values are being eroded, we are bending over backward to placate those who would destroy our freedoms.

Muslim, Schmuslim!

Is President Obama a Muslim? Nearly one in five Americans — including my own mother — thinks he is, despite any compelling reason to believe so.

All available evidence indicates the president is a Christian. How do we know this? He says he is. His press spokesman says he is. And he went to the Trinity United Church of Christ for almost 20 years.

Count me as one of those who believes Obama is a Christian. I tend to take people at their word when they profess their faith. But the ironic thing about the kooks who insist Obama is a Muslim is that technically they're correct, although they probably don't even know it. As foreign relations scholar Edward N. Luttwak wrote when Obama was running for president:

As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.

But the real scandal is that presidents need to profess their faith in the first place. Dwight Eisenhower did not belong to a church at all until he ran for president, at which point his advisers told him he'd better pastor-up or risk the wrath of a religion-mongering electorate.

Despite his public utterances, I never really believed Ronald Reagan's attachment to faith. Asked why The Gipper and Nancy never went to church in Washington, the Reagans' flak said they were concerned about security. Huh?

I don't think Obama prays toward Mecca (not that, in Seinfeldian terms, there's anything wrong with that). But nor am I convinced that he's terribly religious. I find it hard to believe, as his spokesman insists, that Obama prays daily and "communicates with his religious advisor every single day."

One of my readers will no doubt ask: "Well, if you don't think Obama's religious, then why did he go to Rev. Wright's church for two decades?" Isn't it possible that he viewed membership at that church as a way of rubbing elbows with the Chicago movers-and-shakers who could help him forge a political career?

People talk about how great it is to have our first African American president. When do you think we will elect our first atheist president? Now that would be an equally impressive achievement.

That Was Then ...

I normally don't have much use for partisan pit bull Liz Cheney, but this quote given to Politico's Mike Allen is amusing:

"I guess President Obama was for the mosque before he was against it."

As I wrote two posts ago, Obama got it right the first time on Friday. Then when he corrected himself Saturday, he tried to have it both ways and just wound up looking spineless. Good thing he wasn't photographed windsurfing in The Gulf. That would be fatal for 2012!

Build It But ...

Is it possible to agree with two people on opposite sides of an issue?

President Obama has finally weighed in on the proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, saying religious freedom "includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

How true. It is simply un-American -- even unconstitutional -- to say to a group of people, "We're not going to allow you to build your place of worship because we don't like your religion." If there's criminal activity in that mosque, then it should be investigated and prosecuted, if warranted, but denial of a building permit based on religious faith would be an abomination.

To my conservative friends, how you would like it if national efforts were made to block construction of an Evangelical church around the corner from a clinic where a Christian zealot had murdered an abortion doctor? Hey, if you like religious discrimination in the case of the NYC mosque, it could be your religion slated for persecution somewhere else.

On the other hand, we have Rep. Peter King, who said "President Obama is wrong. It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero."

King is correct that it's in poor taste for these Muslims to build the mosque so close to a place where Muslims murdered thousands of Americans. As to whether it's deliberately provocative, as a 9/11 victims organization has charged, I cannot say.

My solution is similar to one recently put forth by Gov. David Paterson, who wants to give the Islamic group some state-owned land elsewhere in the city. Come on, governor, you can't just give the group a government-owned lot (that might also be unconstitutional). But you could propose an arms-length deal that would still be too sweet to resist.

As Jeff Jarvis tweeted recently (and I am paraphrasing), "I believe construction of the mosque should be permitted but am also mindful that the 9/11 plot was hatched inside of one."