This video represents the sort of fear mongering I can really do without. I had it forwarded to me
as from an otherwise thoughtful person who saw it as "food for
thought." This is a problem, because it is complete nonsense. It connects
with many Americans, however, because there is so much ignorance and fear regarding
Islam. My first reaction was to wrinkle
my nose at such ignorance, rant at my wife for a few minutes, and move on to
something else. The problem is, when I
do that, there is that much more chance that it won’t be countered. It becomes that much more likely that
everyone who knows better will simply look down their noses at fools who would
believe such foolishness. No one can be
faulted for believing nonsense as long as those of us who know better fail to
identify it as nonsense. So, I offer up
the following brief response. It can’t
hurt.
There are a lot of
problems here, but the first one is that we get a twisted picture of the Muslim
presence in Belgium. Muslims are about
25% of the population of Brussels, but about 6% of the population of the
country as a whole. The Muslim population is centered in the
cities. The total Muslim population
of Europe is supposed to be a little over 8% by 2030. In Belgium it is
estimated to be just over 10% by 2030. So, the situation is not quite
what it was represented as being in the video.
Second,
the rate of growth of the Muslim population is falling. This is
because Muslim immigration is leveling off and the birth rates of Muslims in
Europe are falling. So, there
isn’t a population explosion on the horizon and talk of the “high Muslim
birthrate” is misleading at best.
Third,
the Muslims in Belgium, as is true of Muslims everywhere, are not a unified and
homogenous group of folks. The Muslims are mostly of Moroccans and Turkish descent,
with sizeable groups of Albanians,
Pakistanis and West-Africans. They
practice different strains of Islam, and have different beliefs and
cultures. They are highly
unlikely to be a unified force with a single agenda.
Fourth,
the focus in this video is on what they call a fringe group, but then go on to
use as a source for information on Islamic Law. This would
be like talking to someone like Fred Phelps about Christianity (Fred). It isn’t any fairer to treat this radical as a
spokesperson for Islam than it would to treat Fred Phelps as a spokesman for
Christianity.
Fifth,
the things that are said about Islam in here are mostly false. There is
not just one Sharia, just as there is not just one understanding of the role of
Sharia in the practice of Islam. The Sharia that has relevance in Western countries is centered on family
law, and does not involve chopping hands. It is the same sort of religious law practiced by
Jewish folks in Western countries. Islam is not fascism. If you want to claim it is, the
least you could do is define fascism. Islam is also not undemocratic. Islam is not any more inherently incompatible
with democracy than Christianity. Islam has a strong tradition of lay leadership, community input into
decisions, personal and unmediated interactions with God, and critical
thinking, particularly in the law.
Islam
is a religion. Within Islam there is
much diversity of ethnicity, race, ideology, and belief. Some Muslims are radicals bent on your
destruction. So are some Christians. Most Muslims are ordinary people trying to
support their families and enjoy their lives.
When you portray Muslims as radical fiends bent on conquering the world you
say more about yourself than you do about Muslims.
