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March 16, 2006
Muslims Keep Hammering at Western Civil Rights
The NY Times reported today that the Dutch developed a film meant to inform immigrants about what life is like in the Netherlands, a very liberal society, with nude beaches, gay rights and permissive drug laws. (NYT)
"People do not make a fuss about nudity," the narrator explains.
That lesson, about the Netherlands' nude beaches, is followed by another: homosexuals have the same rights here as heterosexuals do, including the chance to marry.
Just to make sure everyone gets the message, two men are shown kissing in a meadow.
The scenes are brief parts of a two-hour-long film that the Dutch government has compiled to help potential immigrants, many of them from Islamic countries, meet the demands of a new entrance examination that went into effect on Wednesday. In the exam, candidates must prove they can speak some Dutch and are at least aware of the Netherlands' liberal values, even if they do not agree with all of them.
Opponents of the tightening immigration policies have pointed to the film - a DVD contained in a package of study materials for the new exam - as an attempt by the government to discourage applicants from Islamic countries who may be offended by its content.
Critics are slugging away at the government, saying they are trying to stop Muslim immigration. This is clearly another attempt on the part of Muslims to look in the long term, immigrate into European countries, then get those countries to implement laws more in keeping with Sharia. The Netherlands has already had substantial problems with new immigrants in this regard.
Policy makers say they are concerned about an estimated 600,000 immigrants already here who do not speak proper Dutch. Poor housing and high unemployment among minority groups is contributing to ethnic tensions in some of the largest cities, where incidents of violence against Jews and homosexuals have raised new concerns.
We should all be aware that this is a major problem which will not soon disappear.
Posted by Chip Spear at March 16, 2006 1:11 PM
Comments
quaker Appleby parapets:linguistic:cooler abject Levine!Rudyard
Posted by: travelers at September 20, 2006 5:13 AM