Zach LarkinsEQUAL, NOT SPECIAL
Sometimes you look at a fire and see it only, while not realizing that the whole damn forest is on fire. There have been many stories about the Muslims in Quebec whining about how they are misunderstood and not shown the proper respect their religion demands. We tend to take these outcries as they happen and rarely put them together to see a greater pattern. These people are not terrorists. They are simply trying to live in a society that, most of them, it seems, are unfamiliar with. Quebec is taking a stand against the Muslims trying to change the Franco-phone way of life into something more to their liking, and except for that other great gift they've given us, the Montreal Canadiens, this is something we should all look at more closely.
Muslims deserve equal rights, not special rights. In a recent case, a little girl was not allowed to wear a hijab while playing soccer. Those were the rules and the referee enforced them. A big hue and cry went out that the decision was based on religious discrimination. Yet, even Muslims say the hijab itself is not a religious symbol. Another case involved a woman training to be a prison guard. She was told the hijab would have to go as it posed safety and security risks. Again, the cry of religious discrimination went up. She has since quit the program and gone on to bigger, and hopefully better, things, but the Canadian Islamic Congress refuses to let it go. Muslim advocacy groups, predictably, are now crying racism. "It is an ultimatum, remove the hijab or you're out of here," said the head of the Muslim Council of Britain. "That's not a security issue, this is much more a bigoted issue." First off, I don't know why the Muslim Council of Britain is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong, and second, when did a certain religion suddenly become a race? Are there not white Muslims, black Muslims or Asian Muslims? Give me a break.
Thankfully, the government stuck to its guns in the case of the prison guard. While the Muslim Council did eventually call for a compromise, the government refused. Unnecessarily rigid on the part of the government some might say, but this is not an isolated issue. The Western world is seeing Muslims struggling to fit in, to balance the norms of liberal democracies with the requirements of their faith. The best thing all societies can do is say, right from the beginning, there will be no compromise on liberal values. This woman is saying her faith demands she wear a hijab and an exception should be made. If that is the case, then she must adapt, not Quebec, not Ontario, not the rest of Canada for that matter. The Quebec government is standing by principle, saying yes to assimilation and integration, no to accommodation. For that, they should be applauded.
The Canadian Islamic Congress had called for "Smart Integration," a halfway measure between integration and segregation. What is smart is realizing the North American method of integration has worked for over a century. Canadians and Americans have welcomed and lived in relative harmony with immigrants since their founding. The sooner the Muslims drag themselves out of the 7th century and realize this, the sooner we can all work together to make our countries better. When one lives in a community that prizes identity and community solidarity, when one places importance on identity and heritage because this is the only way to survive, then one learns not to compromise.
It seems the Muslims, thus far, refuse to compromise in spite of their pretty words.
Sources: Jordan Michael Smith Quebec Right on Muslims Ottawa Sun.
Muslims deserve equal rights, not special rights. In a recent case, a little girl was not allowed to wear a hijab while playing soccer. Those were the rules and the referee enforced them. A big hue and cry went out that the decision was based on religious discrimination. Yet, even Muslims say the hijab itself is not a religious symbol. Another case involved a woman training to be a prison guard. She was told the hijab would have to go as it posed safety and security risks. Again, the cry of religious discrimination went up. She has since quit the program and gone on to bigger, and hopefully better, things, but the Canadian Islamic Congress refuses to let it go. Muslim advocacy groups, predictably, are now crying racism. "It is an ultimatum, remove the hijab or you're out of here," said the head of the Muslim Council of Britain. "That's not a security issue, this is much more a bigoted issue." First off, I don't know why the Muslim Council of Britain is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong, and second, when did a certain religion suddenly become a race? Are there not white Muslims, black Muslims or Asian Muslims? Give me a break.
Thankfully, the government stuck to its guns in the case of the prison guard. While the Muslim Council did eventually call for a compromise, the government refused. Unnecessarily rigid on the part of the government some might say, but this is not an isolated issue. The Western world is seeing Muslims struggling to fit in, to balance the norms of liberal democracies with the requirements of their faith. The best thing all societies can do is say, right from the beginning, there will be no compromise on liberal values. This woman is saying her faith demands she wear a hijab and an exception should be made. If that is the case, then she must adapt, not Quebec, not Ontario, not the rest of Canada for that matter. The Quebec government is standing by principle, saying yes to assimilation and integration, no to accommodation. For that, they should be applauded.
The Canadian Islamic Congress had called for "Smart Integration," a halfway measure between integration and segregation. What is smart is realizing the North American method of integration has worked for over a century. Canadians and Americans have welcomed and lived in relative harmony with immigrants since their founding. The sooner the Muslims drag themselves out of the 7th century and realize this, the sooner we can all work together to make our countries better. When one lives in a community that prizes identity and community solidarity, when one places importance on identity and heritage because this is the only way to survive, then one learns not to compromise.
It seems the Muslims, thus far, refuse to compromise in spite of their pretty words.
Sources: Jordan Michael Smith Quebec Right on Muslims Ottawa Sun.
