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July 19, 2005

I don't get it

Mark Steyn in today's Telegraph:

It has been sobering this past week watching some of my "woollier" colleagues (in Vicki Woods's self-designation) gradually awake to the realisation that the real suicide bomb is "multiculturalism"... The London bombers were, to the naked eye, assimilated — they ate fish 'n' chips, played cricket, sported appalling leisurewear. They'd adopted so many trees we couldn't see they lacked the big overarching forest — the essence of identity, of allegiance. As I've said before, you can't assimilate with a nullity — which is what multiculturalism is.

But how can multiculturalism be the enemy when it's only one culture — radical Islam — that's trying to destroy us? I have many, many qualms about the ethnic homogeneity in which some immigrants to Canada live their lives, especially (on a selfish note) when those immigrants are highly qualified professionals toiling away in menial labour. But only the minutest fraction of such people, and all are radical Muslims, are bent on destroying my way of life. Why drag a flawed but peaceful and successful orthodoxy through the mud when the real enemy is so obvious and easily identifiable?

Posted by Chris Selley at July 19, 2005 11:51 PM

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Comments

What's not to get. The right has adopted a rigid ideology and they spend their time drawing imaginary connections between world events and what they believe.

Posted by: Robert McClelland at July 19, 2005 11:19 PM

Few would disagree that the enemy is radical Islam -- what would you call that, uniculturalism? -- but radical Islam certainly doesn't remain that "obvious and easily identifiable". Witness the flummoxed neighbours who knew the London bombers: who had no idea these kids were the terrorist type. One of them even worked with disabled children, which isn't really a typical career move for a bomb-toting son of Mohammed.

Posted by: Sean at July 20, 2005 04:53 AM

I'd agree somewhat with your point that since it's one particular culture - radical Islam - that's causing most of the problems, and since even societies that have rejected multiculturalism in favour of assimilation (like France) have problems with that virulent strain of extremism, that multiculturalism shouldn't take all the blame here.

But I'm not sure it should take none of the blame, either. What are the consequences of not integrating immigrants sufficiently well, of tacitly encouraging them to keep their own cultural norms intact even where they conflict with established Canadian ones? I'd argue that the Molotov cocktails thrown at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto during the Kosovo bombing campaign are an extreme example of the drawbacks of multiculturalism.

I'm pro-immigration, but I remain concerned about the unintended consequences of this policy.

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