Islam in Germany
September 7th, 2007Apart from some Christian fundamentalists, both established Evangelic and Catholic Church are not officially Islamophobic in Germany. Comparing to the other European religious institutions, they are milder vis à vis the Muslims living in Germany.
As for the matter of fact, when last year the German conservative Pope made his remarks about Islam, he did not directly attack Islam, but quoted a history which later he had to alleviated the tone.
In a speech in which he quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam. “The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war,” the Pope said. “He said, I quote, ‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,”‘ he quoted the emperor as saying.
The Pope, influenced by some acts of Islamists, did not however condemn the states that sponsor terrorists; he did not mention that Islamists kill many civilians and even more in Islamic countries than in the West.
Although the Pope reflects some animosity in the West to whatever is linked to Islam, but he is aware of the delicacy of the issue. He was not reflecting the judgment of most western people over the depth of crimes committed by Islamists and Islamist states. Benedict is careful not to mention about many crimes of political Islam, including many thousand executions of the IRI.
As a smart religious leader of his stature, he knows that religious crimes are not only linked to Islam, but also to the past Christianity and some right-wing Christian fundamentalists.
Benedict XVI is a defender of traditional Catholic values and has always emphasised their importance in the survival of Western civilisation. For Europeans, especially for the most of his German compatriots, he is considered as a right-wing conservative and even a fundamentalist Pope.
His controversial Nazi background shows his conscious ideological background — the pontiff was voluntarily enrolled in the Hitler Youth in 1941 when the Catholic Church was still approving Nazi ideology.
Benedict’s views at least in one point are fundamentally different from his predecessor, John Paul II who was more focused on reflecting a western policy of anti-communism during the Cold War. Instead Benedict is more affected by the appearance of political Islam which is partially a result of the same Cold War.
German coalition Government of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) is not after all an unfriendly institution to Muslims in Germany. CDU in not alwys in harmony with its twin Christian Social Union (CSU) of Bavaria, which is more conservative. CSU matches only the most traditionalist and Christian culture of this part of Germany. Even Angela Merkel, with a background of East) German secularism, could not come up to form her cabinet with some arch conservative leaders of CDU like Guenther Beckstein, the interior minister of Bavaria, who is also famous for his unfriendly declarations about Muslims.
As an Iranian-born German, I acknowledge that veiled or bearded Muslims are not very welcome to Germany. However, as a non-Muslim, and a member of this society, I do not feel being pushed into marginality. Germany, like many other western capitalist societies, knows economic crises, in each peak of them, we witness the unchained growth of xenophobia, especially targeted to the non-integrated Muslim communities.
Apart from parties or institutions with Christian background, there is another mainstream challenging Islam or its non-integrated culture in Germany. In this perspective, I agree with most Germans and German secular institutions that political Islam and all its institutions– but also its New-Nazi friends in Germany– must be banned in Germany.
A ban of Islamism in Germany is widely requested. It is by no means an exaggeration to classify this demand as racist or xenophobic or a violation to the world religion freedom. The German government is expected to effectively help Muslims to better integrate into society while protecting them against blind attacks of right-wing elements. Otherwise the Islamists will gain more ground and can play a more active role in the Muslim community.
Although, Islamic institutions around the world like mosques, Islamic councils, and Taweed centres are not officially tied to political Islam, but they are suspicious places feeding Islamist activities and recruiting new generation of Islamic terrorists in the West. It is demanded that for the sake of all society, these institutions be under restrict scrutiny.
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Another good and sensible analysis. Western society need to be more cynical about the design of the Islamists, in which most Muslims would ultimately put their support. Be careful now although its quite late.
MA Khan
MA KHAN
Thank you for your comment.
Germany without “Gastarbeitre” (gust workers) could never be rebuilt. By the end of 70th several millions workers were recruited, a great number from Turkey and other Islamic countries.
Thanks to them,only to them, Germany rebuilt the ruined infrastructures.
Legal immigration also bring the fact that in a capitalist economic system, labour markets becomes not only cheaper, but also more flexible: in this case, they adjust to the presence or absence of foreign workers.
If gust workers are readily available, economy can construct, product, and serve the native population.
All the period of German boom was at its peak until the end of 70th before the non-rebirth of political Islam which hatched out with the advent of the Islamic Republic in Iran.
Political Islam contaminated a great part of region and now disturbs the process of co-existence of Muslim communities in the West.
I am sure that the process is a mutual task of both sides; western authorities and immigrants are both equally engaged. Furthermore, for such a process, it is never late.
The United States trained and recruited Muslim extremists to fight its proxy war against the Russians. When the Soviet Union was defeated, this resulted in its break up, making the United States the number one super power in the world. In the meanwhile, millions of Afghans had been killed and the infrastructures had been destroyed.
Isreal had supported Hamas as a rival to the secular Yasser Arafat.
Here is an article about the long history of U.S. and British support and collaboration with Muslim extremists. http://www.antiwar.com/orig/oneill.php?articleid=9615
I’ll quote part of it here:
I like peace but not pacifism
As you said Ben Laden, like many Mullahs in the Iranian history, has been used than rebuffed by the world superpowers.
Ben Laden is not a superannuated terrorist guru. He was it too when he was the less harmful choice for the US.
But he has been so extreme that could not be adopted and rewarded by the mastr like any chubby Sheik.
Anti-war movements must also clearly reply to a case when a totalitarian regime like Saddam or the IRI do not give up the illegitimate power. In this view, there are pro-IRI anti war stooges, ASIMIC; they want absolute peace and protection for the bellicose Mullahs. They never mention the least report about the permanent human rights violation by these Mullahs, but exagerated reports against warning eventual foreign attacks on Iran, read Mullahs.
I am not pacifist, I prefer peace, but not under any circumstance.
Jahanshah Rashidian, wrrote, “I am not pacifist, I prefer peace, but not under any circumstance.”
Yes, while you living in Germany you have no problem with bombing Iran, but if you were living in Iran you would not like to have your home and family bombed.
Human rights did not develop in Western countries by having a foreign power preaching human rights to it while having bombs being dropped on it. Human rights developed within the countries by the people living in those countries.
By the way Germany was one of those countries that was selling Saddam Hussein all sort of weapons (including chemical weapons)when he was committing his worst atrocities. I wonder how many Germans went on trial for their war crimes?
Please do not get me wrong! I just made a subtle difference between peace and pacifism or in an ideological and political terminology, I made a difference between an “honourable” peace and “submission”.
Pacifists are absolutely against any war in any circumstances. Pacifism in a literal sense does not forcibly reach the ideals. A pacifist would preach peace as a moral gospel,but not as a final solution.
So, pacifism has little sense if you want to free your people in any price.
No matter where I live or do, I have my steady convictions. I have always said no military attack and no blind economic sanctions on Iran. However, Iranians have right to free their country by any means, including by means of non pacific self-defence.
True, Germany and the West use any war to sell off their weapons. Not only to Iraq, but also Germany had until 1988 an amount of 45 billions DM due to the weapon sales to Iran over. I condemn any sales to belligerent countries.
Human rights, regardless its origin, must stand above any pririty and ideology, otherwise we lose the sense of freedom, as abused and misinterpreted by circumstances.
I want to add something:
In Germany there is a huge fear of the wrath of militants. So “appeasement” is usually the modus operandi when dealing with issues like islamism – but also when dealing with other groups, like neo-nazis or pro-communist/leftist militants. In this environment it is exceptionally hard for those who feel oppressed by these groups. Be it the secular pakistani muslim who is harassed in the university cafeteria by islamists, or the slacker who is beaten up by skinheads in a random east-german town. Usually the victim pays the price. While the typical Germans looks away and mumbles “Das gibts bei uns doch nicht” (this doens’t happen here).
Dwave
Any extremist current has initially roots in some social problems. When some Nazi in Israel “defend” Israeli nationalism, or a bunch of non-white Nazi of South Americans self-identified “Aryans”! We have an odd phenomenon in this mass mess attitude. It shows something is wrong with the society.
It is worse when a nationalist or “patriotic” state is at stake. The Nazi cowards who attacked a German dark citizen are as guilty as the state that does not effectively react, plus, German citizens who “look away and mumble” are guily as well—Unterlassene Hilfeleistung.
Homophobia…muslims immigrants in Germany are very homophobics. This point concerning muslim intolerance towards homosexual people. The neo-nazi youth are very intolerant of the Muslims immigrants as same as the Muslims are very intolerant of gays..Same shit…This my opinion…
I take it that you’ve never been to the American South.
Evangelical Christians are just as homophobic as Muslims are. Ever heard of a gay man named Matthew Shepard that was beaten and tied up to a fence left to die in Wyoming nearly 10 years ago?
another anti-islam web