(no subject)
Hmmm.... hopping around some sites to see who won what where up North, I came across a link to this rather interesting essay by Mark Steyn.
Since the president unveiled the so-called Bush Doctrine--the plan to promote liberty throughout the Arab world--innumerable "progressives" have routinely asserted that there's no evidence Muslims want liberty and, indeed, that Islam is incompatible with democracy. If that's true, it's a problem not for the Middle East today but for Europe the day after tomorrow. According to a poll taken in 2004, over 60% of British Muslims want to live under Shariah--in the United Kingdom. If a population "at odds with the modern world" is the fastest-breeding group on the planet--if there are more Muslim nations, more fundamentalist Muslims within those nations, more and more Muslims within non-Muslim nations, and more and more Muslims represented in more and more transnational institutions--how safe a bet is the survival of the "modern world"?
He makes some interesting points: Currently, Western societies are in decline, population-wise. Europe is dependent on (mostly Muslim) immigrants to sustain their social order, with all of it's extensive liberties and personal choices. Our societies (yes, even the United States under GWB :) ) have become highly tolerant of diverse minority populations, with their attendant personal practices, ideologies, and lifestyles. But what happens when a solid majority comes to believe differently? His take on the numbers provides either a gloomy forecast or a strongly-needed wakeup call. Either way, I think it's well-written and worthy of reading and consideration...
Since the president unveiled the so-called Bush Doctrine--the plan to promote liberty throughout the Arab world--innumerable "progressives" have routinely asserted that there's no evidence Muslims want liberty and, indeed, that Islam is incompatible with democracy. If that's true, it's a problem not for the Middle East today but for Europe the day after tomorrow. According to a poll taken in 2004, over 60% of British Muslims want to live under Shariah--in the United Kingdom. If a population "at odds with the modern world" is the fastest-breeding group on the planet--if there are more Muslim nations, more fundamentalist Muslims within those nations, more and more Muslims within non-Muslim nations, and more and more Muslims represented in more and more transnational institutions--how safe a bet is the survival of the "modern world"?
He makes some interesting points: Currently, Western societies are in decline, population-wise. Europe is dependent on (mostly Muslim) immigrants to sustain their social order, with all of it's extensive liberties and personal choices. Our societies (yes, even the United States under GWB :) ) have become highly tolerant of diverse minority populations, with their attendant personal practices, ideologies, and lifestyles. But what happens when a solid majority comes to believe differently? His take on the numbers provides either a gloomy forecast or a strongly-needed wakeup call. Either way, I think it's well-written and worthy of reading and consideration...