ChicSunTimes

Britain misjudges its Muslims' loyalties

November 6, 2001

BY JOHN O'SULLIVAN

For the last decade or so, multiculturalism has been the reigning doctrine in Britain almost as much as in America. A steady stream of official statements from New Labor ministers and think tanks have poured scorn on traditional British customs and institutions, from the House of Commons to the Changing of the Guard. Prime Minister Tony Blair has calculatedly upstaged the queen on several ceremonial occasions.

In place of this old-fashioned and hidebound society, New Labor ministers sought to "re-brand" the country as a modern, meritocratic and multicultural country that valued ethnic diversity. Today, with a war looming, Blair suddenly wants to draw on the reserves of traditional British patriotism. In doing so, however, he has learned something important about multiculturalism: Not everyone regards Britain as their home or as the nation to which they owe allegiance.

In particular, an unknown number of British Muslims has volunteered to journey to Afghanistan and fight on the side of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban against, among others, British soldiers. Last weekend, four British Muslim volunteers were killed in Afghanistan when U.S. bombs hit their building. And British television screens have been full of pictures of Muslim demonstrations against the Anglo-American bombing campaign, apparently in some Middle Eastern setting which, on closer examination, turned out to be Luton--a small industrial town about two hours north of London.

When questioned, the demonstrators--some immigrants but some born in Britain--deny any disloyalty to queen and country. For they do not regard themselves as "British Muslims" but merely as Muslims living in Britain. Their allegiance is to Islam, they say.

Not all Muslims in Britain share these views, of course. Still, the evidence suggests that a very sizeable percentage of Britain's 2 million Muslims cherishes separatist and anti-British sentiments. A Sunday Times survey of 1,170 Muslims showed 40 percent thought that bin Laden was justified in waging war on the United States, another 40 percent thought that Britons were justified in fighting with the Taliban and 68 percent thought it was more important to be Muslim than British.

This survey was taken outside mosques after prayers and so probably exaggerates the number of Muslims favorable to bin Laden and the Taliban. Almost all religious people would place their God above their country. A better-phrased question would have asked if Islam and Britishness were compatible--and many more than 14 percent would assuredly have answered yes.

Even with these qualifications, however, the survey suggests that many British Muslims live in cultural enclaves that in significant ways are detached from the rest of British life. They live in Britain, but they are not of Britain. They send their children to Pakistan to contract arranged marriages--not only because that will allow their new spouses to enter Britain legally but also to ensure that Muslim culture is transmitted to the next generation by minimizing the risk of mixed marriages.

And that is, after all, one aspect of multiculturalism--namely, the preservation of an immigrant culture against the pressures of assimilation. It simply never occurred to New Labor ministers that the cultures being preserved by it might be even more hidebound and traditional, and less liberal, than the traditional British culture that they saw as an obstacle to a "modernization" and their own superficial cultural egalitarianism.

Well, they understand it now. Britain's Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has announced that the government will shortly introduce programs not only to ensure that immigrants learn the English language but also to insist on their mastering the knowledge and qualities that go to make up "Britishness."

That is, of course, almost an American way of becoming British. Countless immigrants to the United States went to night school to learn how to become an American; the British until now have assumed that Britishness was something you simply picked up by living in the country long enough. And there is, in fact, merit in both approaches.

What both nations are about to learn, however, is that neither method will work unless the immigrant wants to assimilate to his new country's customs and to become its loyal citizen. Without that desire, he will remain a foreigner--and so will his children and grandchildren. As Blair is discovering under the pressure of war, multiculturalism is a philosophy that encourages them to do exactly that.

November 6, 2001

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Answers

Like a lot of people I have strong feelings about this topic. If you do not feel loyalty to the country in which you have chosen to make your home, then get the h*ll out.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

I always felt torn between loyalty to two countries mainly, I think, because I came here as someone's wife, not as an immigrant per se, but have recently discovered my first loyalty is to the US!

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

P.S. The Hungarian was in a similar position, having come here as someone's minor daughter, but has also recently discovered the same thing I did :) I should also add that we NEVER put up with anyone from a foreign country who bitches about the American way of life and we tell them, if it's that bad, to go back where they came from. We do, however, indulge in bitching about various politicians. . .

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Oh, I don't think those Muslims are disloyal to Britain at all. They just would love to have Britain "remade" into a country/government that was based on the teachings of Islam. But heck, what's the difference between that and any strongly religious group anywhere? The deeply religious often want to change the laws and ways of their governments to reflect their own beliefs. That's why we had the separation of Church and State written into our Constitution.

As far as love it or leave it goes, that never goes with me. When we look deeply into any government we will find behaviors that upset us. Are we not to speak out about such things? And when we do speak out about them are we unpatriotic? Anyway, the issue in Britain is a strange one. The royalty isn't really "Britain" anymore, just a figurehead position. And the government, or at least the part run by Blair, ticks off a lot of folks, including I think, one of our own best posters here. ;-)

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

bitching about government behaviours is normal for anyone anywhere. But in some countries you have to do it quietly or your head is removed, or worse!

Wanting to overthrow the government and rewrite the constitution and make this a religious government is different. That will not happen while we are still here to defend it, shitty as it is... LOL

USA is a hodge-podge of various lifestyles, living together and getting along. At least, that was the intention. When that is threatened by one lifestyle, the rest should stand up and speak out. So far, the plan has worked.

Now, if you want to get into the underside of it all, there may be a small minority that is controlling events so that a certain result appears. If this is so, we won't know it, just suspect it, and the result when it happens will either be accepted or those who oppose it will die.

No one said life was easy on this planet, just 'mostly harmless,' as in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And that was a revision from 'harmless.'

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Both the Hungarian and I have, on occasion, encountered adults from abroad who have come over here to work and make more money than they could in their home countries. They plan to go home after several years, buy the house they couldn't afford, the car that was out of reach, the boob job so easily available here. They then bitch about the American system, not realizing it is that very system that permits them to make more money here. We point this out and gently suggest that they bugger off back home, if they don't like the system, and settle for a lower standard of living. We shall continue to do so, feeling that such people are parasites and users.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Old Git, I do agree with what you just said. I have seen that happen many times with people who have come here for just a short time to earn some good money. One time I was talking with a woman who was working here but held onto her citizenship from one of the European countries that is heavy into socialism. She planned to make a bunch of money here, then go back home and take advantage of the socialized medicine, etc, etc. But in the meantime, she was complaining about how badly we treat our poor people here.

I suggested that she start taking 25% of every pay check and giving it to some family she could pick out in the poor section of town, since she would be giving up at least that much of her pay to the socialist system back at home. She just looked at me and said that was a screwy idea and wouldn't solve the problem at all. I said it sure would solve the problem for that one family she chose to support. She rejected the whole idea. Talk is cheap, as they say.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001