Muslim Identity in the West

Submitted by Hans (United States), Oct 11, 2007 at 13:13

I live in New England. We've always had immigrants here, but most eventually blended in with the locals and to some extent, adopted area traditions, etc, even while keeping their respective religions and home-customs. This seems to be different with Muslim immigrants and some others, who cling to their own ways, set up "parallel" communities in my community, and basically change the look of where I live. This affects its sense of historical continuity and "place", and the latter is important. We often define ourselves by where we live and what we share.

We all have a sense of "place" regardless of where we are from. Architecture, the natural environment, language, fashion, food, customs, etc., define "place" and culture, roots and social cohesiveness. This may be less so in large cities, but small towns are more homogenous. Imagine how upset Muslims in Iran or Iraq or elsewhere would be if dozens of non-Muslims with different customs, dress, etc. immigrated into their towns and set up parallel communities?

Imagine how irate they would become at losing their sense of place and culture, no longer recognizing that which was once theirs. Odd that they cannot understand this from the other persepective, and odd that they wonder why French, Germans, English, Americans, and others feel disrespected when their cultures are affected by those who would immigrate and set up parallel ones, with little or no interest in embracing the ways of those with whom they now live.

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