Assimilation? Not much and reversing course.

Submitted by Agusto Aquino (United States), Jan 16, 2015 at 08:26

It's hard to believe that this thread didn't get more play and response. It's also relevant to Australia as well.

Dr. Pipes, I know something about the subject, but not nearly as much as you. So some questions:

1. Assuming that journalists want to report accurately, why are they so often like ostriches with their head in the sand to real the trends?

a. European and developed world populations in Asia, Latin America and even Africa are remarkably similar (puny). Many journalists still continue to tout the "popuation explosion" and to take a view against large families ... or families at all. Why? Filipino, Irish and Italian (all strongly Catholic countries) birthrates are dropping, with Europe's birthrates nearly half of replacement level. How low can they go before the press realizes that a population collapse is worse than a population boom? Why don't journalists shout a warning from rooftops about the social and economic risks of childless societies? (Or the vanity of them?)

b. About 30 years ago, the trend was still for Muslims outside of their countries to blend in. Then the behavior began to turn. Muslim women went from Western dress to increasingly conservative dress. Men suddenly started adopting the longshirt. Why? There is no Pope to tell Muslims what to do, so who was instigating this conservative behavior shift? I'd say if began in 1985 and continued to move from fringe to mainstream behavior. Why? Did Quaradrwi (Sheik Yusuf Al-Quaradwi) pronounce some kind of fatwah? Did Sunni's start listening to Ayatollah Khomenhi? Did the Saudi royals start decreeing behavior rules off the Peninsula?

2. Most journalists are liberals. Why do so many seem to think apologizing for Muslim atrocities and human rights violations are the right thing to do? Why do they turn a blind eye to the most vile atrocities such as the recent anhilations of entire villages and thousands of innocents by Boco Haram in northern Nigeria? Or by the Sudanese in Darfur? Or by the Taliban in Pakistan? Why aren't they reporting on Pakistan's anti-Christian persecutions? Is the truth too provocative?

3. Don't liberals (in schols and the press) recognize that there is nothing so conservative to human rights as Sharia? If any country in Europe (or Canada or Australia) or any city therein adopts Sharia, don't they realize that it will proclaim the death of liberal secular values in the western world?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".