Life is not just about potatoes and gravy...

Submitted by Sammy (United Kingdom), Apr 5, 2006 at 19:02

There was a time, when Denmark was regarded as one of the most tolerant and liberal societies in the world. But unfortunately this reputation is nothing but a distant memory now.

It seems that Muslims in the land of Hamlet are a newly emerged breed that is commonly associated with all sorts of malice. Muslims are now rapists, thieves, liars, hypocritical fanatics etc. The list is endless and the media promotes and stresses the cogency of the provided information. Islam is now officially the archenemy of Danish culture.

The sad truth is that Islam has had presence in Denmark for a long time, and no one has really cared for the veiled women and the neighbour that doesn't eat pork. "Those Muslims are a weird breed, but that's just their way.". Yet here we are decades later pretending that the whole Islamic phenomenon was invented yesterday like some new-age religion. Wrong, wrong; Religion was never the problem.

The problem started emerging with the increasing number of foreigners coming to Denmark. The majority of these came from a poor societal and financial status. Some of these can't even read or write in their own native language. A phenomenon that is rare or unheard of in Denmark, yet believe it or not, it does exist in other parts of the world. Surprised?
Many of these foreigners came here with no fundamental comprehension of how the outside world works. A friend of mine once told me, that he found it odd that some shops could leave parts of their assortment in the street for public display. Personally, I had never thought about this, but realised that he had a point. In other parts of the world, whatever was left on the street would be gone in the blink of an eye, yet here the goods were respected. Very unusual. Surprised?

So there you are. Islam, believe it or not, does not and will never justify, promote or encourage rape, theft or lack of integration. The culture clash that Denmark is experiencing these days is all due to societal differences. Not religious.
Unfortunately Danish ignorance knows no boundaries, and Mr. and Mrs. Jensen are convinced that Islam is a fascist creed with the sole plot of taking control of the world. Both sides have equally contributed with provocative actions to divide the country. The Danes claim though to be enlightened and consider themselves to be much smarter. Fair enough; I would like to believe so, but I have not witnessed anything that would even remotely indicate that the Danes know how to handle this conflict or how to solve it. They are focused on one thing, "Danskhed" (Being Danish) and how those, who don't fully embrace this and neglect their own principles and culture, is not considered Danish.

The world is much bigger than Denmark, and there are numerous cultures out of there. Some of these have never appeared on a television screen. Cultures that are so fundamentally different from this proclaimed "Danskhed". Foreigners, yes, need to adapt for cultural reasons. But Danes need to understand that religion does not define the level of sophistication and appreciation of Danish culture.
Yes, indeed the world is much more than potatoes and gravy.

Verden er langt mere end sovs og kartofler...

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