To Moshe and Noah, a suggestion and the example of Herouxville, Quebec

Submitted by Terry H. (Canada), Feb 7, 2007 at 18:15

Thank you Moshe for your comments. It's such an overwhelming problem to even try to understand it, let alone to deal with it. And defending the West against Islam is made worse by general apathy and the absence of any plan by governments or any major organization. We seem too stunned or intimidated to react.

In the face of all that, all we can hope in the immediate future is that progress will be achieved by individuals and communities targeting particular goals. This will have to do until there is enough general awareness of the urgency of this matter to lead to a more comprehensive plan of action. A little progress is better than nothing and it could take off from there.

I would suggest starting with education because Muslim adults are for the most part a lost cause. As the article suggested by Noah seems to indicate, their ideas are too ingrained and not likely to change.

We have to think of the children and insist on a secular, public education, while at the same time actively monitoring Muslim institutions such as mosques to make sure that they are not disseminating ideas of hate and backwardness.

We must also actively take the initiative and expose so much false information that is being propagated on the web and by other media. We must continue to tell the truth.

Thank you Mr Pipes for all your impressive efforts. And thanks to Noah, Moshe and so many others who participate here and who are doing their part sharing their knowledge.

I have the feeling that many Muslim youngsters living in the West would like to become more westernized but they are unable to do so due to parental and community pressure.

Doing nothing about education will perpetuate their parents' ideas in the same way as the Amish, for example, are able to keep their way of life and keep their children from leaving their farms. The Amish are no threat to anyone, of course, but look at how the centuries have passed them by with no effect.

Political correctness sells, so we must insist that we find it unacceptable that any group, be it the KKK, Nazis, Black Muslims or Arab Muslims, or any other group should be teaching their children racist ideas, hate, separateness, the inferiority of women, and a distorted version of history.

There are also small acts of courage that could go a long way conveying the message that different cultures are welcome here but they can't impose their beliefs, customs, and prejudices on the rest of us, or impose them on their children.

I would like to mention the case of Herouxville, in the Canadian province of Quebec. Its city council officially declared that, although immigrants are welcome to settle there, they must abide by the expectations of the community. Those expectations include the mixing of the sexes in swimming pools and allowing women to drive, to dance and to make their own decisions. The town won't allow children to carry ceremonial daggers to school (the Sikh are permitted by law to do so) or any weapons whatsoever, and nobody will have the right to stone women, pour acid on them, or mutilate them. Strong words.

This small Quebec community of only 1300 found the courage to demand what others never dare to say. It has received a lot of support from other parts of the country and now we have to wait and see how the Canadian government and the Human Rights Commission will react. This seems to be a first and should be watched closely.

So that's what I mean: small gestures that might create a tide. Gestures that carry a message that says Enough.

I was just checking the blog "Gates of Vienna" and there is a recent posting about the Danes and how they are making significant progress fighting back the Muslim cultural takeover of their country. Denmark is small, but it's leading by example.

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