Geert Wilders wants to spread his anti-Islam message to other countries (Washington Post) and is forming a group that will operate initially in U.S., Canada, Britain, France and Germany.  His message is  that immigration from Muslim countries to the West should be outlawed and Islamic Sharia Law should be banned. Wilders plans to speak about his message in each of these countries in the coming months.  A Dutch Muslim spokesman, Ayhan Tonca,  said he feared Wilders message would fall on fertile ground in much of Europe, where anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling for years.    So why is this happening and is this a good thing?

The "why" is easy - Muslims bring a radically different "culture" and their extremists are more extreme than our own Christian extremists.  Some Christians want to beat up gays and perhaps even kill abortionists - but this behaviour is not common like it was centuries ago.  But the Muslim extremists of today want to impose woman-hating Sharia law and seem to tolerate honour killings by labelling it as "just a domestic dispute".  Unfortunately, there are few Muslim moderates willing to do more than lament that "not all Muslims are like this".  So does Wilders have a point?  Should we "outlaw immigration from Muslim countries to the West and ban Islamic Sharia Law"?

First, any immigrant, whether Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian or Australian (like me), must be willing to integrate into the society that they move to.  They must accept the values of the host country.  Universally in the west, that would mean:

1. No Sharia law - there is only one set of laws to be obeyed.  Religious courts must only impose religious penalties like excommunication.
2. Women must be treated as full equals.
3. Honour cannot be considered an excuse or reason for crimes or even pressure on their children to behave in particular ways.
4. All other beliefs and faiths or lack of religious belief must be tolerated. That does not mean allow to live  - it means accepting as a full equal.
5. Talk of a jihad (or other war) against one's country must be treated as treason with full penalties.

If immigrants are not willing to accept all of these, they should not be admitted or should be deported.  If they like their values so much, then they should go back to a country where others agree with them.

There are many Muslims who agree with all this - but not enough of them speak up and condemn the extremists.  In Canada, we are so committed to tolerance that we tolerate intolerance and even hate - despite our "anti-free speech" hate laws.

One of the problems with Wilders is that he has labelled Islam as a fascist religion because much of what is written in the Qur'an is violent, abusive and extreme.  So he wants to ban the Qur'an just like Hitler's Mein Kampf is banned in Holland.  But if you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, it too is violent, abusive and extreme.  So why not ban it too?  The simple answer is that despite what they say, most Christians (and Jews) choose to ignore the extreme parts - so maybe one day most Muslims will also ignore the extreme parts.

In the meantime, how do we live in a world where there are still Muslims living in the dark ages?  I suggest that before being granted an immigrant visa, whether refugee, family member or an independent applicant, all applicants must swear/affirm that they will uphold the above principles.  When it comes time to apply for citizenship, this should be repeated.  If there is evidence that they broke this promise, then they should be deported immediately.  They have effectively proved they don't fit in and further that they are willing to perjure themselves.

Eventually, the power of the internet to educate will mean that eventually Islamic countries will "grow up" and become like Western countries.

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