by Bruce Bawer
One reader's reflections on my "Islamophobia" posts:
This highlights the dilemma faced by our Western society: For a society that values respect for and tolerance of different religions, how and where do we draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not? I agree with you, and I think it’s the easiest case, that we don’t want to allow immigration of Moslems—or adherents of any other religion—that believe in killing homosexuals.
But what about members of religions that believe women shouldn’t be educated or shouldn’t be allowed the same freedoms as men? Do we practice toleration or seek to preserve our own value system? The issue is complicated by the fact that, within Western societies, there continue to be fundamentalist religious groups—Christians and Jews–that have similar viewpoints that we would consider out of synch with the dominant cultural views.
These are extremely difficult issues and require a constant weighing and balancing of interests. One reason that the Michele Bachmanns of the political world scare me is that they have a worldview that appears almost entirely to be based on religious doctrine and belief. Religions are, by their nature, largely intolerant of differing beliefs. And while our society’s general inclination to tolerance does require tempering and some restraint, we certainly don’t want to move in the opposite direction towards a narrow-minded, intolerant religious culture.
Agreed. One footnote: Yes, religions – fundamentalist ones, anyway – are indeed largely intolerant of one another. But one thing I've observed in Europe is that certain Christian parties and sects have sought to enhance their political and cultural clout by making common cause with reactionary Islamic groups, on the basis that they share a devotion to "family values." What at least some of those Christian parties and sects don't seem to realize, of course, is that the "family values" of their new friends include such things as forced marriage, female genital mutilation, honor killing, etc.
The Dish 