German Minister’s Comments on Islam Stir Debate

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

BERLIN — The new German interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, has reignited a highly charged debate here about the role of Muslims and Islam in society after saying that the religion was not part of the German way of life.

“Islam in Germany is not something substantiated by history at any point,” nor has it any major role in German culture, Mr. Friedrich said Thursday, his first day in office.

The Lutheran Bishop of Berlin, Markus Dröge, said Sunday that he was shocked that Muslims were singled out by some politicians when it came to discussing the integration of the different communities living in Germany.

“We have a way of life, it is democratic, open and based on dialogue and human rights,” Bishop Dröge told his congregation.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/world/europe/07germany.html

[JVS]

1. wow 3 days on the job and he pulls this

[jwirr]

2. Someone should point out to him that is exactly what was wrong the

last time. No flexibility. I and that Lutheran pastor can say that - we are both of German ancestry and both probably live very similar to our old traditions. But for the two of us there is flexibility. There is room for others. I am glad he spoke out - this stuff can never be allowed to stand unchallenged.

[DFW]

3. Apples and oranges. They're both right, after a fashion.

True, "Islam in Germany is not something substantiated by history," but history is not something
that stopped at some particular point on somebody's calendar. Until 1492, white people didn't play
much of a role substantiated history in the Western Hemisphere, either. History is an ongoing process,
and while Islam may not have had any major role to play in German society before 1950, with 4+ million
Turks and a large number of immigrant North Africans, it sure is playing a role now. Whether or not
that is a good thing is in the eye of the beholder, but no one can deny it's here.

Of all people, it's ironic that a Protestant bishop should declare that Germany "has a way of life,
it is democratic, open and based on dialogue and human rights." He's pretty much correct, too,
although extremists of ALL major religions would like a little less dialogue and human rights
and a little more control (by them, of course) over what people think and say.

[jberryhill]

4. Genocidal mania, on the other hand, is a substantiated part of German history

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. "Jews don't belong in Germany" / "Islam doesn't belong in Germany".. those Germans, always evolving