I got a weird Email today. Interesting. I tried to resize it, or even just to get rid
of the goofy font....but that didn't work. Here it is:
SALUTE to Denmark .. This could very well happen here on our Continent....
Susan MacAllen is a contributing editor for(FamilySecurityMatters.org) Salute the Danish Flag - it's a Symbol ofWestern Freedom By Susan MacAllen
In 1978-9 I was living and studying in Denmark . But in 1978 - even in Copenhagen, one didn't see Muslim immigrants.
The Danish population embraced visitors, celebrated the exotic, wentout of its way to protect each of its citizens. It was proud of its newbrand of socialist liberalism one in development since the conservatives hadlost power in 1929 - a system where no worker had to struggle to survive,where one ultimately could count upon the state as in, perhaps, no otherwestern nation at the time.
The rest of Europe saw the Scandinavians as free-thinking, progressiveand infinitely generous in their welfare policies. Denmark boasted low crimerates, devotion to the environment, a superior educational system and ahistory of humanitarianism.
Denmark was also most generous in its immigration policies - it
offered the best welcome in Europe to the new immigrant: generous welfarepayments from first arrival plus additional perks in transportation, housingand education. It was determined to set a world example for inclusivenessand multiculturalism.How could it have predicted that one day in 2005 a series of politicalcartoons in a newspaper would spark violence that would leave dozens dead inthe streets -all because its commitment to multiculturalism would come backto bite?
By the 1990's the growing urban Muslim population was obvious - andits unwillingness to integrate into Danish society was obvious.
Years of immigrants had settled into Muslim-exclusive enclaves. As theMuslim leadership became more vocal about what they considered the decadenceof Denmark 's liberal way of life, the Danes - once so welcoming - began tofeel slighted. Many Danes had begun to see Islam as incompatible with their
long-standing values: belief in personal liberty and free speech, in
equality for women, in tolerance for other ethnic groups, and a deep pridein Danish heritage and history.
An article by Daniel Pipes and LarsHedegaard, in which they forecasted accurately that the growing immigrant
problem inDenmark would explode. In the article they reported:
'Muslim immigrants.constitute 5 percent of the population but consumeupwards of 40 percent of the welfare spending.'
'Muslims are only 4 percent of Denmark's 5.4 million people but makeup a majority of the country's convicted rapists, an especially
combustible issue given that practically all the female victims are
non-Muslim. Similar, if lesser, disproportions are found in other crimes.'
'Over time, as Muslim immigrants increase in numbers, they wish lessto mix with the indigenous population.
A recent survey finds that only 5 percent of young Muslim immigrantswould readily marry a Dane.'
'Forced marriages - promising a newborn daughter in Denmark to a malecousin in the home country, then compelling her to marry him, sometimes onpain of death - are one problem'
'Muslim leaders openly declare their goal of introducing Islamic law
once Denmark's Muslim population grows large enough - a
not-that-remote prospect. If present trends persist, one sociologist
estimates, every third inhabitant of Denmark in 40 years will be Muslim.'
It is easy to understand why a growing number of Danes would feel thatMuslim immigrants show little respect for Danish values and laws.
An example is the phenomenon common to other European countries andCanada .: some Muslims in Denmark who opted to leave the Muslim faith havebeen murdered in the name of Islam, while others hide in fear for theirlives. Jews are also threatened and harassed openly by Muslim leadersin Denmark, a country where once Christian citizens worked to smuggle outnearly all of their 7,000 Jews by night to Sweden - before the Nazis couldinvade. I think of my Danish friend Elsa - who as a teenager had dreadedcrossing the street to the bakery every morning under the eyes of occupyingNazi soldiers - and I wonder what she would say today.
In 2001, Denmark elected the most conservative government in some 70years - one that had some decidedly non-generous ideas about liberalunfettered immigration. Today Denmark has the strictest immigration policiesin Europe . ( Its effort to protect itself has been met with accusations of'racism' by liberal media across Europe - even as other governments struggleto right the social problems wrought by years of too-lax immigration.)
If you wish to become Danish, you must attend three years of languageclasses. You must pass a test on Denmark 's history, culture, and a Danishlanguage test:
You must live in Denmark for 7 years before applying for citizenship.
You must demonstrate an intent to work, and have a job waiting. If you wishto bring a spouse into Denmark , you must both be over 24 years of age, andyou won't find it so easy anymore to move your friends and family to Denmark with you.
You will not be allowed to build a mosque in Copenhagen . Although yourchildren have a choice of some 30 Arabic culture and language schoolsin Denmark , they will be strongly encouraged to assimilate to Danish societyin ways that past immigrants weren't.
In 2006, the Danish minister for employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen,spoke publicly of the burden of Muslim immigrants on the Danish welfaresystem, and it was horrifying: the government's welfare committee hadcalculated that if immigration from Third World countries were blocked, 75percent of the cuts needed to sustain the huge welfare system in comingdecades would be unnecessary. In other words, the welfare system as it
existed was being exploited by immigrants to the point of eventuallybankrupting the government. 'We are simply forced to adopt a new policy onimmigration.
The calculations of the welfare committee are terrifying and show howunsuccessful the integration of immigrants has been up to now,' he said.
A large thorn in the side of Denmark 's imams is the Minister of
Immigration and Integration, Rikke Hvilshoj. She makes no bones about thenew policy toward immigration, 'The number of foreigners coming to thecountry makes a difference,' Hvilshøj says, 'There is an inverse correlationbetween how many come here and how well we can receive the foreigners thatcome.' And on Muslim immigrants needing to demonstrate a willingness toblend in, 'In my view, Denmark should be a country withroom for different cultures and religions. Some values, however, aremore important than others. We refuse to question democracy, equal rights,and freedom of speech.'
Hvilshoj has paid a price for her show of backbone. Perhaps to test
her resolve, the leading radical imam in Denmark, Ahmed Abdel Rahman AbuLaban, demanded that the government pay blood money to the family of aMuslim who was murdered in a suburb of Copenhagen, stating that the family'sthirst for revenge could be thwarted for money. When Hvilshoj dismissed hisdemand, he argued that in Muslim culture the payment of retribution moneywas common, to which Hvilshoj replied that what is done in a Muslim countryis not necessarily what is done in Denmark.
The Muslim reply came soonafter: her house was torched while she, her husband and children slept. Allmanaged to escape unharmed, but she and her family were moved to a secretlocation and she and other ministers were assigned bodyguards for the firsttime - in a country where such murderous violence was once so scarce.
Her government has slid to the right, and her borders have tightened.
Many believe that what happens in the next decade will determine
whetherDenmark survives as a bastion of good living, humane thinking andsocial responsibility, or whether it becomes a nation at civil war withsupporters of Sharia law.
And meanwhile, Canadians clamor for stricter immigration policies, anddemand an end to state welfare programs that allow many immigrants to liveon the public dole. As we in Canada look at the enclaves of Muslims amongstus, and see those who enter our shores too easily, dare live on our taxes,yet refuse to embrace our culture, respect our traditions, participate inour legal system, obey our laws, speak our language, appreciate our history
.. . we would do well to look to Denmark , and say a prayer for her future and
for our own..
