WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE MUSLIMS, THE HISPANICS, THE ASIANS, AND SO FORTH?

The very first thing to do is stop supporting the liberal narrative that muslims who justify violence in the name of Islam are some fringe element, some tiny group of extremists, a few ‘radicalized’ bad apples. This is not true. The ranks of muslims living in the West contain a sizable minority that are willing to act according to directives from the Koran and in direct conflict with Western secular liberal values such as individual autonomy protected by law and the free speech that accompanies it.

To give you some idea of the scope of the problem, a study out of England revealed that of British born, university educated muslim men and women between the ages of 18 to 35, over one third agreed that it was acceptable to kill in defense of the faith. That percentage translates into more than a million people! That’s not fringe. That’s a pool of willing recruits waiting to happen. The same survey revealed the closest competitor was evangelical christianity at just over 1%. This demonstartes the radical teaching differences between faiths.

How do we in the West address this problem without circumventing our legal respect for individual autonomy and the right to religious freedom?

I don’t think we can – directly. But there is much we can do to mitigate its allure and Americans in particular don’t like the solution because the very first step is to stop privileging religious belief in the public domain and make it a private matter not exportable to the public square. When expressing intolerant religious belief in the public domain is seen as a social faux pas, it is a powerful teaching tool to the young not to do it. Probably the most effective way to mitigate these religious precepts that are contrary to and in conflict with individual autonomy shared by all is public education where every classroom is culturally, ethnically, religious, and even linguistically diverse. Children who spend time with the ‘Other’ in their formative years develop a bedrock not just of daily tolerance of differences but a celebration of it and come to see these differences for the great social strengths they really are. I know this sounds pie-in-the-sky but it really works. And there are fewer better examples than the Canadian one where the whole country is built on exactly these differences.

Diversity is strength. as long as all share common foundation. And the evidence for this is overwhelming. Just to look to the real world for examples. A diverse economy is protected from local swings and shifts. A diverse biosphere is protected from local infestations. Diverse blood lines improve the heartiness of species and is protected from singular conditions. Talk to farmers about the problems of monoculture, arborists about forests dominated by a single species, doctors about genetically magnified conditions, and so on. Would you listen to music that had only one instrument or voice, watch or play only one kind of sport with only one type of player. You get the idea. Diversity is a necessary condition to overall health and welfare no matter where we look.

The American model of a melting pot when compared and contrasted with models of diversity tends to fare poorly. What we see happen is the development of social silos, of guarded enclaves, of legal privilege. of gangs and ghettos and extreme economic stratification. These do not produce or enhance a common social foundation but its opposite where violence and the use of force becomes commonplace, where differences and diversity are treated socially as a threat to the status quo. The carrot of one day achieving extreme wealth and privilege is held in such high regard that most Americans think any other model – models that work to produce what most Americans say they value the highest – peace, freedom, prosperity, education, medicine, and so on – is an enemy of the state. In the US we see the incremental breakdown of social order and people actively working against their own best interests and living with a fear of the Other as if this model was an unassailable moral good.

Muslims fall into this category of the ‘Other’.

In Canada, by far the most popular major in the country by is a muslim. His religious beliefs are private and his concern. But as major of Calgary, he has to be a secularist and this is how it must be if we are to respect diversity. Can you imagine a similar city in the US, say Houston, electing a muslim? We have gay premiers – and a married female gay premier of Ontario – who have to leave these private matters out of their governing in the public domain. Can you imagine a similar state in the US, say Texas, electing a gay married woman to its governorship? Canada regularly elects members of all visible minorities because the people understand that the public domain is secular and accessible to all regardless of private and personal differences. And it all starts with children learning how to get along with others regardless of their differences – be they religious, ethnic, physical, gender, linguistic, cultural… it doesn’t matter when this project has to be completed and presented on this date, or this concert band has to perform as a unit, or this team has to play as a team.

Muslims in Canada have probably the loudest imams in the world issuing fatwas against other muslims condemning any violence done in the name of Islam, creating direct connections with local police and federal agencies reporting on Wahabi activity and the various speakers who come to mosque. Canadian muslims who are motivated to act contrary to peace, order, and good governance almost always do so in isolation outside the country because there is a very great deal of muslim contempt for those willing to act contrary to our common Canadian secular values. Too many muslims who have gone through public education have very strong and sustaining bonds with the ‘Other’ in all its forms to go along with any group’s vilification like we see coming out of the States. It’s a process called multiculturalism – rather than a melting pot it is a mosaic celebrated every year in every city with all kinds of events open to the public – but it’s unique kind of multiculturalism woven into the very fabric of the country and an absolutely essential feature of this vast and diverse country whose history has gone through its bloody years breaking down silos and has emerged as a model of peace, order, and good government where one’s neighbours and coworkers are not feared because of their differences yet composed from the diversity of the world. And they’re great people (which is probably why Canada has never lost a war).

Muslims – like most people – are great people. But their religious beliefs need to be challenged directly each and every time they are brought into the public domain and revealed to be the very great danger they really are. And the same is true for Christians.