PM STANDS BY MUSLIM COMMENTS
1.9.2006. 14:42:21

Prime Minister John Howard says he has no need to apologise for telling Muslims they need to embrace Australian values.

Mr Howard sparked controversy yesterday by saying on talk-back radio a small group of Muslim migrants had refused to accept their adopted country's values and had not learned English.

He told Macquarie Radio Australia had benefited greatly from immigration, but “there is a section, a small section, of the Islamic population ... which is very resistant to integration”.

"What I want to do is to reinforce the need for everybody who comes to this country to fully integrate," Mr Howard said yesterday. "Fully integrating means accepting Australian values, it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don't already speak it.

"And it means understanding that in certain areas, such as the equality of men and women, the societies that some people have left were not as contemporary and as progressive as ours.

"People who come from societies where women are treated in an inferior fashion have got to learn very quickly that that is not the case in Australia."

Rest of the story at this link.

SBS - The World News

Yes... they either need to learn the English language and values of the country or get the hell out.

I'm sick and damn tired of these ingrates who do not appreciate the value of living in a modern, democratic society. If they don't like it. leave.

Ever hear of dhimmitude?

Dhimmitude is the status that Islamic law, the Sharia, mandates for non-Muslims, primarily Jews and Christians. Dhimmis, "protected people," are free to practice their religion in a Sharia regime, but are made subject to a number of humiliating regulations designed to enforce the Qur'an's command that they "feel themselves subdued" (Sura 9:29). This denial of equality of rights and dignity remains part of the Sharia, and, as such, is part of the law that global jihadists are laboring to impose everywhere, ultimately on the entire human race.

The dhimmi attitude of chastened subservience has entered into Western academic study of Islam, and from there into journalism, textbooks, and the popular discourse. One must not point out the depredations of jihad and dhimmitude; to do so would offend the multiculturalist ethos that prevails everywhere today.

But in this era of global terrorism this silence and distortion has become deadly. Therefore Dhimmi Watch seeks to bring public attention to the plight of the dhimmis, and by doing so, to bring them justice.

Dhimmi Watch

I agree. Anyone who moves to a different country should be required to learn the language and adapt to the new culture as soon as possible. There are people that have lived in America for 10 or 20 years who barely know English!

In France they banned religious clothing from schools and I could not agree more with this ruling. I wish we could implement something like that in American schools. I think it would be healthy.

French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We are in agreement on this. Hoooray.

Isn't a party in order or somethin'?

Yeah actually i happen to agree with howard too. The fact is that ifc you are not prepared to take on the culture of the country to have moved to, then you should not have moved there in the first place.

There should be mandatory language classes for immigrants, as well as instruction on local culture.

These are steps taken by the danish government because we were having lots of trouble integrating immigrants.

However there is a fine line between integration and assimilation. Demanding that a muslim partake in the annual pork festival or the a hindu eat meat is not fair. Pork chops and steaks may be a cultural norm some places, but it is not ok to enforce that upon immigrants. That becomes xenophobic.

As a multicultural nation, the US should know better than anyone the positive effects of immigration on culture. Each culture int he world has positive points which a host nation may do well in adopting.

The french legislation about veils in school is a fair enough move, especially since it cuts across the board to include ALL religious symbols. Personally though i see nothing wrong in wearing a cross to school or a veil. As long as your religion does not interfere with the lives of other you are free to live by it.

However there are other issues. Gym class. I was born and raised in a society where nudity is shameful. When you move from a society like that to the danish ( where nudity is completely accepted ) accepting that one must shower together with others is very VERY difficult. This is not a matter of religious dogma, but of personal inhibitions. And you cannot expect people to completely change their feelings overnight.

I moved from USA to Sweden at 14. Gym class in America never included a shower because of religious views about nudity. In Sweden I was introduced to the public shower after gym class. Yes, it was sort of uncomfortable at first... especially being the only circumcised one there. But I adapted and eventually it was no big deal. I even had penis conversations about circumcision with fellow students for crying out loud! At least I wasn't the late bloomer who didn't have pubes yet. He was certainly having a harder time than I was.

I don't think a religious or cultural value is a strong enough argument to avoid doing something that is necessary and harmless. And showering after gym class is certainly necessary and harmless.

hahahahahahha.. yeah i went through somethin along the same lines. Everybody found the fact that i was circumcised very amusing. damn kids even made a poem about it.

You were born in Pakistan, correct? Is it normal for men to be circumcised in the region?