Geneive Abdo writes of her interviews with America’s Muslims.
Ismahan recalled similar experiences. In elementary school, she had tried to fit in. As an adult, though, “I know I don’t have to fit in,” she said. “I don’t think Muslims have to assimilate. We are not treated like Americans. At work, I get up from my desk and go to pray. I thought I would face opposition from my boss. Even before I realized he didn’t mind, I thought, ‘I have a right to be a Muslim, and I don’t have to assimilate.’ “
The article goes to desperate lengths to spin this as an upsurge in faith, and being different from “those” Muslims in Europe who have started killing their own countrymen. It may be true. But this should be raising all sorts of red flags.
Lack of assimilation is bad, even if the group in question isn’t part of a culture with violent, fascist tendencies. No matter how benign on the surface, multiculturalism, or the failure to culturally assimilate, is malignant. It is corrosive to the national fabric and destructive to peace.
Multiculturalism is death.
Update:
To the charge that American Muslims aren’t so well assimilated, one answers Yes, we are. He makes some fair points.
The whole issue of identity is really not as critical as that of modernity. Its reconciling tradition with modernity that is tricky. We all have multiple identities and we rarely “choose” one over another, but the conflict between modernity and tradition is sometimes trickier to navigate.
I think any kind of group identity can be a problem, but failure to modernize is really why goatherders are flying airplanes into skyscrapers. I don’t know how much I buy all of his apologetics (I haven’t followed all the links yet) but it seems worth a look. Ditto for the comments on that page.