Ian Buruma: The Muslim Scare in Europe - Hysteria or Threat?

Is the danger posed by Muslim immigrants real? If it is exaggerated, why the general hysteria? Award-winning author and journalist Ian Buruma will addresses these questions and others raised in his new book "Taming the Gods," a sharp-eyed look at the tensions between religion and politics on three continents: Europe, Asia and North America Series: Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies [10/2010] [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 19868]

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ian Buruma
• Muslims
• Islam

[KumarZimmerman08]

What don't you understand? EUROPEANS DON'T WANT MULTICULTURALISM. Europe is for Europeans. NOBODY ELSE.

[basscataz]

39:10 !!??

[elbazart]

@mutattu Wrong!

Judaism is a non-missionary religion. It is even forbidden for Jewish rabbis to actively convert people to Judaism. Christianity is very much missionary, but the word of Christ is supposed to be spread peacefully (though that hasn't always been the case).

Muslims, on the other hand, are specifically instructed to spread their faith violently (look up "Sura of the sword" in the Koran). And so they do...

[elbazart]

I find Ian Buruma's views to be somewhat naive, even ridiculous at certain points.

For instance, he promises that there is no problem with the Muslim community in Europe, as long as everybody obeys the law and no one resorts to violence.

Well, that's exactly the point. How will you deal with the one's that do resort to violence and who do not respect the law? local law enforcement is already having a problem controlling the situation.

[Krifko]

Liberals need something new to believe in, only Buruma cannot name one thing. Kind of proves the right's point, doesn't it?

More than half of the law students in the Netherlands are female, Muslim AND wear a headscarf? Dream on, Mr Buruma. Does the audience really believe that the French still think just like their forefathers from the 18th century? How detached from reality is this man? The French don't see the 18th century Catholic church in headscarfs, they see ISLAM. 

[JohnnyRock2000]

Muslim police states have been hugely supported by the West. Bribed and threatened for economic (oil) and political (Israel) reasons, there was bound to be rebellion. Now the West is faced with a situation that they more than helped take place. Democracy could prevail eventually, but who in the West wants to negotiate with 250 million people when it was so easy to pay off or threaten a Western puppet? Terms like Islamo-fascism just play the blame game.

[roder59]

@passionspit intelligent!....not.

[passionspit]

Get a job roder59 hahahahahaha

[roder59]

@mutattu Introducing a relatively new axiom:1year-rule. Immediately after a major terror attack against the West EVERYBODY is able to tell apart bad from good, all is clear and people take sides.After approx. 1 year sight gets blurred;self-accusing, appeacement,pitying/psychologi­zing the perpetrators and problematizing starts.Several years since the latest strike so there are lots of muddy opinions.I´m convinced that the next strike will take the mud out of the eyes of leftists like Buruma.

[roder59]

@mutattu Buruma and leftist members of the "reasoning elite" try to constitute an audience and earn a living by saying on the one hand this, but on the other that, cowardly holding with both sides and thereby contradicting himself,moreover psychologizing terrorists by western standards,not himself taking sides and giving his followers the illusion of a well balanced view on heavy stuff.The time for kitchen-table-filosophizing is over,so,consider T.Jefferson:price of freedom is eternal vigilance