First They Came for the Gays

As we wait for the Florida Primary results tonight.......

Take a few minutes to read about recent events in Europe where modern liberalism may face its strongest real challenge since the fall of communism, as millions of fundamentalist Muslims immigrate into western European countries.

This resulting clash of two cultures, two lifestyles, two religions (or one fundamentalist religion against a generally secular society), is having its greatest impact at the fragile edges of modern Europe, the Gay and Lesbian community.

I encourage you to read Bruce Bawer's First They Came for the Gays

Not very long ago, Oslo was an icy Shangri-la of Scandinavian self-discipline, governability, and respect for the law. But in recent years, there have been grim changes, including a rise in gay-bashings. The summer of 2006 saw an unprecedented wave of them. The culprits, very disproportionately, are young Muslim men. It’s not just Oslo, of course. The problem afflicts most of Western Europe. And anecdotal evidence suggests that such crimes are dramatically underreported. My own partner chose not to report his assault. I urged him to, but he protested that it wouldn’t make any difference. He was probably right. The reason for the rise in gay bashings in Europe is clear – and it’s the same reason for the rise in rape. As the number of Muslims in Europe grows, and as the proportion of those Muslims who were born and bred in Europe also grows, many Muslim men are more inclined to see Europe as a part of the umma (or Muslim world), to believe that they have the right and duty to enforce sharia law in the cities where they live. Such men need not be actively religious in order to feel that they have carte blanche to assault openly gay men and non-submissive women, whose freedom to live their lives as they wish is among the most conspicuous symbols of the West’s defiance of holy law.

Even more frightening than the anecdotal stories presented by Bawer is the amazing twin approaches of denial and accommodation by many European governments who seem willing to trade away long cherished freedoms and rights for women in an effort to appease the growing Muslim communities who demand Sharia Law.

Look for this clash of cultures to grow.......