(Picture courtsey - New York Times)
The Dutch Immigration authorities have come up with a new weapon in their ongoing struggle against intolerant immigrants (read Islamists) - a movie portraying naked woman and smooching gay men. As widely reported this week (in many media outlets including NY Times here ), potential immigrants to the Netherlands will be made to watch a DVD containing snippets from the permissible Dutch life as part of their study guide for the immigration guide.
At first blush, this seems like a great idea. If you are a European country known for its permissiveness you'd certainly want to ensure that your values are not diluted by a rapidly growing and strident immigrant population who seem to be ready to bite the very hand that feeds them.
On second thoughts though, this seems like the opening of Pandora's Box. People from the United States and European Union are exempt from watching this DVD which seems strange to me. After all, there are any number of red state people in the United States who are prone to violent reactions against gays and who honestly could do with a little bit of tolerance as well. Or what about Islamists born and brought up in the European Union countries? These glaring loop holes have prompted allegations of discrimination against the Muslims (which is rich and a whole another story anyways considering what all restrictions you are subject to if you are a non-Muslim in a Muslim majority country).
One also has to ask if this is a new type of litmus test that people will be made to undergo as the cross borders. Are more and more countries, specially in the West going to resort to something similar to counter a rapidly growing immigrant population? Would each country become a zone of sharply defined cultural values and you'd have to confirm to them if you want to be able to live there? What about people who are born in that country and yet do not subscribe to its values? What about gays in the red state American? What about the Dutch or the French who are conservative and do not like the permissible values of their societies? Would they eventually want this DVD to be part of high school curriculum?
On further pondering though, this idea again starts looking appealing. After all, the Dutch are not telling the immigrants that they have to become gays or that their women might start roaming topless in the streets of Amsterdam. They are only telling them that it is permissible to behave this way in their society and that the immigrants have to respect it. If they don't like the way the Dutch society operates, then they can stay wherever they are. I find this to be a fair proposition and I think that this is probably the most reasonable way in which the Dutch could ensure the sanity of their society which seems to have been shaken to its roots by the recent violent outbursts of the Islamists in the Netherlands.
(Picture courtsey - New York Times)
The Dutch Immigration authorities have come up with a new weapon in their ongoing struggle against intolerant immigrants (read Islamists) - a movie portraying naked woman and smooching gay men. As widely reported this week (in many media outlets including NY Times here ), potential immigrants to the Netherlands will be made to watch a DVD containing snippets from the permissible Dutch life as part of their study guide for the immigration guide.
At first blush, this seems like a great idea. If you are a European country known for its permissiveness you'd certainly want to ensure that your values are not diluted by a rapidly growing and strident immigrant population who seem to be ready to bite the very hand that feeds them.
On second thoughts though, this seems like the opening of Pandora's Box. People from the United States and European Union are exempt from watching this DVD which seems strange to me. After all, there are any number of red state people in the United States who are prone to violent reactions against gays and who honestly could do with a little bit of tolerance as well. Or what about Islamists born and brought up in the European Union countries? These glaring loop holes have prompted allegations of discrimination against the Muslims (which is rich and a whole another story anyways considering what all restrictions you are subject to if you are a non-Muslim in a Muslim majority country).
One also has to ask if this is a new type of litmus test that people will be made to undergo as the cross borders. Are more and more countries, specially in the West going to resort to something similar to counter a rapidly growing immigrant population? Would each country become a zone of sharply defined cultural values and you'd have to confirm to them if you want to be able to live there? What about people who are born in that country and yet do not subscribe to its values? What about gays in the red state American? What about the Dutch or the French who are conservative and do not like the permissible values of their societies? Would they eventually want this DVD to be part of high school curriculum?
On further pondering though, this idea again starts looking appealing. After all, the Dutch are not telling the immigrants that they have to become gays or that their women might start roaming topless in the streets of Amsterdam. They are only telling them that it is permissible to behave this way in their society and that the immigrants have to respect it. If they don't like the way the Dutch society operates, then they can stay wherever they are. I find this to be a fair proposition and I think that this is probably the most reasonable way in which the Dutch could ensure the sanity of their society which seems to have been shaken to its roots by the recent violent outbursts of the Islamists in the Netherlands.