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Germany's newly appointed Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich was quick to enter the political fray after making comments which has caused political controversy stating that Islam is alien to German culture: "Islam in Germany is not something substantiated by history at any point." Nor does Islam or Muslims play a role in German culture. He did add that he encourages Muslim-Christian dialog, but in the context that it “requires two things: knowledge of the social reality in Germany and a clear awareness of the Western Christian origin of our culture.” When pressed he had reiterated his comments.
Such words come on the hells of the comments by the Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan in his visit to the nation recently where he spoke in front of 11,000 Turks living in Germany: “I say yes to integration. You should definitely integrate with the German society but we are against assimilation. No one should be able to rip us away from our culture and civilization. Our children must learn German, but first they must learn Turkish.”
Both men represent discouraging and chauvinistic lines of thinking. With regards to the former, Friedrich is a minister from the conservative East German Christian Social Union party, which is a mostly Roman Catholic faction in Germany politics. His comments about a Christian Germany should not be surprising considering that his party is a quasi-sectarian group and thus his world view emphasizes religious identity and Muslims are, of course, not Christians and if Germany means Christianity then Muslims do not have a proper place in the nation. And notice that he did not use the now fashionable phrase "Judeo-Christain" origin, but simply left the Jewish history in Germany aspect out of it (without irony, apparently). And that's just it: It is true that Muslims are a part of German history and currently Islam is not a major factor in Germany politics, but just because Islam has been absent in the past does not mean it cannot now be a part of German identity in a pluralistic society. And his remarks are deeply unfortunate considering that Jews were once in Germany and elsewhere also spoken about as the eternal "other" never to be encompassed into the nation. Germany's 4million Muslims and Islam can play a role in 21st century Germany in league with German values and the absence of Islam in the past is no impediment for the future, and that brings us to the second point...
Erdogan's words rejected assimilation represent an ultra-Turkish nationalist mindset which is deeply offensive in and of itself but even more so considering the source. Turks, a fiercely proud people with a history of ultra-nationalist politics, would never settle for, say, Armenians or Kurds dismissing assimilation into Turkish culture. In fact, both groups and their cultures have been 'riped away' from them. Armenians have been mostly massacred from Anatolia and Kurdish identity and culture is fiercely and cruelly repressed in the name of Turkish nationalism. And the Turkish constitution still says that ever citizen is a Turk even though millions are not. Erdogan represents a double-standards, who ask that the Western world defer to them but rarely, if ever, accord the same rights to others in their nation and at the same time do dismiss the culture of the welcoming nation. Why should German-born children of Turkish heritage learn Turkish first rather than the language of their new country? If they live in Germany, it is necessary that that language and culture take precedence as citizens of Germany. And the self-righteous tone of Erdogan is egregious considering that Kurdish school children are often prohibited from ever learning their language, first or second. Of course, people should take pride in their culture and heritage, and Americans of all stripes do, but assimilation is necessary condition for integration for without it the nation would not be cohesive and instead there would be another sub-culture which would exist separately. A nation must adhere to certain board values and within these values people can do as they please. Hispanics, Italian Americans, WASPs et al in the United States all have their own culture ethos but there is a united current in this. Regrettable, Erdogan fails to appreciate this and his words only add to the process of assimilation and harmony.
The ravings of politics. Hopefully most people are decent enough not to bother with them and will on their own seeking to be a cogent culture and a united nation. The silent majority, if you will:
The Lutheran Bishop of Berlin, Markus Dröge, said Sunday that he was shocked that Muslims were singled out by some politicians when it came to discussing the integration of the different communities living in Germany.
“We have a way of life, it is democratic, open and based on dialogue and human rights,” Bishop Dröge told his congregation.
Lamya Kaddor, chairman of the Liberal-Islamic Federation in Germany, said Mr. Friedrich’s remarks amounted to a “slap in the face of Muslims.”
“Such statements are not only politically and historically wrong, I think they are dangerous,” Mr. Kaddor said. He added that Mr. Friedrich’s stance would undermine progress between Muslims and Christians that previous German interior ministers had tried to develop.
