What's the Future of Europe Like.....

[Ummagumma]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

There are, or have been in the past, single men among Muslims entering the US. But they're able to get jobs fairly quickly. Others in their communities offer them simple jobs so they can get started, or they drive taxicabs. This gives them a means to support themselves at least minimally, and to feel useful, to feel like they have a role in society. And English language courses at community colleges are free to refugees. I don't know about Germany, but I know they're free in Sweden, too.

There's simply not enough Muslims in the US yet to cause a problem.

The comparison would be like the illegal Mexican immigrants, in some Southwestern states they outnumber the US citizens in some communities, and yes this leads to many problems.

However, the Mexicans are generally tolerant of other people and cultures, and are a shining example of tolerance when you compare them to the Muslims from Northern Africa or Middle East. If they were more like these Muslim immigrants, we'd have a war in Texas right now.

[r_u_a_wizard]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

There was a very good article on this in the NY Times last Sunday. The columnist said that the reason the Turkish immigrants from decades ago integrated without problems in spite of being Muslim is that there were manageable numbers of them coming in, and that they had time to gradually get used to the culture and fit in over years, decades, even.

Now the numbers are overwhelming, and there hasn't been any time for them to get used to the culture of their adoptive countries. Also, I would say that it makes a big difference, coming in as a guest worker, so there's some guarantee of work and they had legal paperwork, vs. coming in as a desperate and undocumented war refugees or economic refugees. If one has work, one can at least begin the process of fitting in, one has a constructive role in the new country's society.

One thing that's important to note is that Turks are NOT ARABS. It's a different ethnicity with a different culture. Turks come from a country that may be majority muslim, but it has a long tradition of secularism and you can't equate Turks with Arabs.