London's Muslim Mayor to USA: "Immigrants should NOT have to assimilate"

[BentBow]

Originally Posted by silverkris

We have something called the 1st Amendment. It's in the Constitution. You may want to read up on it about freedom of religion. Have you forgotten about that in your hate-filled rhetoric and hostility?

My religion has human sacrifice to the gods.... The 1st amendment protects me and my religion.

Islam is not a religion. It is a cult.

[ReineDeCoeur]

Originally Posted by Frank_Carbonni

A lot of Arabs and Pakistanis are as racist as any redneck you can imagine.

Also, a lot of Africans tend to practice more liberal forms of Islam more influenced by Sufism and the Ahmadi sect. Africa has the highest concentration of Ahmadiyya outside of the Indian subcontinent.

And a good portion of the Civil War in Sudan has been Muslim Arabs killing Muslim black people in Darfur.

And an aside, yes, Islam has a long history in Africa. There was the Arab Slave Trade which began several hundred years before the Atlantic Slave Trade, ended several decades after, and enslaved several million more people. So there is that.

And? People all over the world can be racist. That does not change the fact that millions of Africans are Muslim.

[Dane_in_LA]

Originally Posted by Clark Park

I disagree with the London mayor on this one.

Assimilation to me is showing respect for the dominant culture, the history, the heritage, and the future vision of the country.

I think you actually substantially agree with him, sounds like there's simply a terminology issue. Here's a snippet of his speech:

We shouldn't be embarrassed to say that immigrants should learn our way of life — for example, people employed in public-sector jobs in London should speak English. Our public institutions should promote our common values and laws. We need to ensure our housing and planning laws mean we design and build integrated communities and institutions where neighbors have real reasons to come together. We should create the right conditions for new migrants to integrate fully, and we should be clear about our values and our expectations of them.

What you define as assimilation, he considers integration. What he thinks of as assimilation is essentially giving up central parts of your identity to fit in.

Assimilation does NOT mean you have to change your religion or learn to cook your meals differently ... Poles, Italians, Jews, Irish, Hindus, and others have all assimilated beautifully without forsaking their ancient cultures and identities.

Again, Mayor Khan would agree with you on all points, except the use of the word assimilation.

A laissez-faire approach to achieving social integration just doesn't work. I don't mean assimilation — people shouldn't have to drop their cultures and traditions. I'm a proud Londoner, a Brit, European, of Pakistani heritage, a Muslim — we all have multiple layers of identity — that's what makes us who we are.

It's actually a pretty good piece, before the quote-miners got their hands on it.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan: Time to let go of segregation — globally - Chicago Tribune

I'm an immigrant, I'm quite well integrated, and I have no plans to assimilate.

[Dane_in_LA]

Originally Posted by BentBow

Islam is not a religion. It is a cult.

You claim to like the Constitution, so why don't you cite the bit that defines a cult and a religion, respectively, and clarifies that the First Amendment protects the latter and not the former?