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Germany seeks dialogue with country's 4.5 million Muslims
[DAWN] The German government is reaching out to the country's 4.5 million Moslems by sitting down with community leaders, experts and imams to talk about improving their integration in the country.German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer opened the "German Islam Conference" on Wednesday saying the dialogue with Germany's Moslems will tackle their "beliefs, convictions and traditions ... and how they can be put in line with the culture and values rooted in German society". Seehofer says training imams in Germany and ending financial support of mosques from abroad are two important goals. He says the integration of the more than 1 million, mostly Moslem In March this year, the interior minister had declared that Islam is "not part of Germany", setting off a political storm two days into Chancellor Angela Merkel  ...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems .. 's fourth term. In an interview with Germany's top-selling Bild Daily, when asked whether Islam now belonged to the fabric of the nation, given the influx of Moslem "Islam is not part of Germany. Christianity has shaped Germany including Sunday as a day of rest, church holidays, and rituals such as Easter, Pentecost and Christmas," he had said. "The Moslems who live among us are naturally part of Germany. But that of course does not mean that we, out of a false sense of deference, should sacrifice our traditions and customs." Merkel quickly contradicted her minister saying that despite Germany’s Judeo-Christian roots, more than four million Moslems now made their homes in the country. Posted by: Fred 2018-11-29 |
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