| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| German Muslims must obey law, not sharia: Merkel |
| 2010-10-07 |
| [Dawn] Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Mohammedans must obey the constitution and not sharia law if they want to live in Germany, which is debating the integration of its 4 million-strong Mohammedan population. In the furore following a German central banker's blunt comments about Mohammedans failing to integrate, moderate leaders including President Christian Wulff have urged Germans to accept that "Islam also belongs in Germany". The debate comes against a backdrop of US and British concerns over the threat of terrorist attacks by krazed killer Islamists living in Germany, with Berlin toning down such fears. Merkel faces corresponding discussions inside her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) about whether she is conservative enough, and the centre-right leader's latest comments seemed directed at those who think Wulff went too far in appeasing the Mohammedans. Wulff, who has a largely ceremonial role, used a speech on Sunday celebrating two decades of German reunification to urge harmonious integration of immigrants who until a decade ago were considered "guest workers" who would eventually return home. But whereas the media stressed Wulff's comments about Islam, Merkel, the daughter of a Protestant pastor brought up in East Germany, who leads a predominantly Catholic party, said Wulff had emphasised Germany's "Christian roots and its Jewish roots". German Christian Democrats often cite shared Judeo-Christian values rooted in the early history of Christianity because of sensitivities about the Holocaust, when the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War Two. "Now we obviously also have Mohammedans in Germany. But it's important in regard to Islam that the values represented by Islam must correspond with our constitution," said Merkel. "What applies here is the constitution, not sharia." Merkel said Germany needed imams "educated in Germany and who have their social roots here" and concluded: "Our culture is based on Christian and Jewish values and has been for hundreds of years, not to say thousands." Opinion polls suggest many Germans sympathise with the views of an outspoken member of Germany's Bundesbank who, in speeches and a book, accused Mohammedans of sponging off welfare, refusing to integrate and achieving poor levels of education. Thilo Sarrazin, who also offended Jews with comments about genetics, was forced to quit the central bank. Merkel has tried to accommodate both sides of the debate, saying police should not be afraid of entering immigrant neighbourhoods but also that Germans must accept mosques becoming part of their landscape. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 irony? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-10-07 21:25 |
| #16 He's in Guam, probably on a Commodore 64 with a sticky caps button. Don't even want to know what it's sticky from. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-10-07 21:15 |
| #15 The answer is simple, chris - just skip over any comment with all caps (or mostly so). Maybe your comments drive Joe crazy, too. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-10-07 19:33 |
| #14 Germans MUST obey!. Period. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2010-10-07 16:15 |
| #13 We could try to get a hold of muck4doo again. |
| Posted by: Ebbaviter McGurque9995 2010-10-07 14:47 |
| #12 Gromky, don't read them, simply scan them directly into your unconcious mind, and BINGO he's understandable. Seriously we figure English is NOT his native languag, and allow for it. Lotta tolerence here for honest efforts to communicate, and none for assholes and scmmers. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-10-07 14:46 |
| #11 I have been wanting a kill filter on Rantburg for quite some time now, specifically to nuke these idiotic ALL CAPS posts. The man who writes them is quite capable of normal conversation, I've seen him drop his pretense before. Unfortunately, most of you love wading through his incomprehensible nonsense and posting replies. |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-10-07 14:35 |
| #10 Wulff's remarks were rather clumsy. Islam may "belong" to Germany in the sense that there are 4 million people practising it, but Islam is not part of German history, culture and thinking. I don't know a non-Muslim German who could quote anything from the Koran. The Arabic world was (at times) a beacon of civilization in the Middle Ages, but a very unstable one that could be swept away by the next desert tribe. But Arab and Persian science, literature and philosophy which influenced Europe did so not because of Islam but despite of it. Merkel may not be a staunch conservative. But she's not a leftist who receives the Dalai Lama through the back door of her home. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2010-10-07 14:15 |
| #9 Some corrections and comments: The CDU is not and does not wish to position itself as a 'predominantly Catholic' party. Merkel's father being a Protestant pastor daughter is not the issue. Merkel being an authoritarian, incompetent politician with zero charisma who is far to left of CDU voters is the big issue. Wulff's remark was foolish and dangerous, as were similar statements by e.g. Obama. Islamofascists will actually refrain from implementing certain aspects of Sharia if the country is not an 'islamic country.' (See e.g. this at 6:35) If a head of state of a western nation even implies that his country is 'islamic' he unvoluntarily strengthens the advocates of strict Sharia in the country. And this might cost lives. |
| Posted by: Omaing White7048 2010-10-07 13:41 |
| #8 I can't imagine Germany wanting nuclear weapons at this time. JosephM can wander rather far into crazy territory on occasion. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-10-07 12:49 |
| #7 Are yall just now noticing Joseph Mendiolas comments. This bullshit has been driving me crazy for years now. |
| Posted by: chris 2010-10-07 12:12 |
| #6 EVEN IN CAPS IT'S BS Joe is apparently connected to the Interwebs via a old Teletype Model 33. Infrastructure issues on Guam, I guess. As to the idea Germans and Japanese working together on nukes, I would say they are foolish if they are not thinking about it. Germany is not that far, as the missile flies, from some serious and soon to be nuke-enabled craziness. Japan is right next door to a neighbor with determined to expand, a recent history of throwing its weight around and a whole mess of bad feelings left over from WWII. At one time, our allies could count on the American security umbrella. That warranty seems to have expired. Expect quite a bit of weapons proliferation, both nuclear and non, as countries realize they are on their own in an increasingly dangerous world. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-10-07 11:12 |
| #5 Islam belongs in Germany about as much as a tapeworm belongs in her intestine. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-10-07 11:10 |
| #4 @JosephMendiola EVEN IN CAPS IT'S BS |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2010-10-07 10:15 |
| #3 ..sort of like New Coke. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-10-07 08:37 |
| #2 Islam also belongs in Germany It is, after all, a lot like Nazism. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-10-07 02:46 |
| #1 ION OWG GERMANISTAN, TOPIX > GERMANY MAY STOP NUCLEAR-SHARING WID USA. ARTIC > Read, GERMANY WANTS NUCWEAPS. and * WMF > JAPANESE MEDIAS REVEALED THE NEWS: JAPAN + GERMANY MAY WORK TOGETHER TO DEV NUCLEAR WEAPONS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-10-07 00:46 |