The “Cartoon Jihad” …

The “Cartoon Jihad” has given Europe a chance to reevaluate its values. To what degree should immigrants be assimilated? Newsweek has an article on this topic, but it has an odd title, “The End of Tolerance”. The subheading goes further: “Farewell, multiculturalism. A cartoon backlash is pushing Europe to insist upon its values.” Is this what “tolerance” and “multiculturalism” means, that countries should allow the killings and burnings to continue? Does “tolerance” mean that no set of values is better than another, or that a country can’t insist that people follow its values as expressed in its laws?

It’s this mindset that has turned schools into values-free war zones. The Dutch have seen what kind of war zones have been imported, and how it has been exported to the world. But Newsweek doesn’t want anyone to make value judgements. Instead we get writing like this:

What’s going on here? Weren’t the Dutch supposed to be the nicest people on earth, the most tolerant nation in Europe, a melting pot for minorities and immigrants since the Renaissance? No longer, and in this the Dutch are once again at the forefront of changes in Europe. This time, the Dutch model for Europe is one of multiculturalism besieged, if not plain defunct.

“Be nice and let ’em in, but be tolerant and don’t judge them when they burn down your towns and kill you over cartoons.” Remember that America was, and still is, a melting pot, and we still generally ask that immigrants accept our shared values, including freedom of the press and religious freedom.

Multiculturalism isn’t being besieged so much as it’s coming in contact with reality. As the saying goes, a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged.

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out, Blogger News Network and Redstate. Comments welcome.)

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