Muslims in Europe

In a society that is Christian in cultural roots, that spawned the Crusades and the Inquisition, it is not surprising that there is overt discrimination against Muslims in many countries. Discrimination against the dress of Muslim women is unfair and ought to be made illegal by European Courts.

In Italy since 1975, it is a criminal offence to wear a face covering. On April 30th 2010, the Belgian parliament voted to ban full veils in public In France, the government is drafting a similar bill.

Recently, a Muslim woman was fined €500 because she was covered head to toe by Italian police under a municipal bylaw.

Now this week, a picture of two nuns in full habit entering a London polling station was printed in a broadsheet. Their faces were visible and smiling, but some nuns’ habits cover virtually everything except the flashing eyes.

The problem for Muslims is that opinion polls of Muslims living in Europe show that about 70% want Sharia Law which goes down like a lead balloon with the natives including me. The treatment of Europeans in Dubai is not helpful and only reminds us of potential problems with Islamic culture.

Islamic culture is not monolithic and should not be treated as such. Saudi Arabia, beheadings, Van Gogh, Fortuin etc only add to the abreaction. After the troubles with Canon Law in Roman Catholicism, we need parallel religious Islamic Courts in the EU like a hole in the head.

I believe that Europeans need to define a very broad cultural norm and say that people in parallel universes should live elsewhere. There is a certain resonance to “When in Rome, do as the Romans”

Meanwhile, European countries should not discriminate against indigenous Muslims and should be prosecuted in the Court of Human Rights for doing so.