Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 7:22 am
that is like asking the british to take a shower, or an Australian to stop drinking beer isn't it. But there is some sense to me in Countries retaining their identity for the civilians. 8)danyet wrote:The most profound development is the sudden need of the British and others to assert what it means to be British, Australian, or some other nationality. In the face of the Islamist challenge, historic identities taken for granted must now be explained and codified.
This can be seen on a diurnal level, where Islamist assertion has provoked a new European willingness in recent months to stand up for historic customs — as seen by the banning of burqas in Italy, requiring a German school boy to attend co-ed swimming classes, and making male applicants for Irish citizenship renounce polygamy. When a ranking Belgian politician cancelled lunch with an Iranian group after it demanded that alcohol not be present, his spokesman helpfully explained that "You can't force the authorities of Belgium to drink water."
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0805/p ... 08_30.php3