I know. That sounds pretty serious. Papa Ray sent me this WSJ article by Mark Steyn. It is a long read, but well worth it. He covers quite a bit of ground, but the facts about Western birth rates diminishing while Islamic birth rates are flourishing is interesting and worrisome.
There is no doubt that Islam will grow if for no other reason than birthrates. Which clearly means their influence will grow. I read all kinds of opinions about Islam being evil and all that. But I don't ever paint a people or religion with a broad brush, (except liberals maybe...;-) )
But I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we would not want an Islamic state here. I think we all agree that Islamic countries have a history of sometimes abusing women, but always putting them in a second class. That is unacceptable to us all, but this influence is growing. France didn't have major parts of their city involved in violence and fire if the Islamic community was not happy. If there is one thing we have learned, Even those who don't practice their religion of Islam still feel a strong tie to it.
I have a neighbor who is from Iran. He has been in this country for over 20 yrs. He does not practice any religion and is completely westernized, but his extended family does practice and live there. He thinks the war is pointless because the Middle East has been about bloody religious war forever and he doesn't feel anything is going to change that. My question was has anything ever really been done to try?
Not until now.
We got a slap in the face on Sept. 11th. Before that I don't many Americans could tell you what Islam was. It is also time to wake up to a future where there are more Muslims than anyone else. As Steyn points out about parts of Europe:
What will London--or Paris, or Amsterdam--be like in the mid-'30s?IfEuropean politicians make no serious attempt this decade to wean the populaceoff their unsustainable 35-hour weeks, retirement at 60, etc., then to keep thepresent level of pensions and health benefits the EU will need to import so manyworkers from North Africa and the Middle East that it will be well on its way tomajority Muslim by 2035. As things stand, Muslims are already the primary sourceof population growth in English cities. Can a society become increasinglyIslamic in its demographic character without becoming increasingly Islamic inits political character?
He continues:
Europe continues: Europe is significantly more Islamic, having taken in duringthat periodsome 20 million Muslims (officially)--or the equivalents of thepopulations offour European Union countries (Ireland, Belgium, Denmark andEstonia). Islam isthe fastest-growing religion in the West: In the U.K., moreMuslims thanChristians attend religious services each week.
Then think about our population growths:
....you'll eventually find the United States, hovering just atreplacement rate with 2.07 births per woman. Ireland is 1.87, New Zealand 1.79,Australia 1.76. But Canada's fertility rate is down to 1.5, well belowreplacement rate; Germany and Austria are at 1.3, the brink of the death spiral;Russia and Italy are at 1.2; Spain 1.1, about half replacement rate. That's tosay, Spain's population is halving every generation. By 2050, Italy's populationwill have fallen by 22%, Bulgaria's by 36%, Estonia's by 52%
What is clear is that as far as population grows, Muslims are leaping past us. Don't you think their intolerant views will have more and more influence in the world? The left likes to whine about religious conservatives in this country imposing beliefs, but we have NOTHING on the Muslims. It is really thoseMuslim religious that liberals, as well as conservatives, need to be wary of.
You might scoff that nothing like the Islamic states could ever happen here. I was watching a Discovery channel special on the fall of Rome last night. It was incredible how the Romans lived at that time. Their architecture alone was an amazing feat. The modern conviences they conceived of and built are so much like a modern city today that it is incredible. But something happened. Historians are not sure. Some say they were defeated by opposing forces and some say their decadence and injustice led them down the path to self destruction. But the lesson here is that great civilizations have fallen, even those whose intelligence and tolerance seemed to be about constructing a great society.
We should not be cocky. Even if we remain the great Democracy we are, will most certainly have to contend with a mostly Muslim European and Middle Eastern people. That could very well mean contending with Muslim leaders of many countries who see our way of life as evil. We have seen what many radical Muslims wish for the United States. The more there are, the more likely it is they can convince many to fight us. Many like to argue that our enemy is Islam itself. I'm not ready to accept that. Nor do I wish to spread a fear of Islam. I just want us to be aware of the probable future of our divide.
The answer? It is certainly not to believe that we must destroy Islam or fight a war about our religious faith. No, the answer is simple, natural, and freeof violence. I can't tell you how many people I have argued with over the years about population growth. The hard left environmentalists have always seen more people as the problem. It is not. It is the answer.
We need to welcome more children into our lives, not just to ensure the growth of Democracy and business and not just because we will have enough young people to take care of the elderly. But because children are the greatest gift we are given. They are our hearts and our future. We have for too long looked upon them as"birth control failures" or"unwanted" or"burdens." We have and are raising a generation of spoiled bratty children who lazy and are given too much materially. One thing a baby gives his or her siblings is a sense of nurturing and selflessness. Virtues we all need.
Families are the answer. Not the broken ones we have come to accept. But the loving, giving, messy, loud, and strong ones that could make all the difference......for the future.
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