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Until this government can point to the similarities and compatibility between the West and Islam as practiced in the 22 Muslims countries, their First Assumption is wrong

First Assumptions: Islam Compatible with the West



In the book Orientalism Edward Said wrote about the importance of the First Assumption; that the statement upon which the argument is based is correct, factual. Otherwise the thesis falls apart. Prime Minister Trudeau said February 2016 “Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies.” Liberal Member of Parliament Frank Baylis put together a petition about Muslims talking about their contributions to the world:
“Islam is a religion of over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Since its founding more than 1400 years ago, Muslims have contributed, and continue to contribute, to the positive development of human civilization. This encompasses all areas of human endeavors including the arts, culture, science, medicine, literature, and much more.”
Liberal MP Kent Hehr sent out a mailing:
“Canada’s Muslim population is deeply woven into the cultural fabric of our nation and this month is one more enriching element that brings together the quilt work of our country underlying the teachings of Ramadan are the values of empathy, generosity and discipline, principles upon which Canada was founded."
Trudeau says multiculturalism will bring a better future for Canadians. He dismissed the idea of defining a country based on national identity and believes that migration and immigration will shape the new evolving world. When asked at the G-20 conference in Turkey about his position regarding the refugee crisis, Trudeau said the following: “Canada figured out a long time ago that differences should be a source of strength, not a source of weakness and the more we can do to bring in diverse perspectives, diverse points of view, and indeed to define a country not based on a national identity or ethnicity or language or background, but on values shared by all people in our country, values of openness, respect, compassion, a willingness to work hard, the desire to be there for each other. It is truly how countries in this globalized world where migration and immigration is going to be the norm rather than the exception. This is a lesson that we all need to learn.”

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That first assumption: “Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies” is lovely, but show us. Show us that your First Assumption is defensible.Show us how the “differences” that Islam brings to this country will make us stronger. Show us the “values of openness, respect, compassion” that Islam brings here. List the contributions of “positive development of human civilization” in the past 200 years. Show us the implementation of the values of empathy, generosity and discipline and diversity in any of the 22 Muslim countries. Trudeau is a proud feminist. In March 2016 at the UN Women’ Conference he declared, “I’m going to keep saying, loud and clearly, that I am a feminist. Until it is met with a shrug.” But he promotes the wearing of the niqab, which like the Burka, is the ultimate symbol of oppression and suppression of women to the point that in a vast majority of Muslim countries women don’t have human rights, let alone civil rights. He has been congratulated for being the First Prime Minister to attend three Gay Pride Parades in one year! Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. "We know people look to Canada to see the example," he said in French. "And we will continue to work hard to push the limits of what other countries do because we have to send the message that LGBTQ rights are human rights." Is he in the process of pushing those rights in all 22 Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, where gays are hanged in the square or thrown off buildings blindfolded-hands tied behind them? Has he spoken out against the calls of Imams in North America who say that killing gays is compassionate? “Death is the sentence,” Sheikh Farrokh Sekaleshfar said at a speech at the Husseini Islamic Center in Orlando in 2013. “We know. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is the sentence.”

This is Canada: where freedom reins because our Constitution is firmly rooted in the Judeo/Christian ethic that makes pluralism possible because it declares that we care for the other; that all lives have equal intrinsic value; that we care for the sick, the poor, the widow, the orphan and the poor. Western culture is like no other. Until this government can point to the similarities and compatibility between the West and Islam as practiced in the 22 Muslims countries, their First Assumption is wrong, as is everything that follows and all policies made in that First Assumption. I want my government to speak to our ideals and demand that all who come to this country no matter their race, colour, creed, or religion, take on our love of freedom-for all-and caring for the other; from Christian to Buddhist, Sikh to Jainist, Taoist to Hindu, Mormon to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baathist, Muslim to Jew. Intolerance cannot be tolerated.


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Diane Weber Bederman -- Bio and Archives

Diane Weber Bederman is a blogger for ‘Times of Israel’, a contributor to Convivium, a national magazine about faith in our community, and also writes about family issues and mental illness. She is a multi-faith endorsed hospital trained chaplain.


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