The issue took place in Switzerland. A 15-year-old Muslim high school student was offered to shake the hand of his teacher, a woman. The student refused and he was suspended until he shook her hand. The family of the student filed a lawsuit stating that it was against their faith and boy should not be forced to touch the teacher’s hand. The shaking of hands between student and teacher is a deeply rooted tradition in Switzerland. The Muslim family, after a law suit and several appeals, ended up losing the case. You can read the story below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/muslim-schoolboys-handshake-female-teacher-refuse-appeal-lose-a7319986.html

This case raises a serious question: Should integration into a new culture outweigh the religious belief of the immigrant. In Switzerland, the answer is “Yes”.

When I first read the article, I had mixed feelings. Though I do not agree with that type of religious tradition (the belief in the inferiority of women by the Muslim faith), I am not sure that a government should have the right to force an individual to violate their belief. That is until I read the quote from the Swiss education authority:

“The public interest in respect to equality between men and
women and the integration of foreigners significantly
outweighs the freedom of conscience (freedom of religion)
of the student.”

Basically, Switzerland is putting their culture and their traditions first. The immigrant’s beliefs and traditions are not as important especially when they violate a basic moral value of that country.

I believe that immigrants to a new country should integrate. I look at the United States as an example of what happens when we do not force immigrants to integrate into our culture. In this country, we see immigrants who refuse to integrate killing our culture, costing us billions of tax dollars and bringing in customs that may be considered undesirable.

Our culture is under attack by the flood of immigration. Not by the immigrants themselves but by their failure to integrate and their desire to instill their own culture of our country. English, our language for three hundred years, is becoming a secondary language. Our holidays and traditions are being eliminated because some find them offensive or feel segregated that their traditions are not celebrated. Even the U.S. flag and Pledge of Allegiance are being disrespected or dismissed. The religion of our fore fathers, Christianity, is suppressed because those who are not Christian take offense. Freedom of speech is in danger because certain words, phrases, symbols and beliefs may “trigger” negative emotions for those not of this culture. Even our identity as Americans has been reduced to hyphenated names of one’s heritage (Mexican-American, African-American). Or the American identity is dropped all together. I know many in California refer to themselves as Mexicans even though they were born in this country.

Everything in this country must be done so it is “inclusive”. This includes creating signs and literature in multiple languages for those refuse to learn English. Schools must be able to accommodate those who do not speak English. Even election ballots must be written in multiple languages so those who do not speak English can vote. What does this mean? Billions of tax dollars must be spent on those that refuse to learn English. Combine that with illegal immigrants and refugees (a majority of those who immigrate to the United States) who come into this country, do not pay their fair share of taxes and use public assistance programs such as low income housing, welfare, food stamps and health care.

Not forcing those to come here and accept our standard set of morals and laws will allow those immigrants to bring their societal issue to us. Murder, rape, drugs, human trafficking, honor killings, terrorism and gangs flood our streets as never before. The observant reader of news will notice that the culprits, for the most part, are individuals from different countries or different cultures who are just living as they had in their homeland.

How can we solve these issues? First, we must acknowledge what we are. We are an English speaking country founded by Christians who follow Christian morality standards. Defining our religion and language does not make us any less diverse and does not mean we minimize others because they are not from our roots. It is just what we are and how our culture was formed. Who we are should be celebrated, not rejected.

Next, we should require those who want to belong to our society to integrate into our society and culture. This is not something new in this country and is a requirement in just about every country throughout the world. Immigrants should learn our language, traditions, ethics, morality and history. That does not mean they have to reject the culture they were raised with unless their tradition or custom conflict with one of ours. But they should want to become Americans and we should have a definition of that.

Finally, this is an exceptional nation (which is why everyone wants to come here in the first place). We should be picky as to who we allow into this country. We should secure our borders. We should verify these individuals can be productive members of our culture. We should not let in those that will commit crimes or feed off our system by accessing public welfare programs.This may sound harsh but all you need to do is to read the Mexican constitution to see that this standard is not uncommon. Accepting those who will not produce and will suck the life out of our economy through government programs will only lead this country down the road to a third world nation.

This is a great country, possibly the best and strongest in history. We must embrace this country’s greatness and protect it.

 

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aboutislam.net
downtrend.com
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www.elheraldo.hn