Tomorrow’s program tells us that we’ll have a sailing trip with my brother. There will be windforce 4 and a reasonable chance of some rain. We are not sure whether Janine and Menno will join us, we decide that I think this evening. The school will take its normal course again. I just have sent an e-mail to a student whose dissertation concept was awful, I’m afraid that he will require very close guidance, according to the famous 8—20 rule: 20% of all cases ask for 80% of time and attention. He hasn’t been guided up to now by me and luckily these cases are rare. His study pace is slow because since 2 years we have team-dissertations: groups of students study like consultants company problems for which they design a solution, a very successful formula; the only disadvantage is that it’s not individual, but individual contributions within the team are weighed and included in the final assessment. A problem is also that there must be sufficient co-operating companies, and that the cases are sufficiently serious to reach a dissertation’s level.
Something else: last time I asserted that when you ask an Afghanistan opium-growing farmer if growing opium is in accordance with Islam, he would answer that such a question wouldn’t suit me, because the Western world causes much more problems than he does with his job. I gave it a second thought and I think I have to adjust this: probably the farmer would take his life and world as it is, without such “Western” questions, even if he could read and follows the news. So many people everywhere in the world take everything as it is. They follow the tradition of their cultures and clans, and when these traditions have been weakened or are threatened by Western influences, there is always the daily struggle for food and living which will be done by means that in our eyes are less moral or objectionable.
Many hundreds of thousands of these people have immigrated into Europe, or try to immigrate. Of course, they bring with them their traditions and leaders who try to keep them on the right track, which is often contrary to the Western right track which they often consider to be sinful and despicable. Their world of views and truths are often diametrically opposed to values we find important: women and men treated equally, own choices in marriage and education, freedom of speech, variation in clothing, loose family bonds, rewards for achievement and not for kinship or tradition-adherence, etc. etc. Ten years ago I was very surprised by what I saw as arrogance, the way some of their leaders preached hatred against Western society, at the same time receiving social welfare benefits. I thought: “Why are you here then?”, a very obvious question in Western eyes. In one of my lectures I showed in my ignorance a portrait of their prophet in a Powerpoint presentation, the same week I got reprimanded by a Muslim colleague because Muslim students had complained to him. I got flabbergasted because female teachers refused to shake hands with men (parents, colleagues) because their faith forbade them to do so, and a Muslim priest (imam) refused to shake hands with a Minister (State Secretary) visiting their mosque. I asked myself if Muslim ministers would visit Christian churches in a Muslim country, even our queen did so once and she wisely avoided trying to shake hands with the mosque leaders. In a TV program a Muslim leader refused to sit at an interview table together with seven other partners in a debate, because one of them had a glass of wine before him. His son, also a Dutch “celebrity” walked away from a program because one lady’s skirt was too short according to him.
I just read a wise article in my paper which brings me back to my rational senses. It says: let’s stop arguing and debating about how Muslims should adjust themselves to our values. Don’t pay attention to it anymore. In another newspaper there was an article discussing an American philosopher, Lee Harris, who has a more pessimistic view, he is right when he says that our values, based on philosophies by people such as Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Voltaire etc. is very rare in the world. Only a few countries have succeeded in overcoming the all-embracing power of tradition, clan and family, trying to defend themselves with all thinkable means. In our laws and legislation “tolerance” is a main virtue, in most other countries it means weakness.
The way Muslim groups and leaders link their values and views to their fait is highly questionable. Many Muslims adhere to tolerance, reward according to achievement, respectful treatment of everybody, etc. but most of them live in the U.S.A. or have positions requiring high education in Europe, they are only a small minority, often considered as non-Muslims by their own brethren (sisters don’t have a say). We in Holland have a Muslim Minister and many Muslims are in local or regional governments.
After reading and thinking, I was left in confusion, there are still many questions, or maybe one or two very big questions, left to be answered.
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