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Since the beginning of Europe itself Muslims and Europeans have clashed over religious and cultural styles. This hatred began during the crusades when Christian Europeans drove out and killed Muslims that had begun to immigrate to their lands. Europe had been divided since into Western Christian Europe and Eastern Catholic/Islamic Europe. Even in current day the relations between the two cultures seems to have reached new peaks of instability. In Muslim culture the ideals of the West to do not sit well with them as Western Europeans are seen as blasphemous and scandalous in their eyes. From Western Europe’s perspective the Islamic culture is blasphemous and unprogressive compared to their ideals. Neither side has ever seen eye to eye …show more content…
In Germany for instance “Muslim religion and their extremely patriarchal family structure,” have “kindled a subliminal anxiety,” with not only Germans but Austria as well (Document 5). This quiet dislike for the Muslims in Germany as led to prejudice against them as Germans are uncomfortable with how they act as a family. This anxiety has spread to many as more and more Muslim immigrants enter into Germany. Along with differing family styles, Western Europeans have become unsettled as the new Muslim immigrants create more competition for jobs. In Western Europe the introduction of more competition for work led to “anti-immigrant feeling directed primarily against Muslim workers,” which caused for even more hatred for one another (Document 2). With an already uneasiness due to culture differences, the added thought of Muslim Immigrants competing for jobs as well was the nail that broke the camel's back causing an even greater hysteria and disliking for the Muslim culture. Just as Americans despised Asian and Eastern European immigrants when they began to compete for American jobs the Europeans felt the same way and would begin to have a harsh prejudice against Muslim immigrants. The social differences led to the tension between both cultures and this hatred would only be furthered by religious …show more content…
Europeans did not approve of the Muslims religion of Islam and vice versa with the Muslim view of Christianity. Even in everyday life Muslims are scrutinized as the the French Minister of education stated “in practicing exclusion, that we will promote the evolution of Islam in the Western world” (Document 1). Some of the Western governments exclude Islamic culture from the Western world purposely to divide the ideals. The mistreatment of Muslims causes for them to hate Western Europeans even more and some Western Europeans just want to get rid of the opposing culture completely because of their deep hatred because of past sins. These feelings also are caused from many Europeans being devout Catholic which has many differences with the Islamic religion. However, their are some Western Europeans who champion diversity and do not want to ignore Islamic religion and culture. In 2000, Philippe de Schoutheete of Belgium said that “Diversity is clearly one of the keys to European society,” allowing for the less accepted view that the Muslim culture was a good thing in Western Europe (Document 7). The tensions are so high now that few Europeans want this diversity of religion, and Schoutheete statement is drowned out over the animosity for Muslim immigrants and religion. The different religions are the basis for the clash of Western Europeans versus
Culture is made up of three main components: ethics, aesthetics, and religion (Lincoln 52). The lines of culture become skewed as it often blends in with political and religious views. In Western Europe during the time of the Reformation, the Church was the central ruler of the society. This meant that religion was not only a cultural view, but also a political one. As time moved on, the Church became less important, but today’s standards still connect religion to culture. This becomes an issue as individuals who are noticeably outside the culture in forms or religion are often judged and looked down upon (Lincoln 56). Due to this outcast it can cause anger to certain religions and culture which can often lead to these acts of violence. With the hate between cultures, religion becomes the justifiable mean on which violence can occur. Many individuals can state that God wants them to make their own religion superior, and one way they can draw attention to their religion is terrorism and other forms of violence. Due to this connection to culture, religion can not be separated into it’s own personal category, as it is forever affected by the changes and culture of the community (Lincoln 57). As time and culture progress, the religion of the community will either change with it, or fight the changes which will often cause conflict. This can be seen in the results of the practice of Jihad, the Reformation and
It is often said that history is written by the victor, and in the race to industrialization of the past two centuries, Western Europe and the United States have emerged as the victors. This enabled them to write a history in which their rise to power was preordained and inevitable and in which Eastern cultures are viewed as backward and intolerant. These Eurocentric histories have so fully permeated the global psyche that the stereotypes they have perpetuated inform our cultural interactions to this day. However, an unbiased look at the premodern history of Asia and the Middle East reveals the inaccuracy of the Eurocentric paradigm. Contrary to the Eurocentric view, there is nothing inherently intolerant about Islam or Middle Eastern and East Asian culture. In fact, many of the societies that have existed in the East have been extraordinarily tolerant and heterogeneous.
Clashes between Christianity and Islam have taken place since Islam’s inception. The most recent clash is the one happening now between Western Europeans and the Muslim immigrants who began arriving in the 1960s and now make up 4 to 5% of the total population. Islam is regarded as the fastest growing religion in Europe, through the immigrations and high birth rates causing to a rapid increase in Muslim population in Europe, which will make Islam be the domineering power in the future. The recent research indicates that there are more than 53 million Muslim in Europe, 14 million of them in the European union. According to the German evangelical news agency IDEA, the number of Muslims in Europe has risen by 800.000 over the last two years (Polzer). On the other hand, the birth rates in Europeans are decreasing. Pipes states that original Europeans become extinct because in order to sustain the population in Europe each woman should bear 2.1 children. The overall rate is only 1.5 that is also falling in the European Union (262). Today Europeans still have the upper hand, and therefore many of them continue to believe that multiculturalism and their immigration policy will eventually produce an integrated society in spite of the social unrest in Europe resulting from integration problems of Muslim immigrants. These Europeans insist that dialogue will solve all problems; in that sense they suffer from what Ayaan Hirsi Ali calls the “fanaticism of reason” (78), and they tend to fall into the appeasement camp. Muslim strategists such as Yusuf Al Qaradawi recognize that Islamists can achieve a great deal by pretending to cooperate with reasonable Europeans (Vidino 38), and that his organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, can take advantage...
The rise of Islam quickly created fear and hatred in Christian Europe, which identified itself as it’s rival. European crusades were called in the eleventh century to win back the Holy Land from the Muslims, though they were only partially successful. Hostility to Islam in Europe has remained a major theme to th...
In Islamic culture, because of the crusades, an enmity was born between the Muslims and the crusades which lasts until today. They saw the crusaders as “Immoral, bloody and savage” in their ruthless massacres on the Jews and Muslims during their crusades. However, It did create a new hero for the Muslims:
Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
Religion plays a large role in the acceptance and denial of countries applying for E.U. membership. Turkey has been the applicant with the greatest amount of difference between its predominant religion and that of most E.U. countries. Turkey’s government claims to be secular, but works to spread the Alevi form of the Muslim faith in its country. Turkey’s legislature also manages Islam in its country. Turkey is far more supportive of a particular church than any country in the E.U. This creates a glaring schism between Turkey and the rest of the EU, providing even more reason not to accept Turkey as a member state. The endorsement of the Alevi form of Islam in turn causes those of other faiths to be discriminated against. Turkish school children must attend schools where they have taught Islam and laws restricting forms of Islam other than Alevi are in effect in some locations in Turkey (The Economist 14). The roadblocks that these factors place in the way of Turkey’s acceptance into the E.U. are clear. The discrimination against minorities could keep Turk...
Many nurses treat each patient as they want to be treated and while this is the golden rule it is not always the best course of action when working with those who are of a different culture or faith. It is important to be open-minded and unafraid to explore our own feelings, biases, and correct misunderstandings to provide the best care possible. The following information is given to open an eye to the culture of Islam, an overview of the basic pillars and behaviors a nurse or medical staff could see or hear. When those in the healthcare setting have a good basic understanding of a culture it will become easier to treat the person as a whole, and to understand how to care for the patient and the family.
In the most recent edition of, The Economist, Robert D. Kaplan essay ends with the following statement: “Europe must now find some other way to dynamically incorporate the world of Islam without diluting its devotion to the rule-of-law based system . . . in which individual rights and agency are uppermost in a hierarchy of needs. If it [Islam] cannot evolve in the direction of universal values, there will be only the dementia of ideologies and coarse nationalisms to fill the void.” This essay will explain Kaplan 's views in regards to Islam and Muslim integration, additionally about the rise of far-Right and far-Left political developments. However, I will concentrate on Islam. Moreover, I will explore why it 's trying for
Karic, Enes. 2002. Is ‘Euro-Islam’ a Myth, Challenge or a Real Opportunity for Muslims and Europe? Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 22, (2), 435-442.
What is Islamophobia? People from around the world have different outlooks on Muslims, although a vast amount believe that they are bad. The cause of this was due to ISIS declaring that they are Muslims and created a general idea that all Muslims are extremists. Many people have had discussions on what a Muslim is and whether they are people who are with or against the religion of Islam. Countries such as France and Brazil have opposite opinions on this topic. Brazilians accept the religion of Islam and help Muslims feel comfortable by building mosques, and they work together without conflict. On the other hand, France have shown that they are indeed anti-Islam. France didn’t make the Muslims feel welcomed by shutting down mosques and have
The islamic culture has been using three main languages throughout history. “Arabic, Persian, and Turkish.” This is significant to the achievements of Islam because most of the Islamic culture knew how to read and write. Another achievement in the Islamic culture is poetry. Poetry was a very big part of Islam. According to (World Cultures a Global Mosaic) poetry has been around even before islam was formed. These poems were not only for entertainment, they could also be used to insult their enemies, show their love, and talk about topics like war. This is also significant because these small short stories led to things like books. Another Islamic achievement that shaped the Islamic culture was the arts. “The Quran forbids the worship of idols, many muslims and their religious leaders opposed the portrayal of human or animal images.” This means that the Quran didn’t let Muslims praise their “idols.” As an alternative the Muslims painted, or created pictures or murals of their “idols.” Also, an art called calligraphy which is a lot of elegant ways of writing was used in the Islamic Culture. It grew rapidly, and became a very popular part of the Islamic Culture. Calligraphy is still used at events like weddings to this very day. One of the biggest Islamic achievements was Islamic Architecture. For example they built mosques, which is a building in which they worship. Also, due to some help from the “Byzantine Empire Muslims” were very experienced “in building domes.” An example of a dome is “Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.” The dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is so significant because it was, “The first work of Islamic Architecture.” Also, more groundbreaking Islamic architecture is the “palaces built by...
Islamophobia has become a new topic of interest among social sciences, political leaders and media commentators. People amongst society have developed this phobia towards Islamic religion and people. It has become a novel “form of racism in Europe and American based on discrimination ...
Orthodox Christianity introduced religious intolerance into the world and the conflicts that emerged from this intolerance helped shaped the world in which we know. The moments of intolerance are counterbalanced with moments of acceptance and tolerance by many different religions, including the Jews, Muslims and Christians. Medieval Spain witnessed many such moments; it has been said that “despite intractable differences and enduring hostilities, [these religions] nourished a culture of tolerance” (Menocal, 1). Yet in the texts that we have read, intolerance is the prevailing theme that is displayed. In The Song of El Cid, the acts of violence towards the Muslim people help showcase the negative feelings that developed since the introduction of Christianity. The coexistence that they were once able to share is eliminated with only few gestures of tolerance. The question that can be asked though is if these moments of tolerance are really acceptance of the other cultures, or acceptance based on fear. The triumph of intolerance is visible throughout The Song of El Cid, as well as other Christian texts, such as the writings of St. Paul and the works of Hildegard of