In many ways, this predicament has shown the short-comings of multiculturalism. I have always believed that toleration of other cultures is an important virtue. However, I also live in a town where 95% of the people are white Christians, and it’s quite easy to espouse toleration of differences when you don’t really have to practice it. This tolerance can be quite detrimental, especially when it comes to national identity. We are living in an increasingly global world, and everyone is more interconnected through culture and technology than ever. Similarly, many from the Middle East are moving into Western Europe and the United States. As Buruma points out, 45% of the population of Amsterdam is Muslim immigrants, and soon, white Dutch will be in the minority. Many of these people don’t know Dutch and have very little in common with those whose ancestors have been living in Holland for hundreds of years. And many believe that tolerance of these differences has lead to the breakdown of the Dutch national identity, and I do believe that they have a point. That is why people listen to people like Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. Through populist rhetoric, they play on the desires of the Dutch who want to see their Holland of clogs and windmills back to the way it was before globalization. They are done with multiculturalism.
Thus, there are a couple of fine lines we must walk. The first is that between this new globalized world and traditional society. The second is that between adhering strictly to Enlightenment ideals and letting people choose whether or not they want to follow Enlightenment ideals. I believe that if we answer the second question, the answer to the first will follow much easier. I myself am not sure what to do. I do believe that regardless of your religion, you should follow the laws set forth by the government. It is dangerous when people such as Mohammed Bouyeri believe that they are only held accountable to Allah’s laws (and I am just using him as an example, I am sure that there are sects in religions other than Islam that view themselves in a similar fashion) and thus cannot bother with the laws of this world, when they forbid to act on the will of Allah. However, to tell be that they have to base all of their assumptions and beliefs on reason doesn’t exactly chide well with me either. For pushing the Enlightenment onto people, in my mind, is just as wrong as trying to force someone into a religion. Thus, there is a line we must draw; I’m just not sure where it is.