AKIron, I think you are the one missing the point. What exactly is it that we are defending if not the unique freedoms granted us by the Bill of Rights? And that's precisely what I AM defending and what you are so casually throwing out the door. YOU are the one that seems opposed to my ideals, because I share the ideals of the founding fathers and think that immigrating to America from a politically oppressive theocracy in order to freely practice religion is exactly the ideal this country was built upon.
seeing it fail miserably in the E.U. doesn't seem to deter us from embracing it.
I say again, it seems very unlikely to me that most of these Muslim immigrants are coming to the West because they are enamored of the First Amendment. I think they coming, as most immigrants in history have, for economic reasons, and are indifferent, or even hostile, to the political ideals of the nations hosting them.
On a further point, you, apparently, are directly opposed to my ideals (since you value a same-thinking strongly christian society more than you value individual freedoms), and yet I would protect your right to vote with my life. So long as Americans still have the Bill of Rights and value individual freedoms as the foundation of our society, I'm a patriot all the way. But the current trend is to devalue our freedoms, which is what I think you are doing.
Any coherent society will be "same thinking" on some matters. I doubt Iron wants a Christian theocracy, that he wants to legislate against Judiasm or atheism or even Islam. And I certainly don't. The matter we require "same thinking" on is not Christianity or any other religion, but the idea that religous and personal freedoms are a good thing and that we should live in peace with our neighbors, no matter how strongly we may disagree with their choices. That is what I mean by "fit in". Too many Muslim immigrants have recently demonstrated a strong tendency towards NOT accepting this proposition, and thus immigrants from certain regions are justifiably considered a bad risk for entry.
In this respect, I welcome the votes of new immigrants who have lived elsewhere and really appreciate the difference between even a so-called democracy and what we have here, because too many Americans don't appreciate it and put their desire to have a Starbucks on the corner and just people who think and worship like themselves at their home owners association meetings over their desire to ensure that all Americans retain the freedoms originally granted by the constitution.
You welcome voting? I must disagree. The voting record of people who were
born here, both in terms of voter apathy and what kind of things those who do vote will go in for, is IMO appalling. I suspect a good number of those who do not vote are doing me a favor, frankly.
And then you have immigrants coming in from countries that are more repressive than the U.S., from a socialist or authoritarian background, so many infringements will to them seem normal. I have known quite a few immigrants from Asia, including Muslims. Most of them are okay on a personal level, hard working, intelligent, polite. Because of their economic status and lifestyle values, you might think they were shoe-ins for the Republican/Conservative side of things. But indeed most of the ones I've known voted Democrat, and those who were Republican were so because they felt the Democrats were too tolerant of various behavorial vices and percieved social ills. So I'm rather skeptical of the notion that most immigrants are sympathetic or even neutral towards libertarian-leaning politics.
The free market place of ideas has a pretty good track record for toppling communism. I don't see how America throwing away these values and becoming a militant closed society will thwart the Taliban. As with other things, we get to see how well it works in the E.U. As with other things - like a single payer heath care - seeing it fail miserably in the E.U. doesn't seem to deter us from embracing it.
Communism toppled because on an economic level, it is absolutely unworkable.
And in the years the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. were in the Cold War, the U.S. steadily became more socialist and the power of central government steadily grew, often enough with the justification of "fighting the Reds." The difference is that America remained capitalist enough to retain material prosperity and stability, even if the tentacles of government have slowly and subtly dug their way ever deeper into the average Joe's life.
