Tøger Seidenfaden on the fundamentalism of Western values

Tøger Seidenfaden, editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper Politiken, suspects that with their "aggressive invocation of Western values and open hostility to all things Islamic" Western intellectuals could turn into fundamentalists. "Once again they are trying to tie Western values to national cultures and identities. A spirit of aggressive nationalism, plain for all to see, has re-entered the debates on immigration and integration. The tensions and socio-economic challenges posed by immigration and growing ethnic diversity take on an menacing edge when intensified by a moral panic in the face of the supposed threat of Islamism. Muslim immigrants and citizens become - through no fault of their own - the jihad's fifth column. Even the simple fact that immigrants have children is perceived as an act of aggression; as a form of colonisation. This kind of talk is incompatible with liberal values."

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