Muslim unrest doesn't denote cultural crisis
September 24, 2012
Tim Soutphommasane
THE recent protests by Muslim youths in Sydney have rightly shocked just about all of us. In many respects, the episode parallels the Cronulla riots of December 2005. Both events deserved unqualified condemnation. There is no place for organised mob violence in our democratic society.
And yet, some observers have been pointing to recent events as conclusive evidence of systemic cultural discord. Commentator Greg Sheridan was quick to diagnose ''a crisis for Australian multiculturalism''. Gerard Henderson has intoned that, ''whatever the response of Muslims, the incident provides yet more evidence that multiculturalism - after a promising start - has failed''.
The now infamous proclamations about beheading those who insult Muhammad reflect an interpretation of Islam that is incompatible with our liberal democracy. We do not behead people in Australia. We handle our disagreements as democratic citizens - not as religious zealots.
As social reality, multiculturalism simply describes cultural diversity as it exists in society. As public policy, however, it describes a set of approaches to settlement and integration for immigrants. It reflects the view that a society is better off taking active steps to welcome immigrants as future citizens, and accepting that a national identity will evolve over time.
Conservatives such as Sheridan and Henderson provide interesting examples of how centre-right opinion on the issue has shifted during the past decade or so. Once prominent defenders of multiculturalism during the rise of Hansonism, Sheridan and Henderson now repudiate it. They have suggested that the European experience with Muslim immigrants highlights the need for a more assertive approach to affirming democratic rights.
The central idea is this. While we shouldn't demand new arrivals discard their cultural heritage, we should expect they become Australian citizens over time.
But any right to express one's cultural identity comes with the responsibility to accept our parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, equality of the sexes, freedom of religion, and English as the national language.
Tim Soutphommasane is a political philosopher at Monash University, the author of Don't Go Back to Where You Came From, and a member of the Australian Multicultural Council.It has also been a virtue of Australian multicultural policy that it has traditionally enjoyed support from all sides of politics. Admittedly, there have been some question marks about the federal Coalition's commitment ever since the Howard years. But last week, speaking at the Australian Multicultural Council inaugural lecture, Tony Abbott showed signs of a renewed bipartisanship.
Offering ''a personal confession'', the Opposition Leader noted: ''With Geoffrey Blainey, I used to worry that multiculturalism could leave us a nation of tribes. But I was wrong and I've changed my mind.''
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The Conservatives are wrong? Sorry Tim, but I guess that depends on your opinion and I'm betting yours may be just a tad biased.
We don't need Multiculturalism. WE never did... it is a great big waste of our money, that could be better spent elsewhere.
It was brought about by a small group of lobbyists and progressive pollies who were easily led. We never had a choice about it and Hawke refused to give us one, because he knew it would not pass a referendum.
Those of us who live daily at the Multiculti coalface know it is a failure. If you want to discuss diversity policy within a society, then look at the worlds biggest study by Robert Putnam, who wanted to prove it worked. He instead, found it created disharmony, withdrawal and isolation within societies.
Multiculturalism replaced; Assimilation and Integration as settlement policies it requires neither. Multiculti has been redefined several times since the 70s to try and get it right, to gain wider public acceptance. It has failed.
Since its inception it has been a failure on so many levels. The cracks have been getting bigger year after year. To deny the obvious is to be ignorant or disingenuous. To call Multiculturalism, Assimilation or Integration is wrong, and dishonest. To base a society on tolerance is also wrong. Tolerance is not acceptance nor is it the glue we need for social cohesion. The Australian culture and character has allowed us to escape the worst aspects of social decay so far, not Multiculturalism.
Unbelievable!