Storm Over Europe

I’m trying to avoid contemplating the election debacle, and it helps if I think about countries that have more pressing problems than ours. Take Sweden and Denmark, for example. When your population is 10% or 15% or 20% Muslim (nobody knows for certain), and you have an unsustainably generous welfare state, what’s in store for you?

Our Swedish correspondent LN has this account about a new book about Islam in Danish:

Storm over Europe
Islam — Peace or Threat?

An Anthology edited by Lone Nørgaard and Tabita Wulff

The authors:

• Poul E. Andersen, cand. theol. og forfatter
• Mogens Wenzen Andreasen, cand. pæd. og forfatter
• Kåre Bluitgen, forfatter og journalist
• Helle Merete Brix, journalist og forfatter
• Kirsten Damgaard, cand. pæd. psych og forfatter
• Jørgen Junker Grimstrup, cand. mag. i historie og geografi
• Torben Hansen, historiker og forfatter
• Henrik Gade Jensen, mag. art. i filosofi
• Thue D. Kærhus, cand. phil. og højskoleforstander
• Britta Mogensen, mag. scient. i antropologi, forfatter
• Lone Nørgaard, lektor, cand. mag. og forfatter
• Tim Pallis, forfatter
• Carsten Ringsmose, cand. mag. og forfatter
• Kai Sørlander, filosof og forfatter
• Tabita Wulff, journalist og forfatter

The Danish paper Fyens Stiftstidende gives the book two stars out of five, and writes: “A debate-book about Islam that does not want to debate but only to scold.” (To read the rest of this probably PC write-up you have to pay 15 kroner — which does not seem to be warranted).

The excellent blogger La Kimpolina with the Danish blog Polemiken has a review here of the book Storm over Europe.

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I take the liberty to quote and translate the following:

Tabita Wulff, one of the co-authors of the book Storm over Europe writes about: ‘Bounds for immigration? Figures and statistics.’ She calls it “The Trojan Horse”, and asks how big an immigration from the third world a country like Denmark can endure, before the cohesion of society is damaged. Difficult to answer, because in Denmark as in Sweden no demographic registration of religious allegiance is permitted. In the old days it was possible to look up the number of citizens distributed among different religions. Today such a thing is taboo. It is obvious that the number of Muslims is camouflaged, not for the sake of the Muslims, but in the light of the Danish people’s need to feel secure. And for the purpose that politicians and those in power shall not get questions and protests from the ranks of the people, where a true skepticism is prevalent, writes Tabita Wulff. […] The Welfare Reform is dealt with and — according to the Welfare Commission — an average non-western immigrant during a lifetime receives from the state 2.6 million Danish kroner [approx $0.50 million] more than they pay back to society in form of taxes etc. A comparison between Muslims and Asian immigrants (China, Vietnam etc) is made and it is clear the Muslims belong to the problem-heavy end of the spectrum. […] The state’s total expenditures have never (neither in Denmark nor in Sweden) been revealed by the state, but unofficial sources of information estimate 30 to 50 billions Danish Kronor per annum. A Swedish economist has tried to work out the costs Sweden incurs from immigration (almost twice as many non-western immigrants as to Denmark) and he arrived at the neat sum of more than 200 billions per annum. [Compare with Gates of Vienna 11-01-2006] […] According to an extrapolation made by the demographers of the Copenhagen University, there will be a majority of Muslim citizens in Denmark before the end of this century. What will the consequences be for Danish society and democracy? *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * In the well-known Danish paper Jyllands-Posten journalist Paul E. Andersen writes about a related subject, as published in the New Yorker 2006-09-11: “The Moderate Martyr, a radically peaceful vision of Islam” by George Packer. Andersen opens with the following assertion: “It strikes one that everybody, even those who only peripherally take an interest in Islam, is inclined to boil over with enthusiasm as soon as they hear the notion of the MODERATE MUSLIM.” This concept has gradually become the straw that consensus-seeking Western Civilization desperately is trying to clutch at, in the hope of escaping or postponing the confrontation that sooner or later will surface between Islam and the ideals of Western freedom.