Slow Europeans

Europeans are starting to discover that maybe, after all, Muslims are not like them. What took them so long?

Consider two pictures:

-The United Arab Emirates, an Arab country with bustling high-rise cities decides to arrange a national beauty pageant contest. The announcement enraged the city of Sharjah so much it decided to take off the posters of the events from its streets.

- A Time magazine article about new family arrangements in Europe mentions that 48% of babies born in France in 2005 were born out of wedlock.

One item causes yawns and the other causes fervent condemnations. Which one does what depends on whether the reader is a European or a Muslim.

As a Muslim who grew up in a conservative family and who later had a “western” education and lived with Western friends, I’m always surprised when I read articles like this one (which apparently is so groundbreaking it made it to the top most emailed articles on the New York Times)

But many Europeans — even those who generally support immigration — have begun talking more bluntly about cultural differences, specifically about Muslims’ deep religious beliefs and social values, which are far more conservative than those of most Europeans on issues like women’s rights and homosexuality.

Duh…The word “boyfriend” is still a dirty word in even the most liberal of practicing Muslim families, did it really take them that much time to figure out how different they were?