If there is a grain of truth to the tribalism theory it might be that 1) we in the West have some anxiety about Russia's identification with both the East and West (like people who donate to both liberal and conservative parties, we can't figure out what they are up to, we don't trust them, they can turn at any moment.) and the 2) Russia's realized that the West is not the only path to advancement. And that freaks us out. We are not the only game in town anymore. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
What determines whether someone belongs to The West? Are you in The West? If the people who claim to speak for The West don't speak for you, are you in? Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
I'm going on geography (what people refer to as the "Western Hemisphere"), religion (Judeo-Christian tradition), tradition of classical liberal values, shared cultural traditions, etc. etc. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
I'm going on geography (what people refer to as the "Western Hemisphere"), religion (Judeo-Christian tradition), tradition of classical liberal values, shared cultural traditions, etc. etc.
Who speaks for The Western Hemisphere? Who speaks for Judeo-Christian Tradition? Who speaks for Classical Liberals? Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
Who speaks for Judeo-Christian Tradition?
Apparently Mark Rutte (I think...) and Geert Wilders.
DutchNews.nl
Right condemns minister's Islam comments 16-07-2007 Right-wing MPs have condemned remarks made by integration minister Ella Vogelaar in an interview with the Trouw newspaper on Saturday in which she says the Netherlands will become a country with 'Jewish-Christian-Islamic traditions.' In the interview, the minister points to the arrival centuries ago of Jews in the Netherlands and says that the country has been formed by Jewish-Christian traditions. 'That's how it will be with Islam,' she told Trouw. She also said the Netherlands will have to learn to live with fundamentalism. 'There are ideas within Protestantism and Catholicism which make me raise my eyebrows,' she said. 'The SGP's standpoints on homosexuality and women are not mine.' The fundamentalist SGP, which has two MPs, believes homosexuality is a sin and that women should not have the right to vote. Her own Labour (PvdA) party has yet to comment, with the exception of MP Samira Bouchibti who called the remarks 'fantastic'. But the anti-immigration party (PVV) and the Liberals (VVD) have reacted angrily, saying she has put the immigration debate back 20 years. VVD leader Mark Rutte commented in Monday's Volkskrant: 'She's completely wrong. Christianity and the Bible are Jewish and Christian. That has nothing to do with Jewish integration.' PVV leader Geert Wilders said if Vogelaar did not take back her comments he would call for her resignation. The Christian Unie, the small orthodox Christian party which is part of the governing coalition with the PvdA and Christian Democrats, said it is 'worried' about her view of religion.
16-07-2007
Right-wing MPs have condemned remarks made by integration minister Ella Vogelaar in an interview with the Trouw newspaper on Saturday in which she says the Netherlands will become a country with 'Jewish-Christian-Islamic traditions.'
In the interview, the minister points to the arrival centuries ago of Jews in the Netherlands and says that the country has been formed by Jewish-Christian traditions. 'That's how it will be with Islam,' she told Trouw.
She also said the Netherlands will have to learn to live with fundamentalism. 'There are ideas within Protestantism and Catholicism which make me raise my eyebrows,' she said. 'The SGP's standpoints on homosexuality and women are not mine.'
The fundamentalist SGP, which has two MPs, believes homosexuality is a sin and that women should not have the right to vote.
Her own Labour (PvdA) party has yet to comment, with the exception of MP Samira Bouchibti who called the remarks 'fantastic'.
But the anti-immigration party (PVV) and the Liberals (VVD) have reacted angrily, saying she has put the immigration debate back 20 years.
VVD leader Mark Rutte commented in Monday's Volkskrant: 'She's completely wrong. Christianity and the Bible are Jewish and Christian. That has nothing to do with Jewish integration.'
PVV leader Geert Wilders said if Vogelaar did not take back her comments he would call for her resignation.
The Christian Unie, the small orthodox Christian party which is part of the governing coalition with the PvdA and Christian Democrats, said it is 'worried' about her view of religion.
you are the media you consume.
Personally, I am increasingly convinced I don't have an allegiance to "The West" in any of its definitions. I also get testy over the use of the term "Spain", come to that. Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
So when I'm in Europe in early '09, how will I know when I'm in Spain?
I personally think it is a worthwhile exercise. Their tone is not testy, just genuinely curious, i think - it's just that it's uqestions that seem so strange to us because we don't ever think about these things otherwise. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
versed in category theory ... So we mess with your heads.
Ok, I see where this is going... "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
