Perspective
By L. Jim Tuck
January 11, 2024

Dangers of Mass Migration

   Islam has had a historical stronghold in the Balkans since the Ottoman wars in Europe. The number of
Muslims in European countries is estimated at 44 million, or 5% of the total population. Just as U.S. President Joe Biden has allowed millions of illegal aliens to cross into the United States, Germany has let millions into their country. Wikipedia states, “According to a representative survey, it is estimated that in 2019, there were 5.3–5.6 million Muslims with a migrant background in Germany (6.4–6.7% of the population), in addition to an unknown number of Muslims without a migrant background.”
A mass migration into the U.S. and countries like Germany in Europe is bound to generate problems.

   What potential problems can we foresee, and what does it mean for the future?

Perspective

   It is worthy to note the Battle of Vienna which took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on September 12, 1683 after the city had been besieged by the predominantly Muslim Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both under the command of King John III Sobieski, against the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Ottomans is often seen as a turning point for Islamic expansion into Europe, after which they encroached no further into Europe. In the continued conflict that ensued until 1699, the Ottomans eventually ceded most of Ottoman Hungary to Leopold I, the Roman Emperor.
   Europe did not want to be absorbed into an Islamic culture, and they fought valiantly to keep it from happening. The heroic battles against the Islamic invasion are commemorated to this day in ornate monuments erected in Vienna, Austria.
   The monuments stand as a warning to Europeans. They should be more defensive of their borders and
remember what happened in the past can happen again.

Morphing a Society

   Religions such as Islam have a way of morphing a society, and can give rise to challenge the status quo. Nations can be dramatically changed by the onslaught of migrant masses. In this modern time Europe and North America are being transformed by mass migration. There are currently around 11 million undocumented (illegal) immigrants in the United States today, according to the Migration Policy Institute, and some set the number much higher. Europe has accepted millions of immigrants, and most of them are Muslims who have retained their own belief systems.

   Germany tolerates Sharia law in their country. Sharia rules on domestic relations are recognized by German courts based on private international law if no party has German citizenship. Sharia law is recognized in the UK, but it is not part of the UK legal system. The decisions made by Sharia courts are not legally binding and can be challenged in a UK court of law.
   Some of the classical sharia practices involve serious violations of men’s and women’s rights, gender equality and freedom of expression. The Taliban of Afghanistan followed a brutal interpretation of Sharia law during their rule from 1996-2001. For example, they confined women to their homes, not permitting them outside except with a male escort and hidden beneath a burqa. Hudud punishments were widely practiced all over the country. Hudud punishments range from public lashing to publicly stoning to death, amputation of hands and crucifixion, and they must be carried out in public. Such practices are not compatible with western democracies.

   In Deuteronomy 28, the chapter of blessings and cursing, God warned ancient Israel about what would
befall them if they did not obey His laws: “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of
your doings in which you have forsaken Me.” (Deuteronomy 28:15-20)

Pluralism and Its Dangers

   There is a danger in a pluralist society where people with different origins, experiences, and very different beliefs come together to form society, and there is no desire on the part of foreign immigrants nor is there an expectation by a country for new citizens to assimilate into the culture of the nation. When immigrants come waving the flags of the countries they are fleeing from, and when people from an entirely different culture want to hold onto and enforce their own laws upon their people apart from the accepted laws—there is a problem. And yet, in some cases this is what nations must contend with.
Interestingly

   God warned Israel about mass immigration in Deuteronomy 28:43-45, “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. Moreover, all these
curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.”

This is my Perspective for this week. Have a great Sabbath and nice weekend!