<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" id=":11h" class="ii gt"><div id=":11g"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center">
<font size="2">==============================</font><font size="2">=======================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 18 June 2011 - Volume 01<br><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank">lowlands.list@gmail.com</a>
</font><font size="2">
- <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank">http://lowlands-l.net/</a><br>
Posting: <a href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
Archive: <a href="http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html" target="_blank">http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html</a><br>
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-08)<br>
Language Codes: <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/codes.php" target="_blank">lowlands-l.net/codes.php</a><br>
==============================</font><font size="2">=======================</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"> </font></p><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><br></font><div>
From: <span class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color:#00681c">Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc.</span> <span class="go"><a href="mailto:roger.thijs@euro-support.be">roger.thijs@euro-support.be</a></span></span></div>
Subject: <span class="gI">LL-L Cultural</span><br>
<br><div>We live in a world in movement. Migration, whether legal or not, is
changing social patterns. In the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek most
inhabitants are migrants of the last few decades. Many came from Morocco. There
is a lot of social pressure on us, Belgian aboriginals, to adjust to the new
culture. A union of policemen complains that in Molenbeek police officers are no
longer allowed to eat, smoke and issue fines during daylight in the ramadan
period. Although this is officially denied, the pressure is apparently
real.</div>
<div>cf. <a href="http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1280367/2011/06/18/Molenbeekse-agenten-moeten-meedoen-aan-ramadan.dhtml" target="_blank">http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1280367/2011/06/18/Molenbeekse-agenten-moeten-meedoen-aan-ramadan.dhtml</a></div>
<div><em>"Molenbeekse agenten moeten meedoen aan ramadan"</em></div>
<div><em>De politieagenten in Molenbeek moeten meedoen met de ramadan. Ze mogen
niet eten of drinken overdag, en niet verbaliseren. Dat zeggen interne
politiebronnen aan de krant Het Laatste Nieuws en het wordt bevestigd door
politievakbond NSPV. Een woordvoerster van de gemeente ontkent dit. </em></div>
<div><em>Bart Velle, verantwoordelijke bij de neutrale politievakbond NSPV voor
de Brusselse gemeenten, zegt dat hij al meerdere klachten in die zin heeft
gekregen, en dat al enkele jaren op rij. Over de vraag om niet te verbaliseren
of niet te eten of drinken, bestaat evenwel geen officiële nota. "Ik krijg
klachten van collega's daarover, en ik geloof die mensen. Maar er staat niets op
papier. Ik heb geen bewijzen", aldus Velle.</em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>While that pressure is subtle, some minority groups are promoting change
more openly, as e.g. “Sharia for Belgium”:</div>
<div><a href="http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1241196/2011/03/25/Sharia4Belgium-ziet-De-Crem-liever-dood-dan-levend.dhtml" target="_blank">http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1241196/2011/03/25/Sharia4Belgium-ziet-De-Crem-liever-dood-dan-levend.dhtml</a></div>
<div><em>Sharia4Belgium ziet De Crem liever dood dan levend</em></div>
<div><em>De fundamentalistische moslimorganisatie Sharia4Belgium loopt niet hoog
op met de oorlog in Libië. Hoewel hij zelf geen goed woord over heeft voor
Kadhafi, wenst Abou Imran, "alle ongelovige kruisvaders de meest
verschrikkelijke ziektes toe." Ook minister van Defensie Pieter De Crem
(CD&V) ziet hij liever dood dan levend.</em> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>This all has to be combined with the fact that the Roman Catholic Church,
the leading religious authority over here till the beginning of the sixties, is
slowly fading out, leaving most of the Belgian aboriginals factual without any
church practice (except for weddings – because of the nice pictures – and for
funerals). Actually there are virtually no missionaries left to preach an
alternative to preachers of other faiths.</div>
<div>We have no radical christians, as there exist for other religions
elsewhere, as e.g. compare with the rabbinal condamnation of a dog:</div>
<div><a href="http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/959/Bizar/article/detail/1280228/2011/06/17/Joodse-rechtbank-veroordeelt-zwerfhond-tot-steniging.dhtml" target="_blank">http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/959/Bizar/article/detail/1280228/2011/06/17/Joodse-rechtbank-veroordeelt-zwerfhond-tot-steniging.dhtml</a></div>
<div><em>Een ultraorthodoxe rabbijnse rechtbank heeft onlangs een zwerfhond tot
de doodstraf door steniging veroordeeld omdat hij de reïncarnatie zou zijn van
een seculiere advocaat die 20 jaar geleden de religieuze rechters heeft
beledigd, zo heeft de website ynetnews vandaag gemeld. </em></div>
<div><em></em> </div>
<div>I remember a book, that was very popular in the mid sixties <strong>“The
secular city” by Harvey Cox</strong>, describing secularization replacing
religious practices. I think this is true for the Roman Catholic Church in
Europe. Maybe not in the US, in despite of the scandals. I attended a RC sunday
mass on Naamans Road in Wilmington DE a couple of months ago, and I counted 500+
attendants (and there were 3 Sunday masses that very day). I guess religion
adherance in the US has much to do with identity.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Further even when seeing this all happening, we all are very reluctant to
do anything about it, since reactions are easily qualified as racistic.</div>
<div>There must be a way though to discuss openly patterns of cultural
change.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Roger</div>
<div>Christianos ad leones! (Tertullianus, Apologeticum) / <span style="line-height:14pt;font-family:">Ἅγ<span style="line-height:14pt;font-family:">ν</span>ωστος
Θεός</span><span style="line-height:14pt;font-family:"><span> (Paul, Acts)<br><br></span></span></div>
<span style="line-height:14pt;font-family:"><span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center">
<font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">==============================</font><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">===========================<br>
Send posting submissions to <a href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>.<br>
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.<br>
Send commands (including "signoff lowlands-l") to<br><a href="mailto:listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>
</font><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">
or <a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank">lowlands.list@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html" target="_blank">http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html</a>
</font><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">.<br><a href="http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#%21/group.php?gid=118916521473498" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=118916521473498</a>
</font><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><br>
==============================</font><font size="2">==============================</font><font size="2">===</font></p>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>