Fundamentalist Islam: The EU Culture Eating Disease

One headline reads: Outrage as Muslim pupils exempt from shaking female teachers' hands in Swiss district

Maybe it’s because I’m just in a bad mood today, but when I read this Yahoo News article detailing how a school district in Switzerland is exempting 2 Muslim students from shaking a female teacher’s hand, I got seriously pissed off. Thus the need for this rant; I need to let off some steam.

The school district in Therwil in the Northern part of the country has ruled that two Muslim students, 14 and 15 years old, are exempt from shaking the hands of female teachers. Apparently it is the custom of Swiss schools that students shake the hands of their teachers at the beginning and ending of class. However, these youths, who follow a fundamental interpretation of Islam, objected to touching members of the opposite sex. So, the school directors made the “pragmatic” decision, as they call it, to allow these students to not shake women teachers’ hands.

This has caused something of an uproar in Switzerland. According to the news reports I’ve read, the populace generally does not support this action. In an effort to calm tensions, the school system has now compromised with the students. They will not shake hands with either male or female teachers.

There are differing opinions from several of the Islamic organizations in Europe. Some claim that it is permissible to shake hands with a woman because there is no specific justification for this fundamentalist belief in the Koran. Another group claims that it is not allowed:

However the smaller Islamic Central Council of Switzerland said that a handshake between men and women was prohibited. "After the sex attacks in Cologne (on New Year's Eve), they asked Muslims to keep their distance from women; now they demand they get closer to them," spokesman Qaasim Illi told Swiss media.

Placing sexual assaults and shaking hands with women teachers in the same category is a perfect example of a belief system that is incompatible with Western norms. However, a Swiss professor at the University of Zurich, who is of Middle Eastern descent, put it in a more realistic perspective:

Certain groups of conservative Muslims argue that refusing to touch a woman is a sign of respect. However, Elham Manea, a Swiss-Yemeni professor of political science at the University of Zurich, told Swiss public television SRF that this represents a fundamentalist viewpoint.

“It has nothing to do with respect,” she said. “It has to do with a worldview that sees women as sexual objects.”

Emphasis mine

While some will consider this a non-issue, I believe it is just another indication that Europe is going out of its way to accommodate these Muslim immigrants and refugees at the expense of their own culture. The citizens and governments of the EU nations have altered their behavior so as not to offend these people. They provide instruction to young women on how to not get raped by the roving refugee gangs. Vendors, restaurants, and delicatessens have modified their menus to limit pork offerings. Public schools are revising their lunch menus for the same reason, but couch their decision as an effort to improve the healthiness of their food selection.

Now I am a US Citizen, so for the most part this does not affect me. However, I believe that the United Kingdom and the European Union are America’s strongest allies; if for no other reason that we share a common cultural heritage. So, it pains me to see this cultural disintegration occurring as a direct result of this invasion of a people who have no interest in integrating into the society of their host nations. If their fundamentalist religious dogma puts them so at odds with a community that values and respect women, I believe they should return to their places of origin where such ignorance is accepted as standard practice.

Until today I did not support the UK’s move to extricate itself from the European Union. However, I now believe that the so-called BREXIT is in the best interest of the citizens of the UK. Presumably there is already some amount of toleration of these ignorant beliefs there, but I believe it is not too late to stop the spread of this intellectual cancer. Hopefully, by loosening ties with the mainland, the UK can somewhat isolate itself from this culture eating disease.

-dex

Just for the record, there's no justification for this in the Qur'an or in Islam in general. For example, my amazing Mom is a retired teacher and a homeowner (and my sister is also a teacher and a homeowner). This is a problem of culture and cultural interpretations, not religion.

Why did you focus on the group who finds it is a correct interpretation... (It's not)...

Why didn't you make a thread to stand alongside the group's who find this to be wrong?

Are they "culture eaters" as well?

While some will consider this a non-issue

You can say that again.



You should refrain from telling the UK what we should do with Brexit as well...

Any time a divisive Yank opens their mouth it turns Brits in the opposite direction.
We do not heed your advice.

a reply to: DexterRiley

While some will consider this a non-issue, I believe it is just another indication that Europe is going out of its way to accommodate these Muslim immigrants and refugees at the expense of their own culture.

It's interesting that you bring that up, as Switzerland actually hasn't taken in that many refugees from the ME.
With good reason as the Swiss took an arm load of refugees the last time there was a crisis. Currently they have close to 70K.

I have family in Switzerland,I'll see if I can find out anymore information in relation to this.

People must adapt to their host's culture and in the main most refugees do, but there certainly is an element that have no intentions of following a foreign culture or adopting their values.

We are a very tolerant breed and the majority of us accept genuine asylum seekers, but we live by the rule of law and customs and unless you adapt, there will be friction.

Muslims have lived in Europe for centuries, yet it is only recently that they have decided to turn against the West.

Here in the U.K we have had Catholic terrorists, Protestant terrorists and lately Muslim terrorists.

We are yet to have an atheist terrorist carry out any atrocities, and I'm certain we won't.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

This is most definitely about religion as well as culture.

It might not be your religion or culture but that does not matter.

Your apologist reaction and anecdotes prove nothing.

Ring the special bell. We're different, were apart, this tends to make people feel they're better than others and everyone else feel under class.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Of course it's not about religion; it's about one religion, specifically the one that says hand-shaking is haram. It's not about culture because it happens in every culture.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Islam doesn't say that. There's literally nothing in the Qur'an about that. I brought up the females in my family because we're Muslims.

It's no different than the cashiers here that don't put change in my hand, instead tossing in onto the counter. That way they won't touch my hand when they do it. That's not a symptom of Christianity or atheism; it's a symptom of a cultural bias. Misogyny, bigotry, and the such can exist in any culture.

(note: Some Haredi Jews also refuse to touch hands with or even sit beside women (like this). Obviously, that's not something Judaism as a whole teaches. So we wouldn't blame that on Judaism, would we?)

originally posted by: Deny Arrogance
a reply to: enlightenedservant

This is most definitely about religion as well as culture.

It might not be your religion or culture but that does not matter.

Your apologist reaction and anecdotes prove nothing.

WTH? How can you say it's about religion and culture and then say it's not about my religion or culture? I'm an actual Muslim lol. I thought the crescent moon necklace in my avy made it obvious.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

What part of "might" do you not understand?

If you want to claim this disgusting ideology as your own, I'm not going to stop you.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Islam doesn't say that. There's literally nothing in the Qur'an about that. I brought up the females in my family because we're Muslims.

It's no different than the cashiers here that don't put change in my hand, instead tossing in onto the counter. That way they won't touch my hand when they do it. That's not a symptom of Christianity or atheism; it's a symptom of a cultural bias. Misogyny, bigotry, and the such can exist in any culture.

(note: Some Haredi Jews also refuse to touch hands with or even sit beside women (like this). Obviously, that's not something Judaism as a whole teaches. So we wouldn't blame that on Judaism, would we?)

To tell you the truth, I find nothing wrong with not wanting to shake someone's hand.

I'm not aware of which book or Hadith is used to justify it—I'm not a Muslim—but I have been told this by Muslims from all corners of the globe, and have stopped extending my hand to women because of it. I have been to over 80 countries, and there is only one denomination that has expressed the shaking of hands between men and women as forbidden. Is this all coming from nowhere?

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Just for the record, Hadith are not mandatory nor are they even agreed upon. Different denominations and schools of thought accept different Hadith as authentic and false, with some accepting none (like Quranists). My dad is a part time Imam and we've literally never taught this, with the only Muslim communities I've ever been around that do this coming from the MidEast.

That's why I keep pointing out culture instead of religion. Many of those same cultures also use the word "kaffir" as a racial slur against black people (like the "n-word" in America). But the Qur'an's definition of "Kaffir" is simply a "non-believer", which has no racial connotation.

Edit to Add: And there are plenty of denominations in Islam. So which one are you talking about?

originally posted by: Deny Arrogance
a reply to: enlightenedservant

What part of "might" do you not understand?

If you want to claim this disgusting ideology as your own, I'm not going to stop you.

Are you backtracking? Because the OP is clearly talking about Islam as the religion in question. So yes, it's my religion. But no, it's not talking about my culture.

Why does it kinda remind me of North Carolina and Mississippi ?

As our friends in North Carolina and Mississippi tell us, it's all right to discriminate against another sister or brother human being just because or your religion. Abrahamic religions treat women like chattel. We are all equals. Make Kindness your religion.

a reply to: HUMBLEONE

It's also no different than these accounts from Georgia and Arizona:

Mom Upset After Christian School Tells Girl She Can’t Play Football on the Boy’s Team Anymore…and Allegedly Cites the Bible to Justify It

Why One School's Boys Baseball Team Won't Play Against Girls

Clearly most Christians don't accept their interpretations. But that doesn't stop some members or organizations from taking on these interpretations.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Just for the record, Hadith are not mandatory nor are they even agreed upon. Different denominations and schools of thought accept different Hadith as authentic and false, with some accepting none (like Quranists). My dad is a part time Imam and we've literally never taught this, with the only Muslim communities I've ever been around that do this coming from the MidEast.

That's why I keep pointing out culture instead of religion. Many of those same cultures also use the word "kaffir" as a racial slur against black people (like the "n-word" in America). But the Qur'an's definition of "Kaffir" is simply a "non-believer", which has no racial connotation.

Edit to Add: And there are plenty of denominations in Islam. So which one are you talking about?

Are these Muslims not Muslim then?

You know that half a dozen schools in England were closed last year due to them not teaching English? The school was unregulated, the young boys were made to attend illegal 'yeshivas' where no traditional subjects were taught and pupils were told that "everything outside is bad and evil"

These schools are illegal and are operating without the most basic health, safety and child welfare checks.

Theres over 1000 13-16 year old boys missing from Hackney, London alone.

The Orthodox Jewish community should be all over the news for this, and made to feel responsible, and accountable for what they are doing to a society which gives them the freedom to practice their faith in freedom. But this has very little media attention, talking to people about this in relevence to Muslim communities and their responsility doesn't es equate to the same anger which the Muslim community gets.

This very thread is a great example of how everything a Muslim does is judged bad. Even if it is in their religion, who the # are you to say they have to shake hands? This none-news congoured up for another emotional-hate-muslim thread is a great example of how bias and right thinking this site has become.

There is a problem with immigration, there is a problem with fundamental Islam - But this thread is a #ing joke.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: enlightenedservant

Just for the record, Hadith are not mandatory nor are they even agreed upon. Different denominations and schools of thought accept different Hadith as authentic and false, with some accepting none (like Quranists). My dad is a part time Imam and we've literally never taught this, with the only Muslim communities I've ever been around that do this coming from the MidEast.

That's why I keep pointing out culture instead of religion. Many of those same cultures also use the word "kaffir" as a racial slur against black people (like the "n-word" in America). But the Qur'an's definition of "Kaffir" is simply a "non-believer", which has no racial connotation.

Edit to Add: And there are plenty of denominations in Islam. So which one are you talking about?

Are these Muslims not Muslim then?

How can you not comprehend that his post was about cultures and different adaptations which don't necessarily have any real worth within his relgion but have become part of a certain group due to their interpitation?

Or was you just trying to be a smart ass?