Germany is the Future

Immigration is becoming an increasing issue in Europe, none more serious perhaps than in Germany. A nation’s integrity is a value to many, but the value of tolerance is creating issues with the traditional sense of national integrity. We are praying the Church can speak into these issues in the direction of justice and peace.

This is all very complicated, but I’m wondering what you are seeing and hearing. What do you think is at the heart of a European resolution?

Chancellor, Angela Merkel, got into the issues with major speaking points about how immigration needs to lead to integration.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel: “lmmigrants should learn to speak German”

Attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have “utterly failed”, Chancellor Angela Merkel says.

She said the so-called “multikulti” concept – where people would “live side-by-side” happily – did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate – including learning German.

The comments come amid rising anti-immigration feeling in Germany.

This is where the issue gets messy:

A recent survey suggested more than 30% of people believed the country was “overrun by foreigners”.

The study – by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think-tank – also showed that roughly the same number thought that some 16 million of Germany’s immigrants or people with foreign origins had come to the country for its social benefits.

And from CSM, we learn these facts:

The study also found that 13 percent of Germans would welcome a “Führer” – a German word for leader that is explicitly associated with Adolf Hitler – to run the country “with a firm hand.” Some 60 percent of Germans would “restrict the practice of Islam,” and 17 percent think Jews have “too much influence,” according to the study.

The Germans call the vision for a multicultural society, rooted in integration, multikulti. Merkel has this to say:

“And of course, the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side-by-side and to enjoy each other… has failed, utterly failed.”

But she has not abandoned multikulti:

In her speech in Potsdam, however, the chancellor made clear that immigrants were welcome in Germany.

She specifically referred to recent comments by German President Christian Wulff who said that Islam was “part of Germany”, like Christianity and Judaism.

Mrs Merkel said: “We should not be a country either which gives the impression to the outside world that those who don’t speak German immediately or who were not raised speaking German are not welcome here.”

The two leading countries for this seem to be Germany and France. All of Europe is influenced by immigration issues, but the future of Europe is the future of Germany (and France). American issues with immigration will continue to be influenced by what goes on in Europe.