What would it mean for Muslims to assimilate?

Immigration is the issue du jour.  Most of us think (despite what pollsters shout) that it is not right to block all immigration of Muslims, but that some sort of screening, especially for terrorists, is necessary.

Most of us think as well that Muslim immigrants must assimilate to American culture and not simply live here while dissenting from basic American social and political values.

But what would that assimilation look like?

Luma Simms, a recent Christian immigrant from Iraq, provides a helpful answer.  She explains that it meant changing the way she thinks:

“It’s not only that I had to change how I behave or what I think. Rather, the ‘changes’ required for true internal assimilation go beyond experiences; they touch the essence of who I am—that is, they change how I think about what I think, and how I think about my behavior.”

It was not as hard for her, a Christian, as it is for many Muslims.  For her Catholicism already valued reason as a God-given resource for examining life generally and life in God specifically.

Here is how George Weigel explains the difference:

“The Bible . . . calls faithful Jews and Christians to use their reason in understanding the meaning and import of its moral teaching. . . . Islam’s holy book, by contrast, is described by an influential Egyptian Islamic activist in these terms: ‘The Qur’an for mankind is like a manual for a machine.’”

See Simms’ full article for a very helpful understanding of the rethinking that faces Muslim immigrants.