I had high hopes for Natan Sharansky’s new book, Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy, because it seemed to be asserting that universal values are not enough to create a liberal self-governing state, that a sense of cultural identity is also needed. I intend to read the book, but from articles that he has been publishing based on it, things no longer look promising. For example, Sharansky writes that America is doing a better job of assimilating Muslims than Europe. To support this view, he points out that while Europe — mainly France, really — objects to the veil being worn in public schools, students in America wear the veil in public schools without controversy. He sees this as an example of America’s greater ability to accommodate foreign cultures (is this what he means by “identity”?) while preserving democratic values.

Sharansky is giving too much credit to America. America may actually be more fearful and more helpless in the face of Islam than Europe, where there is still a stronger sense of cultural identity, as shown, for example, in the prohibition of the veil in French lower schools. Furthermore, Sharansky seems to be unaware of the increasing accommodation to sharia in American public life, directly transgressing the principle of separation of church and state as well as generally accepted cultural values: footwashing in the sinks of public restrooms, in violation of hygiene, safety, and courtesy to non-Muslims; the installation of footbaths in colleges and universities across the country, including ones that are publicly financed; prayer rooms for Muslims in public schools and colleges, where anti-Semitic propaganda is sometimes disseminated and non-Muslims are not welcome. Just yesterday, we had at PBC a couple of posts on creeping sharia and soft jihad advancing in our schools.

Neither the ACLU nor the champions of uninterrupted mass immigration are speaking out against these violations of our societal norms. They who have insisted that all immigrants and their descendents are willing to play by the same rules as everyone else say little in the face of these egregious developments, except perhaps to call anyone who expresses concern racist, nativist, and xenophobic. They will perhaps give lip service to supporting assimilation, but do nothing that seriously furthers it. The non-assimilation continues and worsens.