tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post6392626083665072681..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: DON'T PANIC - the hitchikers guide to a multicultural worldJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-7674376496423339172008-02-17T09:27:00.000+11:002008-02-17T09:27:00.000+11:00Thanks Lexcen. There is no doubt in my mind that r...Thanks Lexcen. There is no doubt in my mind that religious divides can be important. <BR/><BR/>After all, its not so long ago in Australia that some parents disowned children who married across the Roman Catholic/Protestant divide. In the early 1960s a very popular book on the Roman catholic faith concluded that protestants were at risk of going to hell. <BR/><BR/>There is also no doubt in my mind that there are particular features of Islam today that create difficulties. You have pointed to a number of these. <BR/><BR/>To my mind, the central challenge we face as a county is to maintain unity and cohesion in what is, and will become more so, a multi-ethnic community. <BR/><BR/>You know that I write a fair bit on demography and demographic change at global and local level. I do so because to my mind demographic change is the single most important challenge the world faces.<BR/><BR/>If you look just at the migrant/locally born mix, Australia has become a striped community. So far we have largely avoided the problems that you can see in Europe. One reason for this is that we have managed to avoid individual ethnic ghetos. Areas with large migrant populations are also generally diverse, with many different national groups.<BR/><BR/>In writing about these things I have tried to tread carefully because my words risk misinterpretation. <BR/><BR/>We are as we are and will become more so. As part of this, the muslim proportion of the population will rise. I set out the reasons for this in an earlier post.<BR/><BR/>We have to deal with this. Given that I have now done so many posts linked in some way to all this, I should perhaps bite the bullet and make my thinking explicit.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-49733089800948342242008-02-16T16:10:00.000+11:002008-02-16T16:10:00.000+11:00Jim, the program I refer to is a documentary follo...Jim, the program I refer to is a documentary following the progress of an Australian lad as he travels to Pakistan, falls in love with a Pakistani girl, converts to Islam, and has to meet numerous demands from the parents of the girl before he is allowed to marry her. I found it relevant to what you were saying about cultural assimilation. From my point of view, it was a one sided compromise. I felt it reinforces my view that as far as Muslims are concerned there is no give and take when it comes to cross cultural exchanges.Lexcenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17856993035719777231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-18056806624493097522008-02-16T10:22:00.000+11:002008-02-16T10:22:00.000+11:00Neil, my thinking on SMM went in a somewhat differ...Neil, my thinking on SMM went in a somewhat different after all.<BR/><BR/>Good morning Lexcen. I did not see Donkey in Lahore. What was it about?Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-47014243404939700782008-02-16T07:44:00.000+11:002008-02-16T07:44:00.000+11:00Jim, I cannot find anything to dispute what you ha...Jim, I cannot find anything to dispute what you have expressed in your noble sentiments. In a perfect world we would not need to even discuss such matters, they would be taken for granted. BTW, did you watch Donkey in Lahore on SBS?Lexcenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17856993035719777231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-205227527931396062008-02-16T06:05:00.000+11:002008-02-16T06:05:00.000+11:00Good points, Neil, and no I do not think that you ...Good points, Neil, and no I do not think that you are being picky.<BR/><BR/>Of course I gain from my colleagues. I do so at a number of different levels. I would not behave in the way that I do if I were not getting a response. <BR/><BR/>There is friendship and support. Then for someone like me who is curious and interested, there is the sheer pleasure of finding out about new things. <BR/><BR/>To me, assimilation and acculturation, and I have our earlier discussion in mind here, are two sides of the one coin. <BR/><BR/>I remember your post on Professor Krygier's lectures, but was remiss in not following them through to read them - did not hear them at the time. I have only scanned, but will read them properly. <BR/><BR/>M's case is interesting and not, I think, unusual. It even happens to me!<BR/><BR/>It's time for Saturday morning musings. I might pick up all this up in a reply to LE's nomination of me for the blogging meme.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-27585788658413206092008-02-15T22:57:00.000+11:002008-02-15T22:57:00.000+11:00M says that in Australia he feels Chinese, and in ...M says that in Australia he feels Chinese, and in China he feels Australian. <A HREF="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/boyerlectures/stories/1997/1715609.htm" REL="nofollow">Martin Krygier's 1997 Boyer lectures</A> are well worth revisiting, Jim. (They disappeared from the ABC site a year or so back; I like to think <A HREF="http://ninglun.wordpress.com/2007/02/15/feedback-from-martin-krygier/" REL="nofollow">I helped restore them.</A>)<BR/><BR/>You emphasise what your colleagues are gaining from you, but it is a two-way process, isn't it? You indicate ways in which they are changing you too, or adding to your range of cultural reference. Multiply that out through all our experiences and you can see we assimilate, if you will, to one another. I call that multiculturalism in action. Great, isn't it?<BR/><BR/>Good post though, Jim. I hope you don't think I am being picky. I am sure you are a great resource for people (even me) in our ongoing acculturation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com