Subverting Global Myths by Ramachandra Vinoth;

Author:Ramachandra, Vinoth; [Ramachandra, Vinoth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2009-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

if the message they hear from us is that the necessary condition for being European is to abandon their religion, then they will choose not to be European. For secular Europeans to demand that Muslims adopt their faith—secular humanism—would be almost as intolerant as the Islamist jihadist demand that we should adopt theirs. But, the Enlightenment fundamentalist will protest, our faith is based on reason! Well, they reply, ours is based on truth![42]

Even as Muslim (and Christian) fundamentalists need to be persuaded that learning to restrain their truth claims in a pluralist public domain is not a surrender to religious skepticism, so their dogmatic liberal cousins need to learn just how narrow and culture-bound their view of reason actually is.

Rights of Refugees and Asylees

Immigration is an emotional political issue in many countries, especially in Europe and the United States. Opposition to immigration is generally far more prominent than support for it, but that is to some extent countered by economic interests. The main argument cited in support of immigration is economic, usually related to the need for both high-skilled labor in the growth sectors of the economy and low-skilled, low-paid employment in restaurants, farms and building maintenance services. The main anti-immigration arguments are straightforward xenophobia, economic (costs of welfare services), environmental (impact of population growth), and the impact on the national identity and the nature of the nation-state itself. The politics of immigration has become increasingly associated with other issues, such as national security, terrorism and in Western Europe especially, with the presence of Islam as a new major religion.

In recent debates over such migrations, especially the influx of refugees and asylees, the contradictions among the discourses of “state sovereignty,” “the global village” and “human rights” becomes glaringly apparent. We have seen how the modern nation-state replaced the frontiers of old empires with borders. The border is not simply a geographical location but a political construction, defining the identities of those who live on either side. Those enclosed within the border are citizens and those outside are aliens or foreigners. Within the limits of its borders, a state is said to have exclusive territorial control, and on crossing a state’s border all individuals and property fall under the territorial authority of that state. There has, of course, been a growing international consensus that the sovereignty of a state to dispose over the life, liberty and property of its citizens or residents is subject to internationally recognized norms which prohibit genocide, mass expulsions, enslavement, organized rape and forced labor.

At the same time, however, borders are not only being fortified in the rich nations, they are being “globalized” such that a person may experience a foreign border while still within the territory of their country.[43] Africans applying for migration or asylum in France or Spain are moved to transit processing centers in some North African countries. Thus those who have physically entered a European Union state are moved into a non-EU location from where they have to renegotiate entry. The non-European transit center becomes the site at which they experience the borders of the EU.

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