There's a little element of history that most Islamic folks come into Germany, and then miss. Yeah, it should have been laid out in integration classes, or via the local Mullah character at the mosque, or via German newspapers or media devices.
You see, Germans have roughly 1,600 years of messing around with various elements of Christianity, and the Catholic Church. When you dig into that period....it's not a very healthy relationship, or full of positive dynamics with generations of Germanic people benefiting from religion or "peace".
The Bible itself? When it finally came into the Germanic regions in the 500 period, with the arrival of the Catholic Church....it was hand-written in Latin. It was a franchise-type deal....intending to control the publication, understanding, and fit the scripture into the event at hand. You could walk through a village of a thousand residents, and if lucky....you might find a dozen folks who read or understood Latin. A priest, bishop, or cardinal could take one phrase, and work it into a statement of their choosing. The single individual? They were not to be privy to the inner works of the book.
As time went by....the political relationship of the cardinals and bishops to local authorities took the level of taxation to a new point. You really needed to contribute in some fashion.....to be part of the inner works of the religion of Christianity. The money taken in? It wasn't ever clear how the money was spent, and most might view abusive usage by Christian values. Sound familiar?
The whole crusade thing? The Catholic Church worked up everyone to go and fight a war over a place that had no value to the landowner, or average resident of Germany. Sound familiar?
The Thirty-Years War? Historians hate to discuss the Thirty-Years War because it amounts to five separate civil wars going on in Central Europe, with no clear winner, loser, or end-decision. Deaths? Well....counting the plague occurring around the same time.....most regions lost approximately half their populations. Strangely enough, as you dig into the various conflicts....for some reason, the Catholic Church ends up as a central character in the whole theme of death at the doorstep of every single town in Germany.
The witch-trials of the 1500s and 1600s? Same deal. The Catholic Church often used the witch accusations to seize income and property of anyone who held it.....as part of the final process of settling up with the guilty party, with the final result being the death of the accused. Jews killed in the process here? Oh yes.....they were picked, along with any rich or respected member of the community that didn't have resources to put down a witch hunt. Total killed in this 200-year era? Numbers are never clear. During one short period in Trier, they killed 368 individuals in a very short period.....all guilty of witchcraft. Their property? All seized by the church authorities involved.
If Germans don't see eye to eye with you or your religion, perhaps you might dig into history and understand the limited view that Germans allow on religion. There's just so much that they might allow these days before their frustrations become evident. Acting is if you arrived and gained some special religious freedom? No.....you basically become suspect and every time you prove another little problem with your view or your peaceful agenda....you slide another step down a slippery slope.
Not to disappoint you, but what the Germans tend to offer is a fairly safe and comfortable place for you and your family. The Germans will offer you the best roads in Europe, and the best mass transit system in the world. The Germans will offer you competent police, a five-star legal process, and a educational system that could easily take your son or daughter all the way to medical school, make them into engineers, or turn them into outstanding members of the community. Germans will even let you participate in the best free-market system within Europe....giving you opportunities that you just dreamed about five years ago.
The flip side of this? The Germans are fairly apprehensive about any religion. And when they ask stupid questions.....noting some illogical things.....or utilize a little bit humor to point at something that is hindering things....they are doing the best they can, under the circumstances. These are not the kind of folks who buy into something with absolute belief....they learned a lesson or two in 1,600 years.
Just my humble two cents of wit and knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment