Islam: Sweden's Biggest Threat Since WWII

Islam is Sweden's biggest threat since World War II, says Jimmie Åkesson, leader of Sweden Democrats. Writing in Aftonbladet, he asserted that “today’s multicultural Swedish power-elite are totally blind to the dangers of Islam,” and ended his article with a promise to do "everything in his power" to "turn the trend."And now everyone is in that mode of outraged condemnation that follows the outrageous comments of far-right leaders. Åkesson's blatant attention-seeking is getting a lot of attention.

Maria Schottenius writes "Grotesque, Jimmie Åkesson. Change Muslims to Jews and read." Kristina Edblom seems to be shaking her head exasperatedly in the article "Wrong, wrong, wrong, Åkesson." It's the literal (ten) statistical wrongs she points out, and the population studies that don't exist, which have meant that the SD leader had to take back and/or qualify a few statements, such as his claim that Muslim men are overrepresented among rape perpetrators. Although he explains a few others quite logically. When it comes to his claim that fundamentalism is rising, for example, he justifies that as a quite natural assumption since the Muslim population is growing.

One of the funniest passages in Åkesson's article is this: "Därmed antar man också att man kommer att kunna tämja islam på samma sätt som sekulära krafter sedan århundraden tillbaka tämjt den europeiska kristendomen och förpassat den till den privata sfären."

"There is an assumption that one can tame Islam as a century ago secular powers tamed European Christianity and relegated it to the private sphere."

Åkesson is contemptuous of such naivety. You can't tame Islam! It has no equivalent to the New Testament, no common or garden variety "kärleksbudskap" (literally, love message). Evidence for all this: they actively rejected the Enlightenment, and Humanism.

Such lovely, beautiful, enlightened, human ideologies to reject.

There are quite a few laugh-out-loud statements. There is also the usual, in one long, intense, overwhelming passage with the premise that "Islam has changed Sweden more than Sweden has changed Islam." We now have: Halal meat in swedish supermarkets! Swedish swimming pools with women-only hours! Ramadan holidays! Circumcisions! Terrorist organisations! And: High Birth Rates (They breed like rabbits)!

"All this is now part of the Swedish reality." You feel quite sorry for poor overwhelmed Åkesson at this point. According to him, this horrible nightmare is all the fault of the postmodern, "oikophobic" Western world. The editor's note at the end clarifies: "oikophobe: according to the British philosopher Scruton someone who despises his homeland."

Åkesson's article was a "debate" piece and its certainly done it's job in the sense that there is now a storm of words about Åkesson's words. I'm glad he wrote the article, and not only for the laughs. But I'm also in two minds about this. Condemning (or laughing at) Åkesson is very very easy. Actually dealing with the situation (and the mentality) behind his inflammatory words is not so simple.