Right, so the dust has settled a bit now, but this Sunday there was a parliamentary election held in Sweden, and for the first time in history, a xenophobic and racist party was voted into the Swedish Riksdag. Of course, they do not CLAIM to be racist, islamophobic, or anything like that; they have worked a lot on their image for the last decade or so. Before that, however, the party members dressed up in nazi uniforms for their rallies... (Yeah, no, seriously)
You'd think it strange that a party with it's roots in Swedish neo-nazism could make such a quick recovery, but it is as they say, politicians are some of the biggest liars there are. If you go to their website and read about their political program, you'll only be able to read about the "Sweden that we have lost", and how we are "moving away from traditional values". And of course, they are not Islamophobic, but muslims should be banned from practicing their faith since "it is such a violent religion". Furthermore, anyone who opposes them are "communists" or members of the "violent exteme left". Aside from this, they run with slogans like "it is time to take our country back".
Sounds familliar? Well it should. Now, the "Sweden Democrats" as they are called, may not shout "Jesus" as often as the GOP and the neo-cons, but they are still very much like our own version of the Republican Party - a party of lies, populism, national conservatism and fearmongering. Who are we taking our country back from anyway? The Swedes? I mean what the hell, did 15th century Denmark invade again?!?
It is sad that these people are able to victimize themselves, and for that matter make people nostalgic about a simpler, better past that never actually existed. It is sad that weak-minded people buy into this bullshit and cry "fascism" when people just disagree with them, but at the same time the SD politicians openly say that they want to revoke freedom of religion. They also speak of the "gay lobby", and one of their candidates for parliament has even been quoted as saying that "all cultures are not equal, some are superior".
As for the whole "islam is a violent religion" thing... there are Christian fundamentalists too, but I guess they at least practice "proper western culture". And so what, a lot of terrorists are also religious zealots? Ok... You might as well argue we should deport all men since they committ 99% of all rape crimes.
And I bet by now you are all asking yourselves: "Cars, we don't live in Sweden so why are you blogging about this to us?"
Well, Sweden is not the first country to be struck by xenophobia. In fact, we were pretty much the last European country to succumb. Denmark has had it's "Danish People's Party" for a decade already, and Danes can no longer marry non-European foreigners without losing their citizenships. Norway has it's "Progress Party" which is backed by 20% of the voters. The Sweden Democrats barely got into parliament at all with 5,7% of the votes, but I fear this is just the start for them.
Xenophobia, islamophobia and intolerance has struck in most of the western world, and this is a growing problem that we must all be aware of. I don't want to Goodwin's Law myself, but the muslims are rapidly becoming the new jews. This is a question of how you view your fellow human beings, and I urge you all not to fall victim of the hate-and-scare propaganda used by the people preaching intolerance. Dare to make a stand and openly take the debate with these people, because if you do, they quickly run out of arguments and show that they base their views more on emotions than on rational thinking. We cannot just continue to ridicule these people in the media, because that's how they manage to victimize themselves.
Hate is not a western value. Please, everyone, dare to actually stand up for what is right.
You'd think it strange that a party with it's roots in Swedish neo-nazism could make such a quick recovery, but it is as they say, politicians are some of the biggest liars there are. If you go to their website and read about their political program, you'll only be able to read about the "Sweden that we have lost", and how we are "moving away from traditional values". And of course, they are not Islamophobic, but muslims should be banned from practicing their faith since "it is such a violent religion". Furthermore, anyone who opposes them are "communists" or members of the "violent exteme left". Aside from this, they run with slogans like "it is time to take our country back".
Sounds familliar? Well it should. Now, the "Sweden Democrats" as they are called, may not shout "Jesus" as often as the GOP and the neo-cons, but they are still very much like our own version of the Republican Party - a party of lies, populism, national conservatism and fearmongering. Who are we taking our country back from anyway? The Swedes? I mean what the hell, did 15th century Denmark invade again?!?
It is sad that these people are able to victimize themselves, and for that matter make people nostalgic about a simpler, better past that never actually existed. It is sad that weak-minded people buy into this bullshit and cry "fascism" when people just disagree with them, but at the same time the SD politicians openly say that they want to revoke freedom of religion. They also speak of the "gay lobby", and one of their candidates for parliament has even been quoted as saying that "all cultures are not equal, some are superior".
As for the whole "islam is a violent religion" thing... there are Christian fundamentalists too, but I guess they at least practice "proper western culture". And so what, a lot of terrorists are also religious zealots? Ok... You might as well argue we should deport all men since they committ 99% of all rape crimes.
And I bet by now you are all asking yourselves: "Cars, we don't live in Sweden so why are you blogging about this to us?"
Well, Sweden is not the first country to be struck by xenophobia. In fact, we were pretty much the last European country to succumb. Denmark has had it's "Danish People's Party" for a decade already, and Danes can no longer marry non-European foreigners without losing their citizenships. Norway has it's "Progress Party" which is backed by 20% of the voters. The Sweden Democrats barely got into parliament at all with 5,7% of the votes, but I fear this is just the start for them.
Xenophobia, islamophobia and intolerance has struck in most of the western world, and this is a growing problem that we must all be aware of. I don't want to Goodwin's Law myself, but the muslims are rapidly becoming the new jews. This is a question of how you view your fellow human beings, and I urge you all not to fall victim of the hate-and-scare propaganda used by the people preaching intolerance. Dare to make a stand and openly take the debate with these people, because if you do, they quickly run out of arguments and show that they base their views more on emotions than on rational thinking. We cannot just continue to ridicule these people in the media, because that's how they manage to victimize themselves.
Hate is not a western value. Please, everyone, dare to actually stand up for what is right.
