Diversity is dead, says Nazi

Just kidding, guys.

But, seriously now: Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany (totally not a Nazi, but who knows, right?) has announced that the state policy of multikulti, which is apparently a real word in German, has failed. She said Tuesday that "We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here." Now, maybe what she actually meant to say was something like, "I think it's important we tolerate dissident opinions in order to foster an atmosphere of acceptance and peaceful progress," but I sort of doubt it.

That said, Merkel actually has a point, despite her uber-Christian proselytizing.

"Subsidizing immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages.

Diversity is fundamentally different from multiculturalism, a fact most of my liberal brothas and sistahs can't figure out. "Diversity" is merely the existence of differing phenomena, qualities, etc. It can be good or bad. Multiculturalism is always evil, as it implies some kind of equality between all cultures - as if the African tribal custom of mutilating little girls is even comparable to the opportunities young women have in the West. It seems as if Merkel is advocating a sort of switch from unmoderated multikulti to qualified diversity, i.e. diversity not for its own sake, but diversity wherein different opinions and cultures are valued, so long as they are capable of contributing positively to the growth of society as a whole. And a culture which represses individuals or prevents communication between groups benefits no one - not even those who supposedly "control" that culture.

Ed Morrissey of Hot Air put it best:

The issue isn't the practice of religion but the rule of law. Germans do not allow forced marriages or other aspects of religious life more common in Islamic countries. The multikulti policy turned a blind eye to those practices when contained within those communities, but Merkel is through with that kind of official tolerance. The practice of free worship shouldn't mean replacing civil law with religious law, a policy that Europe finally adopted about three centuries ago in a different context.

So, maybe Merkel just sucks with words; or maybe she's actually ignorant enough to think that Christianity and objective, secular, civil law are equivalent. Whatever the case, she seems to be right when you get to the heart of the matter. Maybe just a crappy wordsmith.