You can learn a lot about a country based on how it deals with difference and diversity. There are three general ways in which societies deal with group differences: enforced conformity, tolerance with open arms, or a tense or grudging acceptance. As evidenced by the Russian purges of Germans or the Nazi purges of 'non-Aryans' within territories they control, examples of forced conformity are unfortunately all too common. Dominant cultures, it appears, didn't have any problems telling minority groups and subgroups that 'didn't fit' to either choose the dominant group's ways or hit the highway. As evidenced by the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 1492, 'hitting the highway' is also fraught with peril, suffering, and pain. And Europe does not own a monopoly on this approach to cultural diversity. Chinese linguistic mapping and ethnographic studies show that the Southern and Eastern sections of China were home to a diverse group of people with many different languages and cultures. The modern Chinese culture we identify as distinctly 'Chinese' is actually just one sub-group, the Han, which came from the West and drove out most older language groups. In fact, according to research, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Polynesian language groupings can be traced to the older language groups that used to populate the Southeastern section of modern China.
Another common way societies deal with cultural and language diversity is through tense tolerance. This form of dealing with difference rarely lasts for long. Take the case of Yugoslavia. Thanks to the heavy-handed tactics and cult of personality Marshall Tito cultivated, the ancient animosities between Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnian Serbs, and Kosovars were muted. Everyone subscribed to the overarching state doctrine of 'Pan Slavs'-one Yugoslavia for all Slavs. When the Iron Curtain fell and communism went out with a bang, the tense tolerances of the Tito days gave way to outright ethnic warfare. After many ethnic rapes, massacres, and battlefield deaths, Yugoslavia lay smashed into many fragmented sub-states marked by its distinct religion or language grouping. The same could be said, to a lesser degree, of the Soviet empire, the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the Turkish empire. People are only nice to strangers, it seems, when imperial guns are pointed at them.
Thankfully, humanity has produced a third approach to multicultural differences: tolerance. Starting with the Protestant Swiss which made it the 'state religion' to tolerate other religions, the idea of erecting a political system that tolerates cultural and religious differences has spread far from their Protestant origins. The UK, Canada, the US, France, and other countries have embarked boldly in an experiment where the idea of a united country is based on law and mutual respect rather than race, 'blood,' religion, language, or some other perceived cultural unifying point. Australia is definitely in this camp. It has managed to create a multicultural society that spans many religions, cultures, and languages. In addition to welcoming Islam with open arms, its tolerance goes deeper than religion. Subsects of Islam which have periodically clashed with each other like Shia, Sunni, Druze, and other Muslim subsects, live together in peace. Historical divisions between Muslim groups that fragment along countries of origin are non-existent in Muslim Australia. While first-generation migrants might carry some of the old biases from the Old Country, most of the second generation share Australia's tolerant and pluralistic mindset. Indeed, Muslim Australia offers the world a beacon of hope amid an increasingly mobile and multicultural world.
Dick Casper, a practicing physician, has been a freelance journalist for more than 3 years. He has published articles in Civil War Journal, Saigon Times News, and Civil War Weekly and is a member of the Freelance Journalist Society. He lives in Rumford, Maine, with his wife, two lovely kids and two dogs. This is his article about Muslim Australia. Be sure to check out his other Muslim Australia articles.
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