Integration Discussion
Dear collabloggers,
Thanks for your contributions, by posting comments on my previous message. I am really happy that we are discussing this very polemic theme here in Collablogging! For being so controversial, we need to be careful about respecting each other's opinions, at the same time that we must also keep it a civil discussion. That's why I decided to follow Olaf's suggestion of not allowing anonymous postings. I guess this can prevent any ackwardness to happen here...
But in fact I liked a lot the anonymous post (i.e. the first comment on the previous message). It was on purpose that I left to you, my dear collabloggers, to set the first focus of our discussion. I do intend to discuss about 'Integration' in diverse aspects but I think the choice of our anonymous collablogger is indeed quite interesting.
In this context, I must say that I was myself disappointed with the consequences of the recent death of van Gogh. I had said in a previous post that I admire the Dutch people for their ethics and their tolerance... But, suddenly, less than a week after this previous post, bam! They start proving me wrong... burning muslin schools, mosques... declaring war to Islam and (what's most strange), somehow encouraged by some members of the Dutch government... For these reasons, I guess I tend to agree with many things about what the anonymous post said. But perhaps, I also miss the point about the Dutch society and history... So, I kindly ask Olaf to be more explicit about why he so strongly disagrees with that first post.
That's it for now, folks. Thanks again for the contributions and I hope this discussion goes on! Today is my B-day, so I have to go. My husband is going to take me out to dinner in a surprise restaurant. I am so excited! : )
Kind regards,
Renata
P.S. the Internet connection at my home is dead so I guess I can only post again on Monday. : (
Thanks for your contributions, by posting comments on my previous message. I am really happy that we are discussing this very polemic theme here in Collablogging! For being so controversial, we need to be careful about respecting each other's opinions, at the same time that we must also keep it a civil discussion. That's why I decided to follow Olaf's suggestion of not allowing anonymous postings. I guess this can prevent any ackwardness to happen here...
But in fact I liked a lot the anonymous post (i.e. the first comment on the previous message). It was on purpose that I left to you, my dear collabloggers, to set the first focus of our discussion. I do intend to discuss about 'Integration' in diverse aspects but I think the choice of our anonymous collablogger is indeed quite interesting.
In this context, I must say that I was myself disappointed with the consequences of the recent death of van Gogh. I had said in a previous post that I admire the Dutch people for their ethics and their tolerance... But, suddenly, less than a week after this previous post, bam! They start proving me wrong... burning muslin schools, mosques... declaring war to Islam and (what's most strange), somehow encouraged by some members of the Dutch government... For these reasons, I guess I tend to agree with many things about what the anonymous post said. But perhaps, I also miss the point about the Dutch society and history... So, I kindly ask Olaf to be more explicit about why he so strongly disagrees with that first post.
That's it for now, folks. Thanks again for the contributions and I hope this discussion goes on! Today is my B-day, so I have to go. My husband is going to take me out to dinner in a surprise restaurant. I am so excited! : )
Kind regards,
Renata
P.S. the Internet connection at my home is dead so I guess I can only post again on Monday. : (
posted by Renata S. S. Guizzardi at
15:16
2 Comments:
Some Dutch friends say about Dutch tolerance that it more of "ignorance" rather than "tolerance". I would agree (understanding well that given my limited experience of living in other countries this may be my very biased view).
And, of course, I missed your birthday... Late congratulations!
By
Lilia Efimova, At
November 23, 2004 at 3:24 PM
Dear Lilia,
I understand your point, although I still think it is dangerous to generalize such kinds of statements…
However, I do believe that humans, in general, are very self-centered and do not pay too much attention to important issues such as this one we are discussing. We also tend to think that our own ‘ways to do stuff’ (i.e. our culture) is better than the others. I am not sure why we are so competitive in this sad world of ours, but I do know that we should stop with that kind of attitude! For me, only 'collaboration' can help us live in harmony with all creatures: humans, animals, plants… And I think that if we do not act collaboratively soon enough, we will end up destroying this beautiful planet!
Anyway, let’s hope for the best, since we both are optimistic persons : ) and we know that we, as humans, are always learning new things everyday. : ))
And thanks for the B-day wishes!
Regards,
Renata
By
Renata S. S. Guizzardi, At
November 24, 2004 at 6:45 AM
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