A recent ruling in Germany by a judge who cited the Koran underscores the dilemma the country faces in reconciling Western values with a growing immigrant population.
"Unlike non-religious Jews (who form a majority in Israel and elsewhere) or non-observant Christians, cultural Muslims aren't acknowledged by their own religion and are barely recognized by Western governments."
Le refus de la juge d'accorder le divorce à une femme musulmane victime de violences conjugales a suscité de vives protestations et relancé les critiques contre la tendance au relativisme culturel.
'He beat her and threatened her with murder. But because husband and wife were both from Morocco, a German divorce court judge saw no cause for alarm. It's a religion thing, she argued.'
Un tribunal de Francfort a appuyé un recours visant à dessaisir une juge allemande ayant refusé d'accorder le divorce immédiat à une femme d'origine marocaine battue par son mari parce que le Coran ne condamnait pas les mauvais traitements entre époux.
"The fundamental problems of Turkish Germans and other Muslims are rooted in disfranchisement, social discrimination and the lack of economic and political integration, not religion."
