Discrimination Against Muslims in Germany

The public efforts to discriminate against Muslims in Germany seem to be gaining in popularity.  The most recent initiative is in Baden-Wurttemberg, where the CDU-controlled government wants to administer a "citizenship test" to all Muslims that are applying for German citizenship.  More from Expatica:

Only Muslims from the 57 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are required to answer the questions as part of the process to become German citizens.  All other nationalities are not subject to any of the sometimes deeply personal questions which include the following:

– "Imagine that your adult son  comes to you and says he is homosexual and plans to live with another man. How do you react?"

– "Your daughter or sister comes homes and says she has been sexually molested. What do you do as father/mother/brother/sister?"

– "What do you think if a man in Germany is married to two women at the same time?"

On wonders how much consensus there is among the German population as a whole about any of these questions.  This testing requirement comes on the heels of the proposal by Uwe Schünemann, the Interior Minister in Saxony, who wants to "tag" Islamic clerics with electronic ankle-bracelets to monitor their movement.

These discriminatory proposals in Germany have caught the attention in the US of the "Islamic expert" Daniel Pipes, a darling of the Bush administration. Pipes loves the idea of "tagging" Isamlic clerics and feels this should be adopted by all Western countries.  At the same time, it needs to be extended to include virtually all Muslims:

If hate preachers are tagged, why not the many other non-violent Islamists who also help create an environment promoting terrorism? Their ranks would include activists, artists,computer gamers, couriers, funders, intellectuals, journalists, lawyers, lobbyists, organaziners, researchers, shopkeepers, and teachers. In short, Schünemann’s initiative could lead ultimately to the electronic tagging of all Islamists.

But electronic tags reveal only a person’s geographic location, not his words or actions, which matter more when dealing with imams and other non-violent cadres. With due allowances for personal privacy, their speech could be recorded, their actions videoed, their mail and electronic communications monitored. Such controls could be done discreetly or overtly. If overt, the tagging would serve as a modern scarlet letter, shaming the wearer and alerting potential dupes.

The Schünemann proposal points to the urgent need to develop a working definition of Islamism and Islamists, plus the imperative for the authorities to explain how even non-violent Islamists are the enemy.

Why doesn’t Pipes just insist that all Muslims display a yellow crescent on their clothing when in public?

UPDATE: Fortunately it looks like Baden-Wurttemberg is pretty much alone with its testing: Bundesländer lehnen „Gesinnungstest” für Muslime ab
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