Our redneck friends have been baying at the moon for the last day or so because a small town in Quebec has issued their own own cultural manifesto. The town of Herouxville wants potential immigrants to know that:
” - It is forbidden to stone women, burn them alive, throw acid on them or circumcise girls.
- Consumption of alcohol is common in Herouxville, as is dancing.
- At the end of every year, we decorate a tree with balls and tinsel and some lights. This is normally called ‘Christmas decorations’ or also ‘Christmas trees’
- Boys and girls swim together in public pools.
- Veils are not welcome. “The only time you may mask or cover your face is during Halloween.â€
This has attracted the praise of the usual xenophobes - you know, the ones who believe that all Canadians should be more like…well, more like THEM, of course.
Those hailing this as a great cultural coup should remember that Quebec has a strange history of this kind of thing. Perhaps because it was virtually governed by the Catholic Church for so many years, it has always hosted an unpleasant undercurrent of virulent prejudice, manifesting periodically in vicious outbreaks of anti-Semitism, the oppression of Jehovah’s witnesses, or the intemperate post-referendum remarks of certain senior PQ officials. This is just another one of those eruptions of stranger-hate; while it provides the yobs with an opportunity to crow and caper, it needn’t be taken seriously.
If the Immigrants-In-Waiting could reply, their answer might read something like this:
Dear Citizens of Herouxville:
Thank you for your guidance, and for your introduction to the cultural norms of your village. To respond to your concerns:
- The practices of stoning women, burning them alive, throwing acid on them or circumcising girls are not practiced by the vast majority of us worldwide. When this occurs, it is almost inevitably among the poorest and most isolated communities - these are not, by and large, the people with the means and motivation to immigrate to your country. We immigrants tend to be a bit more modern than that. We understand that these activities are forbidden by your criminal code in any case, so there would seem to be little need to pass a municipal resolution forbidding them.
- We understand that consumption of alcohol is common. Some of us will not doubt join you. Some of us may not. (We understand that there are actually Canadians who do not drink as well). We do not think you will find many instances where immigrants have tried to prevent you from drinking.
- We are pleased to hear that you enjoy dancing. We look forward to sharing with you some of the wonderful dances from our cultures - we hope you like them.
- We are, of course, aware of the celebration of Christmas: Christ, as you may know, is an important prophet in many of our religions as well. We hope you enjoy your celebrations while we enjoy ours. We note that this year some fuss was raised by some of your legal people, resulting in the removal of a Christmas tree from a public place. We note with pleasure that both Jewish and Muslim community groups protested that decision, resulting in the tree’s replacement. Given that many of us have travelled a fair bit, and that we are obviously moving from one country and culture to another, you may be assured that we have, perhaps, as much experience of other cultures as the good citizens of Herouxville.
- As for veils, with all respect, we will wear what we see fit to wear. We will not breach your peace or offend your sensibilities by wearing T-shirts inscribed with the word “Fuck”, or by nudity or public sexual behaviour. But if a small minority of our women choose to veil, as we understand nuns in your own culture did not so long ago, we will not forbid it.
There are other aspects of our culture which you have not mentioned. We have read that up to ninety percent of you indulge in premarital sex: by the standards of our culture, that is very high, and we hope you will forgive us if we encourage chastity. We do not approve of abortion among our children, although we do not question your rights in that regard. We tend to care for aging parents and grandparents in our homes instead of sending them away to die, and we hope that doesn’t cause you too much offense.
The good news, however, is that you need not fear. we will not be coming to your town. Most of us are fleeing governments that impose their will on the citizenry, that dictate what we can do and wear. Your community reminds us a bit too much of what we are trying to escape. Fortunately Canada, your country, takes a broader, wiser view than the little island of fear you have constructed for yourselves.
Be well.”
Well done.