I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark, the happiest country in the world. Because, it seems, they have low expectations. And why shouldn’t they? The climate stinks, the sky is dark or slate grey most of the year, it’s a small, out-of-the-way country that used to matter when axes were considered advanced military technology, and there are only about six million Danes to begin with, so nobody expects them to solve any of the world’s big problems. So low expectations are easy to understand. On the other hand, I don’t quite understand why you’d be happy with lousy weather and grey skies most of the time.
Anyway, here I am, not, as you might imagine, to catch up on the latest cartoon riots, which you can follow on Pajamas thanks to the great reporting of my friend Flemming Rose. And yet there is no avoiding it. I am here to participate in a “Reconciliation Conference” of Iraqi religious and political leaders, supported in part by the Danish Foreign Ministry (and full honors to them for doing it, and for carrying on with it despite the recent riots). Full honors also to the Iraqi clerics and National Security Adviser Rubayie who came, even though lots of Iraqi Muslims are quite exercised at the republication of the now-celebrated cartoons of Mohammed. Those who came to Copenhagen condemned and lamented the cartoons, lest they face angry members of their umma when they return home.
Yet the riots, as the thugs themselves have now proclaimed, had little to do with offended Islamic sensibilities. They began a few days before Danish police arrested three persons, and accused them of plotting the assassination of the creator of the most infamous cartoon, the one with a stick of dynamite burning in the Prophet’s turban. The riots came in response to other arrests in Copenhagen, of hashish smugglers and dealers. This was just too much for the kids. As they put it in a front-page statement today
“Basically the unrest is about the way we are treated by the police, who are brutal, racist and totally unacceptably insulting,” the group said in the letter. The authors called themselves “Boys of inner Noerrebro,” referring to the immigrant neighborhood in Copenhagen where the unrest started on Feb. 10.
It was also convenient that the events took place during the winter school holiday, and that they have died down as the schools reopened. Yesterday, a woman from the Danish Foreign Ministry gave the Iraqis a summary of the origins of the riots, and this morning the country’s excellent foreign minister talked about the arrests, noting to the Iraqis that “I am sure you will agree that murder is not acceptable.”
The Iraqis are in Copenhagen to try to hammer out a collective call for national reconciliation, and to recommend steps the government might take to accelerate this process. They are particularly intent on improving the treatment of some of the lesser-known religious groups in the country, who have been decimated by sectarian violence and who have yet to receive decent treatment from the government. A strong statement from the nearly two dozen leaders gathered here might help.
As so often in the past, this ecumenical effort has been driven by the Anglican Canon of Baghdad, Andrew White, who in ten years in Iraq has somehow managed to win the obvious trust and affection of an amazingly wide cross-section of national leaders. It was easy to see how he has accomplished it. Today was given over to a lively and often impassioned discussion of what we would call church and state relations, which the group put in terms of a rhetorical question: should religion play and advisory or a supervisory role in government? Much of the debate focused on the paragraphs in the Constitution that is generally translated as saying that the Iraqi Government cannot adopt any law that is in conflict with shariya law. But Rubayie was at pains to point out that the actual language does not spell it out quite so specifically, and reads that government actions must “rest on the pillars of Islam.” The implication—sometimes accepted, sometimes challenged over the course of the day—is that the Koran does not always have Constitutional standing. And the participation of Iraqi Christian clerics, and others from pre-Islamic sects, seemed to suggest that the people here are seeking broader toleration of, and greater involvement with, differing religious groups. It will be fascinating to see how it gets sorted out in the end.
One underlying theme speaks volumes about the current state of affairs inside Iraq: without exception, participants feel much better about their country. They are breathing easier about security, they all denounced al Qaeda and other “regional parties” (privately they will tell you they put Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia in the front rank) who have conducted or sponsored the mass killing, they do not want “religious extremists” included in their Reconciliation, and they even believe that Iraq may set an example for the rest of the region.
Maybe something revolutionary is under way here. Maybe not, but when I suggested to some of them that they might have a look at Tocqueville’s thoughts on separation of church and state, they wrote it down.
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David W. Lincoln:Michael, I still recall the most recent book of another friend of yours, Fouad Ajami, and I still can’t get away from this conclusion: those from the Islamic world who stand head and shoulders above their compatriots demonstrate this in spite of being Muslim.
People like Ahmed Chalabi.
Your thoughts?
For this is what came to mind when I read your column. I guess I am thinking what Ezra Levant, and others, are being put through via the star chambers on the north side of the Canada/US border.
ML:
well chalabi may yet have a chance to prove himself, the jury’s still out on that one. as for the broader question, i’m not one of those who finds Islam a huge obstacle to rational thinking or humane action. I think the Koran actually matters a lot less than some of my friends believe, and obviously there are many versions of Islam. Take multiple wives, for example. Tunisia abolished it, and yet Islam continues there, doesn’t it?
by and large i find the folks here to be very savvy, incredibly well-spoken (oral culture), and they seem quite flexible of finding the appropriate passages from the Koran and the Hadiths to advance reconciliation. But we’ll know more tomorrow, when they’re supposed to come up with a collective document.
Feb 20, 2008 - 4:59 am John D:I know a pastor in Baghdad who still fears for himself and his family. I really hope there can be true freedom of conscience built into the constitutional framework.
ML:
Yes, they are all fearful, but seem to be resolved. Some of them have no doubt been involved in some of the killing, but as US troops will tell you, the current trend is for yesterday’s potential assassin to become today’s ally.
Feb 20, 2008 - 12:34 pm david still:Clearly the writer either does not understand or is being silly about low expectations.” that is not what studies of happiness in that country tell us.
If yo are so busy telling us the crap country you are visiting, let me assure you that back home, the housing market sank,the budget deficit is at all time high, the war in Iraq is endless and is not getting better; health and education programs are not at all satisfactory,many jobs have left the country and on and on…oh,the weather? Perhaps the US, India and China have made things not so nice
ML:
heh, well blaming us and the chinese for long cold grey winters in denmark is not going to win any awards for keen analysis. and the linkage of low expectations to collective happiness comes from Danish sources, not american ones. calm down, i am happy here, too. but then i’m happy generally. i think it’s genetic…
Feb 20, 2008 - 2:43 pm John D:Michael,
I don’t know of any pastors that have been part of any killing. My friend, in particular, has had his life and church threatened, but responds with peace. He was not a potential assassin.
ML:
I was talking about some of the Iraqis. Sorry for the confusion.
Feb 20, 2008 - 3:33 pm vb:It has been years since my last visit to Denmark, but my impression has been that as a small country, it has done a great job of maintaining pride without breastbeating and accepting its place as a tiny country without grovelling. The Danes seem to march to the beat of their own drummer with high standards and a lot of class. They have good reasons to be happy. And they have wienerbrod–no small thing.
ML:
and don’t forget the physical beauty of the place. copenhagen is gorgeous, one of those quietly elegant places that soothes rather than stimulates.
Feb 20, 2008 - 7:03 pm Greg Toombs:It appears david is happiest when he’s complaining. I have a feeling this isn’t the first time or place he’s done so. Perhaps his mood will improve if we gently congratulate him on the fine quality of his whines.
His mood may improve if he spends more time out in the sunshine. Or he could change his meds.
Actually, I think he needs to go see SPAMALOT.
Feb 20, 2008 - 7:14 pm M. Simon:david still,
The US budget deficit is low by historical standards and declining.
I blame Bush’s tax cuts.
However, complaints about the deficit are at an all time high, so perhaps that colors your perceptions.
Feb 20, 2008 - 7:34 pm Richard Jansen:“The climate stinks, the sky is dark or slate grey most of the year, it’s a small, out-of-the-way country that used to matter when axes were considered advanced military technology, and there are only about six million Danes to begin with, so nobody expects them to solve any of the world’s big problems.”
That is one reason I am glad my father left Norway for the United States as a young boy.
ML:
Great place to visit though.
Feb 20, 2008 - 7:45 pm Dan:I wish this gathering of religious notables all the luck in the world! God help these people achieve some reasonable consensus on basic comity, and find a persuasive way to communicate and implement it. I vote that they figure out some way to discredit and outcast al-Sadr, who is apparently angling to start up his bull**** again. And if that doesn’t happen, ice the m*therf*cker.
ML:
They agree. see new update…
Feb 21, 2008 - 9:56 am Louise:David, you may be pleasantly surprised with what is happening with Ezra Levant’s case. It gaining considerable steam and I think we can safely say the Islamists in Canada have suffered a well deserved humiliating defeat at the same time as those Star Chambers are becoming widely recognized for what they really are. Ezra’s blog and others are documenting a growing awareness of both issues. When the liberal literati and other left of centre types are expressing solidarity with right winger Ezra Levant, you know freedom ain’t dead yet in Canada. Far from it.
Feb 22, 2008 - 12:32 am Louise:Ezra’s blog, by the way, is worth watching. He’s giving us a blow by blow account of how things are unfolding.
Feb 22, 2008 - 12:38 am Dale:Um, Michael: Denmark ranks high in satisfaction and happiness because of its cultural homogeneity and the safety/low crime that brings. Your first paragraph was a smear job. The riots are troubling in the sense that it proves that multi-culturalism doesn’t work well.
ML:
well it’s what many Danes say about themselves (my 1st graph). i love the place, as i’ve said.
obviously multiculti isn’t working well in europe, that’s what the italians call the discovery of the umbrella…we knew that.
Feb 22, 2008 - 2:50 am John Davies:>On the other hand, I don’t quite understand why you’d be happy with lousy weather and grey skies most of the time.
You didn’t have to go all the way to Denmark, Pittsburgh is much closer. On the other hand, we really appreciate the nice days. Much more, I think, than people in sunnier cities.
Feb 24, 2008 - 3:47 pm