Sir, – Donal MacErlaine (Letters, March 16th), referring to Muslim immigration into Europe and the question of integration, says there is no need to worry because, "Is a culture not a melting pot of individuals?"
Alas, this is precisely the sort of pseudo-intellectual Western self-loathing which is so corrosive to cohesion and stability.
We are not just a collection of individuals, and countries are not just lines on a map.
Societies are held together by common culture, values, institutions and sense of shared history. Without a commonly agreed identity, societies will disintegrate over time.
Also, Islam is a very strong, coherent way of life. What chance is there of Islam even bothering to integrate into 21st-century Europe if Europeans no longer believe they even have a culture or identity worth defining and sharing?
If Europe becomes utterly meaningless except as a geographical expression, this will only further induce Muslims to withdraw behind their own walls of cultural and social isolation. – Yours, etc,
Dr FRANK GILES
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.