A relevant part of "this group", if you talk about refugees from Syria, actually is Christian or secular/atheist. And many of them who are even Muslim actually share a bunch of questionable views of women and gays with conservative German Christians.

I love how you knew you had to tie those beliefs back to white European Christians somehow to sell this viewpoint.

Did’t think there were enough Germans that are conservative and/or Christian anymore?

Not that that is the whole story but the governing party is called the "Christian Democratic Union of Germany"

its their name, not their program.

the cdu isnt really a christian party anymore, considering how many of their staff are self proclaimed atheists

That remind me about North Korea's official name which made me chuckle. It is:

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

The value system is still very much influenced by Christianity, though.

Because the people who oppose immigration tend to have very nice views on women, society, gays, religion etc? Maybe the problem is that some Germans don't respect others people freedom to think whatever they want.

I'm from Germany and do not oppose immigration and/or hosting refugees. I agree with you that especially some people opposing immigration have a twisted worldview on these topics. However, I think your last sentence is really problematic. People have the freedom to think what they want; but I think that the fundamental values of our society (freedom, democracy, equality) have to persist and I would not accept _anybody_ (no matter where they come from) to attack these values.

Perhaps the attacks on our fundamental values helps to prevent the silent majority taking them for granted? Im not talking violent terror type attacks, more the freedom to argue against them.

you don't oppose hosting refugees, but you aren't going to have any in your home or directly funding I bet. Most people who are ok with it, or claim to be, are suspiciously not directly dealing with it. surprise surprise. Not only that but Germany is actively censoring opinions against it, including through facebook youtube and other URLs. That's the thing, people don't have the freedom tho think what they want in this case.

To your first point: Yes, I'm not hosting any refugees or giving more money than I would be giving with my taxes. (But I'm currently going to school and do not earn any money, so that is not really a question to consider) But I personally think that hosting refugees is the responsibility of the state. (A climate of acceptance - in contrast to that - is important and as we have refugees in our school, this is a responsibility I take as well.) To your second point: I have never heard of such censoring but would be interested in it, if it exists.

What is important is that the rule of law and individual rights do not break down or become unequally applied. If justice and the police scale with the influx, refugees can integrate well and fast, even if their food and home practices might look different. If you let ghettos develop, you have a problem. In your example, the solution is not to let women or gays be oppressed, and not allow sharia courts to supercede the governmental ones. People can retain their views so long as they don't actually go on and infringe on the rights of others, if they do they go to jail.

Singapore even outright discusses how fast infrastructure and services are growing and sets the amount of immigration for the year accordingly. I suspect if Germany really was willing to take up the majority of the million Syrian refugees (and mass immigration from any other country in distress), it would make sure to invest accordingly and be able to integrate that many as the US has done in the early 20th century [1] (so much for history). If they get it right, it might be a huge economic boom and great long term move.

As for "the common German belief/societal structures", no culture is stagnant (and clearly not German values, if you look at the 20th century alone!). Even the US is a strange mix of a dozen traditions, cultures and habits which have blended into "American".

For example, most world citizen think of the US, not Italy, when eating a slice of pizza. People call a flat white Australian, but the Australian coffee culture which is spreading globally today is a direct descendant of Italian immigration to the country. Immigrants adapt to the local custom (cf "Chinese-American" food, secularisation of the second generation, etc.) and the country adapts to its immigrants.

[1] "between 1880 and 1920 [...] brought more than 4 million Italians to America" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_American) - this when the total US population in 1920 was 104 million (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_United_States_Census). How many famous Americans today, like Rudy Giuliani, Jay Leno or Madonna have Italian origins?

We know for a fact that the rule of law and individual rights break down. News in canada yesterday just had a disabled canadian who couldn't move into housing because it was a muslim-only housing project which was unequally applied by the canadian govt. We also know that in Sweden, France, migrants are given a free pass even when rioting, robbing and hurting the local populace. Sweden lets rapists walk after really small sentences relative to the violence of the crime. Do they deport? No. Good luck with your dreamy views.

Not in every country. Singapore is fine. The only riot in 40 years was over within a couple of hours as the police that was immediately sent on site outnumbered the rioters by an order of magnitude. You occasionally see panels on the road warning you that a pickpocket was active there 4 years ago, or maybe it was a car crash, and could you please phone the number if you have any information about it.

The country has at least four major religions and four official languages with considerably larger minorities than any European country, yet, has not seen a race-based breakdown in the rule of law in decades.

It's a failure of government when the rule of law breaks down. It's up to the citizen to figure out the problems and solve them with their votes and by talking to their elected politicians. What have you personally done politically to change the situation in your own country? Personally, I've given up and emigrated to a country with better individual rights.

I'm not sure closing all borders and living in autarky (which is where the UK and US seem to be heading) is a good long term choice. Not my countries, not my problem. It saddens me a little nevertheless to see so many great countries pick it.