-det er et privilegium, man skal gøre sig fortjent til.
Receiving Danish citizenship is not a right
–it’s a privilege to be earned.
The world is not fair, we are not all equal. It should be clear when we look around the world, even though you now do not have to look so high to see that people are different, have different abilities, opportunities and rights – also in Denmark.
Denmark is a very special country – not perfect, I must be the first to admit it, but very special when it comes to the welfare model and human rights. This is confirmed again and again when you see and experience how other countries have arranged themselves.
Being able to share in the benefits and rights of the Danish welfare society is a completely unique privilege. It should not be given generously but carefully assigned to those who deserve it.
We do not all have to be the same, there are many ways to be Danish, especially because Denmark is no longer the homogeneous society I grew up in. You can praise or lament that. The development can not be reversed if someone should feel like it. I like diversity, of dissidents, of exchange – but of course it must be on a basis where completely basic rules of conduct are observed.
What we can control legally is what society we would like to have in the future, and in that account, citizenship plays a role. A country is its inhabitants.
The interesting thing in that discussion is not what race or religion but what mindset you have when you want to be invited completely into the community and take part in and enjoy the gift of being a Danish citizen. Because yes, we in Denmark have both the right and the duty to be aware of which direction we want to shape the country to develop in, and which country we pass on to our children and to their children.
A given country is, of course, allowed to organize its process in relation to the granting of citizenship as it wishes. Citizenship is not a human right – it is a privilege.
Well, what about those who get citizenship as a lullaby? – they have not earned anything! As I said, the world is not fair. And for the group that has to apply for citizenship, either because their parents have not done it for them or because they have arrived in the country from another place in the world, then it is only natural that we in Denmark before we distribute a citizenship, with all the rights it involves – especially with all the welfare benefits that Denmark offers its citizens – allows us to make certain demands. Just because you were born in a country or are applying for citizenship, you are not entitled to it. You have to deserve it.
I do not think it is too much required that the people who apply for citizenship in Denmark have not previously violated the law to such an extent that they have been in prison, that they contribute to Danish society, and that they support the values we so roughly agree on – including equality between the sexes and not least that no religion is above the law.
The probability that people who live by and can accept the values they should vouch for when applying for Danish citizenship increases the probability that those with whom they may be reunited become socially contributing individuals who stay on the narrow path of virtue. In my view, this is a minimum requirement and expectations that we must and should demand from those who want Danish citizenship.
What else should Denmark and Europe do? Open the doors wide open, sit back and watch Western societies erode the values and human rights it has taken centuries to build? When I look at which groups first apply for residence in Denmark and then are granted citizenship, I may well be concerned about whether there is a political will to secure the future of our model of society, norms and values.
I am not against a particular religion or a particular people – but unfortunately the statistics speak for themselves. We need to be able to talk about that – without being called racists or having other unpleasant accusations shot in the shoes.
If we like the welfare and society model we have in Denmark, where we pride ourselves on our values and a tax-financed welfare, everything else being equal, it would be foolish to act against better knowledge and extend citizenships to people who do not support Danish values and perhaps even actively contribute to leading the country backwards because their own culture is so far from the Danish. In addition to the price we as a society will pay in the form of a pressure on values, we also risk that Danish citizens can no longer see the sense of contributing to the model of society through their taxes – and then the liquidation of the country we know and love going.
A country cannot always choose its citizens. For my sake, I could well do without criminal rockers who have acquired their citizenship at birth. I can do nothing about it. But we can deny those who in their actions have shown that they do not accept the Danish society and the Danish values the gift and the privilege it is to receive Danish citizenship.
(Google translate)
Danish-American Eyes on Society 