The demand for “compatibility with Western civilization” relies on a linguistic sleight of hand. “Western” is not a geographic location. If it were, nations in the far East like Australia or New Zealand would not be included in the definition.

“Western” functions as a status. It is the label applied to a territory only after the indigenous civilization has been sufficiently erased or replaced. The concept began as “European,” but as the project of expansion grew, the label had to adapt. It expanded to the Americas, to the Pacific, absorbing land and re-branding it.

Therefore, the call for “integration” is often a request for alignment with the very system that erased the previous occupants. It is a demand to accept that the history of the land began when the label was applied.

So I have a challenge for the defenders of this status: Tell me, where exactly do the boundaries of your Western Civilization stop?

Draw the final line on the map. Show me where the project ends so I can see what is allowed to survive. But we both know you cannot draw that line, can you? Because “Westernization” is not a place that sits still; it is a flood that is still rising.