Well the thing is that we do not receive any welfare checks at all. My wife is a Swedish citizen. None of us is religious(should not even be an issue though).

I mean these "laws" seem like they have created a whole social system of discrimination against any foreign stuff. Also the employment rate ain't going down just because they force an American family's 3 years old child in kindergarten.

Also I strongly believe in freedom. That means man's right, a man's liberal right to be free. No man shall be the slave of a state. The state is a necessary evil. The state receives our tax money and serve us due to the fact that we pay them their salary. Nothing else. They keep things in order. A state does not hold the right to enter our brains and decide whether we write "color" or "colour".

I shall put it blunt and firm. I have come to see Denmark as a communist/right wing state(all the same oily stuff for me as I am a true liberal) with an ungodly high tax(60 procent), a twisted and very wrong view on how its citizen shall served the elite and where human rights is only something pretty on a piece of paper.

Now why should I say this?

Well when a state believes it can demand(try forcing) a foreigners' child under 5 years old to attend their language program they are clearly not respecting an English speaking(or any other language for that sake) persons right to have a family, speak their mother tongues with their kids and keep a little of their culture intact. Something EU and UN have mentioned on several occasions during their control visits to Denmark. Also I have seen how many pure Danes had to travel to other EU nations if they married a foreigner in order to live together under same roof due to a very harsh immigration politic.

I have always believed that a state should consist of people who work together and where all man is free and equal, no matter religion, language, ethnically origin, gender or economical situation. Sadly I have come to the conclusion that Denmark is not such a place if you are a foreigner or is married to one.

I guess my question is: "what do I get for paying my tax and being a nice citizen?"

The answer is: suspicion and stigmatization from the system.

Hence @TheChubu might be right here. We might not be "local" enough after all.

We might not be "local" enough after all.

Noone is local enough anymore -- the reality is division along ethnic/religious/national lines has been a growth industry for a while and primarily it comes down to one factor - xenophobia. I would like to say that there is someplace in this world where it not happening but the reality is I don't know of any place that qualifies.

Well when a state believes it can demand(try forcing) a foreigners' child under 5 years old to attend their language program they are clearly not respecting an English speaking(or any other language for that sake) persons right to have a family, speak their mother tongues with their kids and keep a little of their culture intact.

I'm trying to understand why you're so upset here. First, as an immigrant to a state you are bound to that state laws, if you don't agree with these laws, then why did you move there in the first place? Second, as people have explained several times, this regulation that offends you so much is primarily aimed at socially endangered immigrants, i.e. those that immigrate purely for welfare with no intention of integration or becoming part of the workforce whatsoever. Getting the children of those people into kindergarten is an essential method of saving their future. I won't go into detail on that, as you're clearly not involved apart from that formality.

This is a dilemma that had to be solved by the state authorities which they have handled with politeness and sensibility. Please don't be offended needlessly.

got it because his mother is a Swedish citizen. Now I have lived for 7 years in Sweden and no gov sent us such a letter regarding our daughter as they see Danish and Swedish like almost the same language. It is actually.

I took an SAS (Scandanavian Airlines) flight from London to Copenhagen last year. As the passengers were settling in and the cabin checks were underway, the steward came on the intercom and announced that because it was an international flight, service would be in both languages, English and Scandanavian. Further proof that Swedish and Danish are the same.

I live in a country (Canada) with a high immigration rate. We have certain areas in which non-official-language speakers actually outnumber the official-language speakers. In the educational jurisdiction where I live (education varies from province to province) all students are required to take a proficiency test in the appropriate official language (English or French) and if they do not pass, are required to take remedial classes to improve their facility (and, I'm sorry to say, sometimes "native" speakers fail). This does not sound unreasonable, since a basic facility in the language of instruction is required if any benefit is to be gained from the publicly-funded education.

We would think it abhorrent that the government would assume language facility based on a parent's ethnic, cultural, or national origin. It would be considered so offensive politicians would probably lose their jobs if held responsible (heh, like that would happen), or at least bureaucrats would be fired and committees struck to examine the situation and write reports.

It would sicken me to live in a society in which faceless bureaucrats are watching everyone and know where an innocent schoolchild's parent were born and what language they may have spoken as children. Destroy it with fire.

I'm trying to understand why you're so upset here.

Well I get a letter saying my son's mother language is NOT Danish, what do you think?

First, as an immigrant to a state you are bound to that state laws

We are not an immigrants. We are free European Citizens. Also Denmark has signed the European Human Rights Convention saying that it is not legal to "erase" foreigners' own language in the assimilation process. Hence no European citizens' culture or language can be set as secondary.

Second, as people have explained several times, this regulation that offends you so much is primarily aimed at socially endangered immigrants, i.e. those that immigrate purely for welfare with no intention of integration or becoming part of the workforce whatsoever.

What do we say to a danish female who choose to go home with her kid for like four years while the husband works? Nothing at all...

those that immigrate purely for welfare with no intention of integration or becoming part of the workforce whatsoever.

That is right wing propaganda. Sure some think this way, but I have never like to shoot with scatter when dealing with an issue. Go direct for the problem no the crowd.

Getting the children of those people into kindergarten is an essential method of saving their future

Now that argument I do not buy. I have taken plenty of economical statistics on the university to know that many of the reports are not valid at all. No kindergarten will safe people from becoming gang members. In fact some of the worst gang members grew up in fine families where their parents were doctors and lawyers.

This is a dilemma that had to be solved by the state authorities which they have handled with politeness and sensibility. Please don't be offended needlessly.

I do not find it polite to claim my son's mother language is not Danish(or even to make it a problem if it was not so) and I do not find it polite that a state's officials sit in their offices claiming that my son OR any foreigners son for that sake will be a criminal if they are not sent to kindergarten built on some statistics that I easily can counter with pure logical analysis. I find that very offensive, utterly rude and very barbaric. It clearly shows what view these organizations and their officials have on foreigners and their kids. Outrageous and extremely uncivilized way of dealing with free citizens who behave well, pay their taxes.

edit: some typo mistakes

<Well I get a letter saying my son's mother language is NOT Danish, what do you think?>

You are assuming that this letter is not an accident and that it shouldn't have been sent to you. But you have already specified that you talk with the government and they apologized for the letter as you clearly didn't fall into the group the letter was meant for.

Stop being so emotional about an error. Having said that, I do think the government should strive to be better at sending these kinds of letters to the correct recievers, such as to spare you the huge grief you obviously have experienced. But please don't stop the discussion I think it very interesting and necessary to have..

I prefer that governments to be hands off as much as possible from citizens life. I can also understand why a country would like to enforce the spoken language. I think it's a mess here in the US. Some people can be living in this country for 10 years, and haven't got a clue how to speak English. I don't know how they get around.

If government truly want to enforce, are there some sort of certificate to indicate that "Yes, I am proficient in Danish?"

Only a danish test foreigners have to take, but I cant remember when they take it.

They have to answer question about danish history and general laws i believe..

Perhaps when they leave the asylum centers?!

That language test a lot of my Dane friends cannot pass. You see the test is academic language levels and most workers would fail badly as soon as the grammar hits inn. I have even taken the history test a few times for fun(on newspapers online) in order to see if an "educated" Dane as me could pass it. I usually get around 99 procent correct. Again I can guarantee that many of my danish friends who do not even hold a high school diploma would never pass it.

But a test in Danish history is not useful. Knowing that our parliament has 179 seats or when we lost Norway ain't going to make people less (insert your prejudices here) or more (insert your prejudices here) of anything.

The whole system is a joke. It seems like my own nation is in a state of panic and is acting illogical.

<The whole system is a joke. It seems like my own nation is in a state of panic and is acting illogical.>

I agree, many new legislation just seem like they are bored and have to think of new laws in order to keep them self seated..

Unfortunately there are more rules/laws being made than being removed - we move towards living in a big bowl in the fear that we may drive over 20mph and kill everyone!

Or another way of saying it, they only know how to tighten the laws until we all suffocate.. or at least it feels like this..