"People come to this country and they like it. They don't view it as the belly of the beast. With very few exceptions, you don't see the bitter enclaves that you have in Europe."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1023/p01s04-ussc.html
Radical Islam finds US 'sterile ground'
by daystar 4 Replies latest social current
-
-
jstalin
Excellent. The moderating influence of freedom is a wonderful thing.
-
done4good
For the most part, a very encouraging article.
j
-
Pistoff
I am definitely on the liberal side of most discussions; but:
I am not sure that Islam can exist in this country. At least, the brand that is on the rise around the world.
One example: women must cover up; if they do not cover the head/hair, they can not be surprised by being raped.
I think I will get lit up for saying that, but there it is.
It is also so radically self righteous it makes witnesses look liberal.
Time will tell. -
dorayakii
Excellent. The moderating influence of freedom is a wonderful thing.
The arguement is not so easy as "America has more freedom, so we have less home-grown terrorism"...
For one, i'm not sure that your "moderating influence of freedom" is any greater than ours here in Europe, there are freedoms here which are greater than that in the US, and freedoms in the US which are greater than in individual EU countries. Here in the UK and over in Spain (the capitals of which are obviously London and Madrid), Muslim women are free to wear the hijab, yet we have suffered home-grown terrorist action. In France however, where the hajib is prohibited by the laicité law on seperation of Religion and State (the State including state schools), they have not suffered a terrorist attack, and from personal experience teaching for a year in a French college, the Muslims seem to view the law as quite reasonable.
A good paragraph in the article talked about how US Muslims are from richer and more comfortable backgrounds... whereas Uk Muslims are often from poorer and more disenfranchised backgrounds. This is a key paragraph.
I think that another key phrase in the article, and a reason for general unrest in Europe is that " unsophisticated planning and tiny numbers have led some [..] to conclude that America, [..] is not fertile ground for producing jihadist terrorists. "
The US has a population of around 300,000,000 and a Muslim population of around 3,000,000. (Where 42% of the Muslim population is African-American)
The UK has a population of around 60,000,000 and a Muslim population of 1,600,000.
Lack of a long-term community and organisation is also a key factor in America. Spain has had a thriving Muslim community for close to a millenium, so it's little wonder they are more organised and wanting more recognition form their government. In Britian, the Muslim population is mostly made of immigrants from the former imperial colonies.
Our geographical proximity to the Arab world and the proposition of Turkey (an entire 99.8% Muslim country according to the CIA Wold Factbook) actually joining our "federation of nations" at some point in the furture is another factor... and when you consider that the issues surrounding Turkey's admission into the EU are based on the conditions of Turkey opening its airports to Cyprus, giving rights to its Kurdish nationals and allowing increased freedom of expression for journalists and writers, you begin to realise that Europe's priorities are different from that of the US regarding its Muslim population.
There are a plethora of other factors and reasons...