Radical Islam finds unlikely haven in liberal Britain

Christian Science Monitor ^ | 8.5.02 | Danna Harman

[crazykatz]

PING

[blam]

"But the US can't stop us. Islam will one day dominate the world."

It won't be to late when the world wakes up but, they better hurry.

[yendu bwam]

The Brits have no idea who they are anymore.

[dennisw]

ping!!!!!

[mlocher]

The Brits have no idea who they are anymore

they lost their identity sometime around 1776. some event that brits called "amicable separation" seems to have influenced them greatly...

[denydenydeny]

Indexing.

[Mr. Mojo]

Exactly. Leftists and Jihadists are a perfect match.

[Eala]

Radical Islam finds unlikely haven in liberal Britain

The title writer is an idiot. Given that liberalism requires one to blind one's self to obvious realities, any place that has gone as liberal as Britain is a potential breeding ground for all sorts of deadly intolerant ideologies, particularly when the "minority" or "victim" cards can be played.

IMHO, liberalism is a deathwish not yet completed.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Indeed, Scotland Yard suggests that as part of their advanced training, some al Muhajiroun followers are being sent to "terrorist" camps in Oregon and Alabama.

Is this true? What a mess!

[Neophyte]

The Brits have no idea who they are anymore

But we do know who they are: Lawrence of Arabia fetishists who never miss a chance to give the Muslims a full Monica.

This nice characteristic was coined by Mark Steyn, the best conservative writer I've read.

[Travis McGee]

Is the West terminally naive? Are we too soft to resist? Are we too stupid to survive?

[Stultis]

any place that has gone as liberal as Britain is a potential breeding ground for all sorts of deadly intolerant ideologies

That's part of it, sure, but that's not the whole story.

I've never been to Britain, or to continental Europe, but everything I read (and I have a strong interest in immigration and assimilation) suggests that there is a fairly profound cultural difference between the U.S. and the folk "over there". Despite the nativist and anti-immigrant attitudes that occasionally bubble to the surface here, Americans are egalitarians to a much greater extent than our European cousins. Immigrants here who make an effort to "fit in," and genuinely feels themselves to be participants in the American experience, and embrace (however much in their own ways) American ideals and values, generally are accepted by the vast majority of Americans AS Americans. One can come here from elsewhere and genuinely become an American. I don't mean in terms of aquiring legal citizenship (although that is more doable here than in most European countries) but rather that one is accepted at a social level, and in terms of myriad daily interactions, as part of the national and local community.

The impression I get is that this doesn't tend to happen overseas, especially in continental Europe. Even the most earnest assimilationist immigrant is, in many respects, fated to a lifelong "outsider" status. Sure, there are radical Muslims over here in America, but I suspect far fewer by percentage than almost anywhere else. There are paths to social particaption here that provide alternatives that aren't as available to Muslim immigrants, or second generation immigrants, overseas. The availability of genuine opportunities for integration and acceptance render radical attitudes and approaches less "socially acceptable".

Sure we have significant problems with assimilation here in the U.S. For the matter of that we are doing a very poor job "assimilating" native American children in the values, principles and history of America, leave alone the immigrants. Nevertheless we still do it better than almost any place else in the world.

[montag813]

"But the US can't stop us. Islam will one day dominate the world."

One day Islam will be destroyed, a shattered evil cult laid upon the ashheap of history; its adherents dead or conquered.

[maica]

The impression I get is that this doesn't tend to happen overseas, especially in continental Europe. Even the most earnest assimilationist immigrant is, in many respects, fated to a lifelong "outsider" status.

---

Two points:

America was founded on the premise that anyone who accepted the philosophy of the USA could become an American, citizenship had nothing to do with bloodline or caste.

Until the EU changed immigration patterns, almost all of the immigrants to Britain came from ex-colonies, so those who immigrated already had decided that they wanted to continue living in a 'British' fashion.

A second and very great difference between the US and the UK is, as you said, a much more pervasive effect of socio-economic 'class' distinction in the UK. So for many, it is easy to foment resentment. -- All while they are getting their generous cheque from the dole, of course.

[maica]

I imagine that this headline writer from the Christian Science Monitor is under the delusion that "liberal" is a good thing!

[Guillermo]

But the funny thing is, the "Tolerant" left will be the first targets of the Jihadists when they take over. They will not be exempt from forced prayers and burqas.

[Travis McGee]

It sounds like it, but in the security from terrorism department liberal means "too stupid gullible and naive to defend yourself from those who vow to kill you."

[aculeus]

England is the capital of the Islamic world," says Sheikh Abu Bakri Mohammad, the Syrian asylum- seeker who founded al Muhajiroun in 1986. "Trafalgar Square has become our Mecca."

Ugh!