Quote Originally Posted by Lindenbaggie View Post
A recent poll allegedly found that 81% of Muslims placed their faith as being more important than being British. If true, this weekend's demonstrations will give us a further warning of what will be happening in the future. They keep pushing and pushing the boundaries.
Wouldn't be too surprised at that percentage figure at all tbh. We are -technically at least -a Christian country with a monarch who is "supreme governor" of the Church of England but the reality is that over many years a combination of science, social revolution, political and philosophical thought and the experience of two world wars has eroded many people's beliefs.

I would wager that most of the British population would likely see themselves as either agnostic or atheist. When Lennon made his remarks about the Beatles being of more importance to many young people than Jesus/God way back in 1966 it is telling that the backlash came not from here but from the Bible Belt of America. By contrast, the religion of many immigrants to this country-the majority of whom come from former colonies and who are mostly Muslim- means much more to them. I personally do not see this as being a threat in itself as I still believe that the vast majority of Muslims in this country do not share the radical beliefs of the Islamic extremists. I do, however, recognize the threat of Islamic extremism and those whose ideology encourages the destruction of "corrupt" Western nations such as the UK. The moot point is how you stop this. Zealots are always keen to brain wash their disciples but how the wider Muslim community is treated can also have a large influence in whether such groups attract new followers.

Although anti immigration feelings have grown noticeably over the past decade or so across Europe (driven primarily by economic concerns as they always have been) the recent protest marches here have arisen purely from the Hamas/Israeli conflict. Of course, many who have joined them are Muslim but there are also many who are not. They are united in protesting at the actions of Israel in Gaza which is leading to the deaths of many innocent Palestinians and the fact that Western leaders are seemingly condoning this. They are not marching to demand an end to British culture or values.

I don't doubt for one second that there are extremists amongst these marches aiming to hi-jack the protests for their own ends and calling for the elimination and destruction of Israel or Western nations and these should be arrested and dealt with appropriately. I have great sympathy with those who argue that if such extremists who seek the destruction of Western values feel that way then they should go live elsewhere and peddle their hateful ideologies. But I'm sure the majority of those protesting are not of this ilk.

As Home Secretary, Braverman should have been trying to calm the situation not inflame it.