Short term: The US is dealing with a lot of the Middle East issues while pseudo-intellectual Europeans pontificate about us and some made up crusade in their mind. As in the Cold War, this will be a long protracted campaign where we will pay the price in economics, blood, terror and politically.
With our GWOT all eyes are on us. All effort by AQ, Abu Saayef and others is devoted to fighting us. Iran, Syria, Libya and other are maneuvering against us and the pressure in taken off of Europe. Just years ago in France you could read about near monthly bombs blowing up in France.
If we fail, in the long run, Europe with it's declining populations, increased numbers of Muslims (France has 10%), Germany over 3.6 million.....will suffer the wrath very dearly.
Europe is flooded with Muslims, and has many extremists. Appeasement is difficult when you're dealing with people who are extremists. The Koran states verbatim that "Well destroy the infidels in ways they are not aware of". There are many passages where our destruction is advocated. What some don’t understand is that you don’t need to be Christian to be on the “hit list”. Even Buddhists are killed, and their shrines destroyed. Ask a Hindu if the Muslims are a “religion of peace”. Anything outside of the Imams paradigm and Shari law is lower than scum. It’s not deserving to live! And if they like it or not, the Europeans fall into this category. Even if they believe in nothing, are hedonistic socialists with a green and anti-American undertone, even if they want to appease the Muslims, they are still scum in the Muslim fundamentalists mind.
Open boarders, close proximity, high Muslim populations already present, high dependence on Middle Eastern oil, a decedent hedonistic culture (Love parades, liberal media, Feminism, and and and) which clashes with the Muslim paradigm combined with a Judo Christian cultural base WILL lead to a war of civilizations as some predicted. It’s just a matter of time. 70 million Muslim Turks joining the EU will only accelerate this.
Europe is in denial! Van Gogh, Madrid train, France headscarves and all the threats, France and the bombings years past and and and. The anti-American, pseudo intellectual European will casually overlook all these MINOR details.
Red6
Somebody must have told the current "Lexington" a million times not to exaggerate.
The title was so silly, I expected it to be from 'Scrappleface'.
Historically, Europe has been fertile ground for religious wars and religious intolerance. A little more than 60 years ago Jews were being murdered on a grand scale just because of their religion. Anti-semitism is running rampant throughout France and countries like Holland and Denmark must now deal with a growing threat from militant Islam. France and Germany are trying to deal with increasing muslim minorities in their midst who are not interested in assimilation.
Albania and Serbia are engaged in essentially a religious war. Nothern Ireland still has an ongoing, now less violent, religious war. The UK has a state church, the Church of England. In Germany religion is taught in the public schools.
Which all suggests that America's religious wars are only going to intensify. Fourteen moderate senators averted a nuclear explosion over conservative judges this week; but explosions over the issues which made those judges controversial seem all but inevitable. Just wait for the next Supreme Court ruling on abortion. Or for the next vacancy on the court to open up.
The author uses terms of violence, but the fact is that Americans are not engaging in physical acts of violence in the name of religion. It is happening in Europe however in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Holland, Germany, and France to name a few. The article buys the Dem line about the threat of the religious right.
You don't have to be religious to appreciate the arguments against abortion. Freely killing your offspring has already had devastating effects on a number of social issues.
Just goes to show how shallow left thinking really is.
"Socialism..", for it brings to light the very agenda behind every article..
"The hugely bulky European constitution doesn't mention Christianity."
I should like to be shown the exact location in the US Constitution, which mentions Christianity.
Am I mistaken, wasn't Europe the continent, whereby a few scant decades back the Jewish RELIGION saw millions put to painful death, for sake of their religion, alone?
Did not the neighbor nations stand by, doing little or nothing about it?
Pot calling kettle black.
The US is at war with islam, as should be all thinking people. Muslim men are raping Danish women. Muslims are gunning down Dutch political figures.
There are two issues conflated here. One is the culture war, which is real enough. The other is judicial tyranny. It is judicial recklessness that has brought the religious controversies to the boiling point.
Europe is essentially spiritually dead and we are not far behind them
The USA, the only country willing to take a stand and do the dirty work to guarantee the sovereign lifestyle of all.
What wars of religion? We have the right of free speech and we use it. As far as Islam goes it's not a war of religion with us.
Europe has had a hundred wars of religion, America has had zero. What is this nut talking about?
Dear Economist,
I have two words in response to your "think piece".
Northern Ireland.
Yours Truly,
An American
Because it isn't?
Dan