... that is, except the 94% that aren't- or 99.6% depending on which source you look at it. Either way , it's blindingly clear that the assertation of all terrorist being adherents to Islam is utter tripe.
Islamic terrorism - 1 strike
Separatistic terrorsim - 397 strikes
Left wing terrorism - 28 strikes
Right wing terrorism - 0 strikes
Invidual terrorism - 5 strikes
Un-classed terrorism - 11 strikes
Islamic terrorism - 187 people arrested
Separatistic terrorism - 501 people arrested
Left wing terrorism - 58 people arrested
Right wing terrorism - 0 people arrested
Invidual terrorism - 3 arrested
Unclassed - 4 arrested.
Source.
So why are people so terrified of Islam? It probably has a lot to do with the Islamic states in the world which are renouned for their abuse of human rights and lack of respect towards the liberty of women as well as their hostile treatment of rule breakers. However, I don't know of many muslims who don't see said states as anything short of reprehensible- ditto with terrorism. And I suspect that there is no religion out there (out of the big ones, at least) that hasn't had a country run under its name which has done vile things.
There's also things like this article from The Times which informed readers that the Muslim population is rising ten times faster than the rest of society. Firstly, their use of the phrase "the rest of society" is very vague. I'd guess that the number of Jacko fans has increased tenfold since his death let alone the past ten years, and one could easily qualify Micheal Jackson fans as a section of "the rest of society". But I digress. Judging from the table that they provide, they mean in comparasion to other religions.
So let's take a look at this table (sorry, I don't know how to get the whole thing to fit on. Just click on the table to view the whole of it):
Number of Christians: 42, 675 thousand. Number of Muslims: 2, 422 thousand. Err, yeah. Clearly the latter group are a massive threat to society.
The article also quotes an expert who present this change in the Islamic population as something that could lead to changes in politics. This is what he (a professor of demography at Oxford) had to say:
"The implications are very substantial. Some of the Muslim population, by no means all of them, are the least socially and economically integrated of any in the United Kingdom ... and the one most associated with political dissatisfaction. You can't assume that just because the numbers are increasing that all will increase, but it will be one of several reasonable suppositions that might arise."
So in effect, he is saying that there will be more support for Islamic parties. However, I don't know of any Islamic parties. There was the Islamic Party of Britain but they stopped being active in 2006 so I'm not seeing this threat, really. The professor also makes a blanket statement, assuming that all Muslims have the same beliefs and would all want a certain party in power or a certain set of rules enforced. No. Like Christianity, there are many denominations of Islam and it's stupid to assume that even within the denominations, there would be a unanimous consensus.
If you look at the table, it states that the majority of muslims are under 4. That is ridiculous. There is no way that under 4s pose a threat to society. I find it idiotic that an under 4 could even be classified as "muslim". They will not grow up to be militant jihadist because they will grow up British. They will be nationally British and will grow up ingrained into society. So again, where is the threat?
The article attributes this surge in Islamic popularity to:
1. Immigration- which, by the way, is a way of making sure that the menal jobs that no one wants to do are taken. Immigration keeps the NHS afloat and helps reverse the ageing population problem. Plus it's very hard to get citizenship from here if you're not from a country in the EU- and most members of countries in the EU aren't muslim.
2. Higher birth rate- again, an answer to the ageing population. It's a human right to have children and it's not like non-muslims are being barred from having children.
3. Conversion- How dare people exercise their right to freedom of choice with religion! How dare they!
4. Growing willingess to describe themselves as muslim because the western reaction to terrorism and war has strenghtened their identity- I find this one pretty interesting. I think it should be modfied to read "media reaction to terrorism" though because I doubt many muslims have a problem with the west being opposed to terrorism.
The other expert mentioned in the article says that, with the majority of muslims being under 4, a strain will be put on the NHS. I take on board this point. However, I think it's ridiculous to use Islam as a scapegoat for this. Yes, the fact that there are a lot of children will probably put a strain on public services but no, this does not mean that Islam is a threat to the UK. Not to forget that the parents of these children (irrespective of ethnicity or religion) will be paying tax. And remind me who it is that will prevent the ageing population from being a fiscal and moral disaster?
Oh yes. Children.
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