David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Speaking at a conference in Munich today, British PM David Cameron identified domestic terrorism as Britain's biggest national security threat. "We need to be absolutely clear on where the origins of these terrorist attacks lie," Cameron said, "and that is the existence of an ideology, 'Islamist extremism'."
Perhaps anticipating criticism that his speech would fuel the fires of 'Islamophobia,' Cameron drew a clear distinction between Islam, the religion, and Islamism, the extreme and violent political ideology:
Islam is a religion, observed peacefully and devoutly by over a billion people. Islamist extremism is a political ideology, supported by a minority.
At the furthest end are those who back terrorism to promote their ultimate goal: an entire Islamist realm, governed by an interpretation of sharia.
Move along the spectrum, and you find people who may reject violence, but who accept various parts of the extremist world-view including real hostility towards western democracy and liberal values.
It's vital we make this distinction between the religion and the political ideology.
Time and again, people equate the two. They think whether someone is an extremist is dependent on how much they observe their religion.
So they talk about 'moderate' Muslims as if all devout Muslims must be extremist. This is wrong. Someone can be a devout Muslim and not be an extremist.
We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing....
The point is this: the ideology of extremism is the problem. Islam, emphatically, is not.
Cameron explained that the existence of Islamist extremism, especially among young British Muslims who are drawn into the violent ideology, can be traced to the search for identity. He condemned the policy of multiculturalism for obfuscating the concept of a common national identity, and for leaving so many young Muslim transplants with a sense of detachment from their country and a longing for greater community.
In the UK, some young men find it hard to identify with the traditional Islam practised at home by their parents whose customs can seem staid when transplanted to modern Western countries.
But they also find it hard to identify with Britain too, because we have allowed the weakening of our collective identity.
Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream.
We have failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong.
We have even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run counter to our values.
So when a white person holds objectionable views - racism, for example - we rightly condemn them.
But when equally unacceptable views or practices have come from someone who isn't white, we've been too cautious, frankly even fearful, to stand up to them.
The failure of some to confront the horrors of forced marriage the practice where some young girls are bullied and sometimes taken abroad to marry someone they don't want to is a case in point.
This hands-off tolerance has only served to reinforce the sense that not enough is shared.
All this leaves some young Muslims feeling rootless.
And the search for something to belong to and believe in can lead them to this extremist ideology.
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Lt Col West had it correct; David Cameron is heading in the right direction but is still mincing his words.
Jul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Bingo.
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Matthew Osborn: Lt Col West had it correct; David Cameron is heading in the right direction but is still mincing his words. · Feb 5 at 12:12pm
Can you (and Kenneth, since you agree) point to something in particular within the text of Cameron's speech where you think he's a bit off? Do you not like the distinction he makes between Islam, the religion, and Islamism, the ideology?
Aug '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
When we appear to be left of England, we have ventured off course.
Jul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Matthew Osborn: Lt Col West had it correct; David Cameron is heading in the right direction but is still mincing his words. · Feb 5 at 12:12pm
Can you (and Kenneth, since you agree) point to something in particular within the text of Cameron's speech where you think he's a bit off? Do you not like the distinction he makes between Islam, the religion, and Islamism, the ideology? · Feb 5 at 12:18pm
Diane, I think that's precisely where he goes off track. There is, in my opinion, no distinction. Muslims are laboring under an absolute obligation to take every world of the Koran literally. To speak otherwise is blasphemy. It's a violent book, which calls for global conquest. I don't know how one separates religion from ideology under those circumstances.
Aug '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Mathew and Kenneth are quite capable of responding, but since I also agree I'll suggest it may be this:
"It's vital we make this distinction between the religion and the political ideology." [Copied the wrong line before]
Lt Col West cited pitched battles between Islam and the West going back a thousand years. Charles Martel at Tours in 732, the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Battle of Vienna in 1683, etc. Modern jihad may be novel in that its chosen tactics are terrorism instead of city sieges, but it is hardly a new aspect to Islam itself.
To suggest that the militant view of Islam is some new perversion of extremism is to ignore history... and we know the fate of those who try that.
Edited on Feb 5, 2011 at 12:44pmJul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
It is instructive to understand that Islam arose out of a primitive tribal raiding culture.
For eons, Arab tribes sought wealth by raiding their neighbors, stealing their goods and land and enslaving their women and children.
Mohammed cleverly built upon this by claiming that Allah sanctions such behavior, uniting the various tribes and taking raiding culture to a global scale. Henceforth, plunder, murder and enslavement were not simply the manifestations of brutal primitivism, they were divine edicts.
Dec '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
"We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing...."
Why is he telling the assembled European leaders this? The people who don't know or understand this are the Islamist extremists. Not only do they insist that their Islamist extremist is the one true Islam, but they are perfectly willing to kill any Muslims who say otherwise, condemning them as apostates.
Dec '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
I commend the Prime Minister! I think that this is a huge step in the right direction. This would never happen if Ed Miliband was PM.
If I was President Obama, I would be keenly interested in the situation of Muslims living in Europe. The US needs to lend moral support to heads-of-state that seek to fully integrate alienated Muslim youth into Western society.
Edited on Feb 5, 2011 at 1:06pmNov '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Stuart Creque: "We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing...."
Why is he telling the assembled European leaders this? The people who don't know or understand this are the Islamist extremists. Not only do they insist that their Islamist extremist is the one true Islam, but they are perfectly willing to kill any Muslims who say otherwise, condemning them as apostates. · Feb 5 at 12:56pm
Does this imply that Kenneth is an Islamic extremist?
May '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
In the Weekly Standard, a writer pointed out that 9-11 was the best thing that ever happened to Europe's Islamists. While at first there was a crackdown and surveillance, they provided for the governments there what is the most valuable commodity in any democracy: a "dialogue partner."
Nov '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Suppose you asked a large sample of Muslims two questions:
1) How devout a Muslim are you?
2) How much do you approve of [extremist position X (e.g., death for apostasy)]?
Would there be a correlation?
Jul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Aodhan
Stuart Creque: "We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing...."
Why is he telling the assembled European leaders this? The people who don't know or understand this are the Islamist extremists. Not only do they insist that their Islamist extremist is the one true Islam, but they are perfectly willing to kill any Muslims who say otherwise, condemning them as apostates. · Feb 5 at 12:56pm
Does this imply that Kenneth is an Islamic extremist? · Feb 5 at 12:59pm
No, my sacred text is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which, while extreme, does not condone beheading.
Jul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
It only took no-go-zone neighborhoods in places like London and Birmingham where non-Muslims don't venture without fear of verbal abuse or worse for Britain's leadership to wake up to how far downhill things have gone because of multiculturalism, the spawn of political correctness. When the next Islamic outrage is committed in this country, we'll see whether Obama can find it in himself to address the problem. He missed the boat with the Fort Hood massacre, so I don't hold out any great hope. On the other hand, I don't think we'll see another Beer Summit.
Oct '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Diane,
Moderate Muslims have much in common with pro-abortion Catholics; neither are what they profess to be. We’ve all seen the Muslim celebrations of horrendous terrorist attacks and read surveys where “…only 49% of Moroccans approve of Osama bin Laden...”
What is Islam? Have you read of the 14 year old girl in Bangladesh who was whipped to death for allowing herself to be raped by a 40 year old relative? The ‘honor’ killings in Europe? Canada? USA? Are there any gays in Iran? Saudi Arabia? This is Islam; proud and determined.
There certainly are those who were Muslim, but few dare admit any schism. Where are the ‘protestant’ Muslims? They live in fear for their lives.
Nov '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
David Cameron should consider this from the Asia Times:
Nine out of ten Egyptian women suffer genital mutilation.
The Mubarak government announced a "complete" ban on genital mutilation in 2007, the second time it has done so - without success, for the Egyptian population ignored the enlightened pronouncements of its government.
Is it the religion or the ideology? What’s the difference?
Edited on Feb 5, 2011 at 2:08pmJul '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
TeeJaw : David Cameron should consider this from the Asia Times:
Nine out of ten Egyptian women suffer genital mutilation.
The Mubarak government announced a "complete" ban on genital mutilation in 2007, the second time it has done so - without success, for the Egyptian population ignored the enlightened pronouncements of its government.
Is it the religion or the ideology? What’s the difference? · Feb 5 at 2:07pm
Edited on Feb 05 at 02:08 pm
That's just barbarism. The sickening part is how the adult women are at the forefront in perpetrating the mutilation.
Jan '11
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Stuart Creque: "We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing...."
Why is he telling the assembled European leaders this?
So that the assembled European leaders won't rise up and cry, "Islamophobe!"
He hopes.
Dec '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
I'm not sure we will ever have enough information to fully comprehend this topic.
In the meantime, I'm going to watch this, this weekend, from Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser. Based upon the small portion I have gotten through so far, I think it will be on topic.
Dec '10
Re: David Cameron Denounces Multiculturalism as Cause of Islamist Terrorism
Whenever I hear about multiculturalism and Islam, I always think about Hinduism. Nobody in the UK has any concerns about the large Hindu population. The problem is only multiculturalism inasmuch as multiculturalism is an enabler of Islamism.
Multiculturalism would enable any violent ideology, but the problem here is, at its root, Islam.