Wednesday 17th June
At school I was always amazed at the Religious wars of the 16th and 17th Centuries in Europe, both by the fact that they were fighting about Religion in the first place and the violence and inhumanity shown by the combatants. This was the sixties, a time of Peace and Love (or so we preached), even though there was still a residue of suspicion of Catholics amongst the largely Protestant population the growing attitude was of tolerance. Except of course in Northern Ireland where the ‘Papist threat’ was being inflamed by Paisley, and the Civil Rights Movement quickly grew into Civil War. On the surface this was about Nationalism and Politics but as ever in Ireland it was really about Religion.
And now for almost two decades we have been embroiled in another Religious War, though this is not only being fought out in Syria, Iraq and Yemen but also in the media. The Muslim question is really about whether the growing Muslim population of Britain can ever peacefully assimilate, and just as important whether British tolerance or deep-seated Racial and Religious Prejudice will prevail. The unwritten code, nudge nudge, of UKIP was that while Eastern European Immigrants were a ‘legitimate’ topic it was really the Asians and Muslims in particular, many of them settled here for generations that were the target.
I have some Muslim friends and guess what, they are just the same as you and me, they just worship a different (or in my case A) God. So why do we have this Muslim problem in Britain, is it as many proclaim that many do not bother to learn the language, that they still wear traditional clothes including the Hijab, is it that they congregate together and create their own ghettoes, is it the fear of being outnumbered, or is it indeed Religion? And will the whole issue slowly dissolve as more and more of us, both Muslim and old-fashioned white English are educated. In London there does seem to be more tolerance, UKIP did far less well here and the place is incredibly cosmopolitan. And as yet another family is missing in Turkey, presumed ISIS bound, the media are all over the story – as if they are some sort of a threat to our entire existence. Hopefully in a couple of generations it will all die down and another Religious war will be in the past.