There seems to be a lot of focus on the religion of the bombers involved in the recent suicide bomb attack in London, and I am beginning to wonder if it isn't a bit of a red herring. Here are some of my throughts on this matter:
- One can find reprehensible quotes from the bible and the koran, which, if read literally, could be considered to incite violence or other unlawful acts; however this doesn't stop a many millions of people calling themselves Muslim or Christian and leading perfrectly peaceful and respectable lives
- All the main monotheistic religions in Europe also preach a message of tolerance and forgiveness, but it does not stop people carrying out unspeakable acts in their name.
- Muslims in the UK who arrived from more prosperous and secular countries such as Turkey and Lebanon do not seem to "affected" as their Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts
- The inability of people from certain ethnic groups, which also happen to be Muslim, to blend into Western society, despite 3 or more generations passing, causes them to feel isolated and despised for their "separateness".
- Those people in 4. find solace in their religion which justifies their attacks on their host society, and thus resolves their bitterness.
Thus in my mind their religion is peripheral, and it is their race/ethnicity/culture that is to blame. The ultimate cause is unconstrained immigration and lack of focus on assimilation. Instead the UK (and other EU countries) are becoming a multi-cultural patchwork of inner-states defined by foreign cultures and languages.