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@fallen-archie wrote:

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All that aside I don't see the problem if the numbers have increased - are you suggesting that individuals should be ashamed of their religion and not wear clothing that identifies their religious beliefs!  Jews, Buddhists, Rastafarians, Sikhs and numerous other groups wear clothing that identifies their beliefs - do you think that hinders their desire to be British and part of the greater society?

 

Integration doesn't require everybody to be the same.

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No absolutely not! I was not suggesting that people should be affraid to celebrate or simply proudly demonstrate their religion or belief. If anyone interpreted my question that way then I am at fault for not reflecting my thoughts more appropriately. I was however expressing what has become a bone of contention among many who share their space and community. Sending 14 year old girls back to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, against the will of the child, against the law here yet it continues and we watch it happen. It is as if some wish to live in a time warp, to take the benefits we enjoy as a developed nation but to somehow exist independently and outside the laws and traditions of their abode. There has to be a balance, Just as the recently released British pensioner held in a saudi jail having been caught in posession of home made alcohol,he broke the law of the land and was punished. Those who come here should be subject to our laws, respect our traditions, understand our fears and not seek to establish a parallel form of governance or judicial system based on feudal and religious doctrine. I welcome cosmopolitan societies but I also wish to preserve some national identity and tradition where it was founded.

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Which brings us nicely round in a circle to the poll mentioned above where 93% of British Muslims say that they should always obey British laws.  That means that 7% don't - it is this group, the potential offenders, that attention should be paid to, along with the small percentage of the rest of the population who believe they are above the law.

30% of the adult male population have a criminal record, (excluding motoring offences), so I guess 7% of a group thinking that it's okay to disobey British law is not that outstanding but that doesn't meant that it shouldn't be addressed.

On the point of clothing you did state in your earlier post, "I cannot see how this open demonstration of ones religion or religious belief in any way supports a quest or desire for greater integration".  I'm not sure how that is compatible with, "I was not suggesting that people should be affraid to celebrate or simply proudly demonstrate their religion or belief".  I want to preserve our traditions as well, one of which we can be proudest of is our tolerance of those that are different - vive la difference