I meant more like religion, or ethics. Yeah really you can't blame europeans for how we treat gypsies, or muslims. I have nothing against muslisms, they don't even live in our country, France has something against them and I disagree with how they try to supress ther religion, beliefs, probihites them to observe their traditions. This is just so wrong, and goes against every humanitarian idea, that has ever been born in Europe. On the other hand, I can understand why France did, what they did. I am not saying it's right, I just say I can understand why an independent country where muslisms started to occupy more and more jobs, schools, started to push their bielf system at the expense of native born French, it's logical that the country stands to side of their own people. Yeah it is patriotism, it is holding us back from seeing all the possibilities, that would came out from cooperations with other nations. It is bad, it is a huge stap back that holding us from progress and the final unity... I didn't try to be patriotic, I just tried to explain prejudices and misunderstandings, with whom the first post was full of. To imigracy issues... yeah you know it sucks. You have your own country, 500 milion people, that need jobs, food, money, living and suddenly other 200 milion people came here and they need the same things, but you even suffer to provide living and food for that 500 milion... So what will you do? You try to protect you own people... That's just how it goes. Any other reasons why to treat immigrants bad called rasism... it exists... in Europe, in U.S, in Africa... It exists all over the world even though we try so hard not to... After all, we just close our eyes and say... Everything is fine, we can't that people are rasists, we love each other... even though everyone knows it is a bullshit...
I fail to understand this half-digested mess. Where are you from, my dear Polly?
Have you ever been in France and read enough before starting to express very strange views about its politics?
France has strictly NOTHING against Muslims. As a matter of fact it's the European country with the largest share of Muslim citizens -between 10 and 12%- (except Bosnia and Albania of course), where you have the highest number of mosques. And France has also a long tradition (for better and for worse sometimes) of dealing with Muslim countries and cultures, contrary to most European countries who see Muslim people as inherently "foreign". What I mean by that, is that in Germany, Netherlands or the UK where you also have sizeable Muslim communities (although not as large as in France), they live there, but the majority of them will never become full citizens with full and equal rights (and this is not what they want anyway).
Anyway, when you go or live in North Africa just like I did, it's obvious to notice how close to France those countries are, culturally speaking. Colonization, I know. But it's a fact: they influenced us in return as much as we influenced them. And as a consequence, a French guy could feel quite at home even in Morocco, and vice-versa. But I don't think such feeling could be possible for an average German or a Brit (for instance).
France, however, has a strong tradition of jacobinism and republicanism. Contrary to other European lands, because of its past prosperity, tolerance, and huge cultural influence, it is an immigration country just like the United States (more than half of current French citizens have foreign roots). It means, for instance, that the state encourages to "integrate" immigrants rather than allowing them to live in a separate community or neighbourhood (separation and segregation being the Anglo-saxon model). Those who seek to belong to the Nation (the majority of French Muslims in fact!), who understand we all share a common political fate and destiny have little or no problem. But those who want to remain separated, isolated, those who want to remain a foreign body forever may indeed face legal issues.
This is what happened, for instance, to the Muslim extremist minority. When they asked a separation between men and women in public buildings or public transports, the French government adamantly refused. When they ask that their women should hide their face, it's against the law : French law requires that in public space, everybody could freely recognize or identify who you are. It's not directed against Muslims per se, this law is much older than that. French law also asks that in public buildings, civil servants should not show obvious signs of the community they belong to, to prevent favoritism. It's Jacobine tradition: all citizens should be equals, and everything has to be made to prevent discrimination. And first and foremost: the state is clearly separated from the church, or from any religion. For a civil servant, wearing a hidjab is forbidden. Wearing ostensibly a crucifix is also forbidden. All religions or communities are treated equally, and there are no exception, no derogatory rules just like the odd system they tested in Canada -
with bad results-.
I should also mention that according to many polls and sociologic surveys, French Muslims are the less religious Muslim community in Europe, the less concerned with religion -only barely a fourth of them are "practising Muslims"-. But the radical minority is extremely active and aggressive, and should unfortunately not be underestimated. It is this radical community only that causes this turmoil, because they, in fact, do not accept Western democracy and want to implement Sharia instead, their so-called Divine law.
Now, if you call Jacobinism or Republicanism a kind of racist ideology that goes "
against every humanitarian idea, that has ever been born in Europe", it simply means you don't understand history (especially what the Age of enlightenment was), and that you should immediately read Voltaire, Montesquieu and Kant as soon as possible.