Check out this article on Slate. Timothy Noah wrote an article titled “The Melting-Pot Theory: Why American Muslims don’t blow things up.”
He says:
In the absence of other evidence, we must conclude that inside the United States, homegrown, al-Qaida-inspired terrorist conspiracy-mongering seldom advances very far.
So the majority of Muslims living in America are so assimilated into the fabric of American society, they have no reason to be angry enough to destroy its internal structure? Because America is soooooo much more comfortable and friendly than Europe? Are you seriously kidding me? I’ve come across too many radical elements of Islam here in the United States to believe that crap. If Osama bin Laden can come from such a modern, wealthy family and turn into a criminal mastermind, any American living in the US can do the same. No questions.
Timothy Noah is an idiot. Just give it a minute, Mr. Noah. American terrorists will catch up.
Straight up. I haven’t read the article yet.
But… But… there is some truth to both what you are saying, and what he is saying.
There are radical American Muslims. As evidenced by the arrests of a group about two years back. Also, I think a few of the detainees are U.S. citizens (though with this comes the question of whether or not they are actually guilty, because innocent people have been rounded up, too.)
I understand your points about the assumption that America is a much better place to live in. And Western Europe has its high living standards and are much more advanced in certain areas–(light rails, to talk about a timely issue).
Here’s where it breaks down, though. The majority of American Muslims are African Americans. Unless the stats have changed in the last couple of years.
When it comes to South Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims, they are in a better position than the same groups in some European countries.
Iraq is a great recruiting tool, and it can be used in the U.S. as well. But with all the good things about Western Europe, the immigrants, children of immigrants, a good number of them are not enjoying the same opportunities and success as the rest of the population.
There is more to this. I would need to get my thoughts together and read/research more into it to talk more. It’s been a few years since my pol sci classes. There is a difference to the “assimilation” in the United States and in other countries in Europe.
This is not to say that there aren’t Al-Qaida-like radical elements in the United States. There are. But the circumstances that lead up to it are different in the U.S. and Europe.
P.S. And I know that some of the London bombers came from well-off families. But that isn’t the case with all of them.
Then there’s also, like I said, the difference between the two communities/environments that many would say make it a little easier for it to happen in Europe.
We are fortunate ,in the US muslims are more talk than action. They just like to complain to be heard but there are a few elements thrown into the equation to cause problems. Their identity crisis, their leaders, their constant battle with sheets, and their authoritative oppression quest of women in the west (proving to be a bit more difficult) is distracting the fundamentalists from going nuts, but rest assured there are plenty of nut case muslims here, just go to villanova a few miles away from philly and you’ll find a psycho wife beater, child abuser, thieving, dead-beat dad, lying piece of Islamic Scholar trash who is a director of an islamic school for kids, now you tell me that’s not psycho? They start the brain washing early. Else they won’t be convinced to blow themselves up later on :)
He’s right though. The Muslim communities of Western Europe are WAY more disenfranchised than in America.