There is an article in the NYTimes whose author not only blames the French for provoking the terrorists into slaughtering them by wounding the killers’ dignity but also makes thinly veiled threats that more attacks are forthcoming if the French don’t ditch the entire legacy of the French republicanism that dates back to 1789. There is not a single sentence expressing sympathy and compassion for the victims. Instead, the author poutily scolds the French for forcing terrorists to slaughter, bomb, cut people into pieces and hit them with trucks by not being welcoming enough to burqas and public prayer.
“France is no more Islamophobic than its neighbors,” the pouty fellow announces. And he should know all about Islamophobia since his vision of Muslims as violent, volatile and essentially dumb people who are ready to go cut off some heads whenever they decide that their dignity has been wounded by the fall of Bastille centuries ago reeks of hatred for Islam. Instead of asking just how desperate these terrorists could have been to practice Islam if they boozed, whored around and killed people wantonly irrespective of what the Prophet had to say about these activities, the sorry fellow makes Muslims look worse than Donald Trump could ever hope to do. Instead of drawing attention to the hundreds of millions of Muslims who grieve for victims, fear terrorists, and live peaceful, productive lives, this stupid piece of work leaves no space in his narrative of Islam for its peaceful, non-violent version.
What can be more Islamophobic, I ask you, than this kind of “defense” of Muslims?
Clarissa's Blog 
In a similar vein, the German proposal here seemed “Muslimphobic” to me:
“It is appropriate to bring in classes on Islam in state schools or schools overseen by the state,” Gerd Landsberg, head of the association of local councils, told the Rheinische Post on Wednesday.
…
Senior figures in the church had already called at the end of May for Islam classes to become compulsory at schools.
The head of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, said that religious education was the best way to immunize Muslim youths against the dangers of Islamist fundamentalism.
http://www.thelocal.de/20160720/calls-for-compulsory-islam-classes-at-school-after-axe-attack
Instead of more separation between religion and state, terror aids to bind the two together.
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I think a course on the history of religions is a great idea. Not any single particular religion but all major religions with a possibility of adding classes on smaller religions if there is interest and need.
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“A course on the history of religions” is not “religious education.” The Germans claim that being taught the “right” version of Islam will immunize Muslims to ISIS-version. Based on reading terrorists’ profiles, it won’t work and may even have an opposite effect, if the teachings help make religious belief among certain groups stronger.
Their idea seems to be that each ethnic group will study ‘its religion’ and its religion only, the way it’s done in Israel. The end Israeli result seems to be making the entire society more religious. I remember a post by a Russian-speaking Israeli – how his first grader returned from a secular (!) school with an impression that God’s existance is a fact and being afraid (iirc) how his relatives are secular. Small children have difficulty differentiating between fairy-tales, (national) myths and reality. I am so glad I missed “religious education” of this kind in childhood, when it often leaves an everlasting mark on people, even if they leave religion later.
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Here a proof of my interpretation from the article:
\He also said he was in favour of Muslim religious associations taking over responsibility for providing this education, just as churches are responsible for religious education about Christianity.
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Thank you for this post. I have said for too long that too many so-called “progressives” tolerate behavior that is anything but from Muslims in the name of “multiculturalism” and/or “cultural relativism,” the latter of which is the soft bigotry of low expectations at its finest. I have no problem with Muslims living in the West, but unless they abandon values that are incompatible with liberalism and express more sympathy for victims of murder at the hands of their coreligionists than for terrorists who kill because somebody hurt their precious feelings, Islamophobia won’t just remain present in the West; it may be necessary to preserve liberal values.
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Just read about pogrom-like thing Turkey where a crowd in Malatya destroyed a NT book shop. The link to the video:
The Turkey text (Google translated) says:
NT store store group stepped in Malatya
Opened fire
After the coup attempt Malatya NT people
shops looted
Via the Russian post which is good and mainly not about Turkey:
http://starshinazapasa.livejournal.com/928898.html
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I like Babchenko but I disagree that Putin changed Russians or Erdogan changed Turks. People only get the governments they want.
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Could you react to starshinazapasas claim that:
\ Либерально настроенных европейских людей среди граждан Турции – пятьдесят процентов. Это в разы больше, чем в России.
Однако захватывают власть и громят книжные магазины не они.
Чтобы погрузить в хаос стотысячный Славянск, оказалось достаточно полторы тысячи вооруженных организованных человек.
Для того, чтобы погрузить в хаос такую страну, как Россия, достаточно будет десять банд по десять тысяч. А у нас их, слава Путину, найдется теперь гораздо больше.
I do not think 50% would sit quietly while pogroms continued.
Must be much less than 50%, no?
And RE Slavyansk, I do not know what is going there now. Wiki hasn’t mentioned anything.
Are there really mijorities who sit quietly and let a few bandits rule? Why? It’s hard to believe in.
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Slavyansk is doing great. When the terrorists saw how happy were the people of Slavyansk to see the Ukrainian army, how they were all wearing national clothes and waving flags, they were genuinely wounded. I read their statements on social networks, and it’s truly sad. The idiots honestly thought that they were liberators and that people would thank them. And when they saw that nobody was thanking them, they were devastated. They started the war, killed thousands of people, destroyed cities and all because of a mistake. Crazy!
I can’t say how many people in Turkey want the country to go more fundamentalist. In the Donbass, terrorists succeeded because the majority was very passive and largely indifferent to anything. But I see no reason for anything like that to be true for Turkey.
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Thanks for clarifying.
On another topic, have you read Sebastian Faulks? My mother liked “A Possible Life,” especially its last part.
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No, but I just looked it up and it sounds very interesting. It’s a torture how many books worth reading there are!
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