I think the situation in France is probably hopeless. Even Muslim-majority countries are having a difficult time reconciling themselves with the rise of Islamic separatism. In countries like Bangladesh, where I’m from, or Turkey or Egypt, the separatism takes the form of reaction against the moderate secular regimes of the 20th century. Here is the President of Egypt in 1958 recounting his conversation with the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He and the audience laugh at the leader’s request to mandate headscarves in Egypt, observing that the leader’s own daughter, a medical student, doesn’t wear a headscarf:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIqdrFeFBk. Back then, few women in Egypt wore a headscarf. Today, 90% of women do (and Muslim Brotherhood was recently in control of the country). In Bangladesh there are objections to our legal system, which is based on British common law, and our western-style constitution that embodies principles of secularism:
https://resolvenet.org/system/files/2018-08/RSVE_03Banglades....
People don’t give the United States enough credit for how well we have assimilated our Muslim immigrants. In France and Germany, Muslims suffer from generational poverty. In the US, they have higher incomes than average within a generation. I think our religiosity had a lot to do with it. We are a country founded by people who got kicked out of Europe for being religious fundamentalists. Our society functions smoothly with Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, Amish, etc.
Our society is accommodating on multiple levels—religious immigrants aren’t exclusively reliant on the goodwill of a segment of cosmopolitan liberals who like the idea of diversity for its own sake. Mormons and Southern Baptists took an active role in legal challenges to Trump’s “Muslim ban” (a tepid reaction compared to what’s happening in Europe). They have likewise challenged municipal actions denying construction permits for mosques. George W. Bush saw Islamic terrorists kill thousands of Americans and days later gave a heartfelt speech—coming from his own experience as a man of deep faith—about how Islam is a “religion of peace.” Meanwhile in France even liberal people strongly support stripping schoolgirls of headscarves. Macron is calling Islam a “religion in crisis.” French society barely manages to accommodate Christianity. How can it be expected to accommodate Islam?
People don’t give the United States enough credit for how well we have assimilated our Muslim immigrants. In France and Germany, Muslims suffer from generational poverty. In the US, they have higher incomes than average within a generation. I think our religiosity had a lot to do with it. We are a country founded by people who got kicked out of Europe for being religious fundamentalists. Our society functions smoothly with Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, Amish, etc.
Our society is accommodating on multiple levels—religious immigrants aren’t exclusively reliant on the goodwill of a segment of cosmopolitan liberals who like the idea of diversity for its own sake. Mormons and Southern Baptists took an active role in legal challenges to Trump’s “Muslim ban” (a tepid reaction compared to what’s happening in Europe). They have likewise challenged municipal actions denying construction permits for mosques. George W. Bush saw Islamic terrorists kill thousands of Americans and days later gave a heartfelt speech—coming from his own experience as a man of deep faith—about how Islam is a “religion of peace.” Meanwhile in France even liberal people strongly support stripping schoolgirls of headscarves. Macron is calling Islam a “religion in crisis.” French society barely manages to accommodate Christianity. How can it be expected to accommodate Islam?