Islamic London

I came across an article this morning on the Timeout: London site entitled "Is London's Future Islamic? ..I had read, in a couple of other places, about Islam and London, as well as Islam and Britain, which said that that religion is pretty well entrenched there, though in a way that forms a separate culture rather than an integrated one. These articles were sparked specifically by the attacks in the London Tube (and the one bus), and they sought to explain how that could come to pass in a society that had made itself so welcoming to people of that faith.

The article grabbed my attention because it started with a vision of an alternate history future for London: one in which the city is a theocracy, and where public executions on the mall, "now known as The Way of the Martyrs", are common. That part of the article is short, but it speaks directly to part of the Islamic mythos that frightens and perplexes me. Its difficult to accept that there are people who accept that their religion requires that level of enforcement and punishment; that there are people who think that this is a worthy thing. I don't know enough about Islam to know whether there are many people who have this level of fervent commitment, but that there are people like that in the world now is apparent. And that scares me. I have to admit, if I thought it would only happen in places where I'm not likely to go, it'd be an item of passing interest, roughly like noting that every so often, a tourist gets eaten by a wild animal on the Serengeti. But since some of these fervent people would delight in making me subject to those same rules, or blowing me up if I'd just as soon not be subject -- it disconcerts me, to put it mildly.

The article, however, goes on to say that its a long, long step from where London is now to that bleak future (perhaps they'd not consider it bleak ?). Its important to understand that Islam is quite prevalent in Britain now, and it's presence is benefiting British society; further, if it did happen that Islam became the predominant and ruling religion, multiple good things would happen (or at least could happen, assuming the then-rulers adhered to the tenets of their faith). The society would actually become a more tolerant, better educated, and healthier pace. There is much to like about the Islamic faith, and the article lays much of it out.

So whats not to like? Other than being the main player in the occasional public execution, that is.