PARIS, Nov 2: A majority of people in France, according
to a new poll, believe that Islam is too influential in French society, and
almost half view Muslims as a threat to their national identity.
The survey reveals a significant degradation of the image of Islam in France.
The findings also show that French voters are growing increasingly uneasy about
mass immigration from Muslim countries, which has been encouraged by a
generation of political and cultural elites in France dedicated to creating a
multicultural society.
The survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (or Ifop, as it
is usually called) and published by the center-right Le Figaro newspaper on
October 24, shows that 60% of French people believe that Islam has become
"too visible and influential" in France -- up from 55% in an earlier
survey two years ago.
The poll also reveals that 43% of French people consider the presence of Muslim
immigrants to be a threat to French national identity, compared to just 17% who
say it enriches society.
In addition, 68% of people in France blame the problems associated with Muslim
integration on immigrants who refuse to integrate (up from 61% two years ago),
and 52% blame it on cultural differences (up from 40% two years ago).
The poll also shows a growing resistance to the symbols of Islam. Nearly
two-thirds (63%) of French people say they are opposed to Muslim women wearing
the veil or Islamic headscarves in public, compared to 59% two years ago.
Furthermore, the survey shows that only 18% of French people say they support
the building of new mosques in France (compared to 33% in 1989, and 20% in
2010).
"Our poll shows a further hardening in French people's opinions,"
Jerome Fourquet, head of Ifop's opinion department, told Le Figaro. "In
recent years, there has not been a week when Islam has not been in the heart of
the news for social reasons: the veil, halal food, dramatic news like terrorist
attacks or geopolitical reasons," he said.
France, which is home to an estimated six million Muslims, has the largest
Muslim population in the European Union. There are now, in fact, more
practicing Muslims in France than there are practicing Roman Catholics.
Although 64% of the French population (or 41.6 million of France's 65 million
inhabitants) identify themselves as Roman Catholic, only 4.5% (or 1.9 million) of these actually are practicing Catholics,
according to a separate survey on Catholicism in France published by Ifop in
July 2009.
By way of comparison, 75% (or 4.5 million), of the estimated six million mostly
ethnic North African and sub-Saharan Muslims in France, identify themselves as
"believers;" and 41% (or 2.5 million) say they are
"practicing" Muslims, according to an in-depth research report on
Islam in France published by Ifop in July 2011.
Taken together, the research data provides empirical evidence that Islam is
well on its way to overtaking Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion in
France.
This trend is also reflected in the fact that mosques are being built more
often in France than are Roman Catholic churches; nearly 150 new mosques are
currently under construction in France.
The total number of mosques in France has already doubled to more than 2,000
during just the past ten years, according to a research report,
"Constructing Mosques: The Governance of Islam in France and the
Netherlands." The rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur,
has called for the number of mosques in the country to be doubled again -- to
4,000 -- to meet growing demand.
By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church has built only 20 new churches in France
during the past decade, and has formally closed more than 60 churches, many of
which are destined to become mosques, according to research conducted by La
Croix, a Roman Catholic daily newspaper based in Paris.
In recent weeks, tensions have flared over the proposed conversion of an empty
church into a mosque in the central French town of Vierzon. The controversy
involves Saint-Eloi's, a small church located in a working class neighborhood
that has been taken over by immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.
With six churches to maintain and fewer faithful every year, Roman Catholic
authorities in Vierzon say they can no longer afford to keep Saint-Eloi's. They
now want to sell the building for €170,000 ($220,000) to a Moroccan Muslim
organization that wants to convert the church into a mosque.
In an interview with the French weekly newsmagazine Le Nouvel Observateur,
Alain Krauth, the parish priest of the largest Catholic church in Vierzon,
said: "The Christian community is not as important as it used to be in the
past. If moderate Muslims buy Saint-Eloi's, we can only be happy that the
Muslims of Vierzon are able to celebrate their religion." His comments
were greeted with outrage by local citizens who are now trying to prevent the church
from becoming a mosque.
Similar scenes are being played out across France.
In the nearby city of Poitiers, around 70 members of a conservative youth group
known as Generation Identity recently occupied a mosque that is being built in
the heavily Muslim Buxerolles district of the city. The dawn raid on October 21
was intended as a protest against Islam's growing influence in France.
The protesters climbed onto the roof of the mosque (photos here) and unfurled a
banner with the symbolic phrase "732 Generation Identity," a
reference to the year 732, when Charles Martel halted the advance of the
invading Muslim army to the north of Poitiers (also known as the Battle of
Tours.)
Meanwhile, the Socialist government in France recently inaugurated a new
mega-mosque in Paris as a first step towards "progressively building a
French Islam."
The new mosque, located in the northern Paris suburb of Cergy-Pontoise, is not
only vast in its dimensions (photos here), but is also highly visible and
symbolic: its towering minaret, which has purposely been designed to change the
suburb's skyline by being taller than any church steeple in the neighborhood,
is supposed to become the "new symbol of Islam in France."
Speaking on behalf of French President François Hollande at the inauguration
ceremony of the mosque in Cergy, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls
articulated the Socialist government's policy vis-Ã -vis the construction of new
mosques in France. He declared: "A mosque, when it is erected in the city,
says a simple thing: Islam has its place in France."
Declining Faith in the West, where do we go
from here?
1.Although 64% of the French population (or
41.6 million of France's 65 million inhabitants) identify themselves as Roman
Catholic, only 4.5% (or 1.9 million) of these
actually are practicing Catholics
2.More and more churches are converted to
mosques
Being a born and bred catholic and one who
strongly believes in the teachings of Jesus, I feel extremely sad to read of
the developments of our church in France and Europe in general. It is on the
decline with less and less people practicing their faith and more and more churches
are being converted to mosques. I am not against the flourishing of Islam there
but the decline of Christianity that is deeply disturbing.
France was once the centre of Catholicism and
we all remember the dedicated priests who came all they way leaving their
country, homes and loved ones behind to serve us even in the most remote areas.
Many of them never returned home as they died serving us here. Most of those
dedicated priests practiced what they preached and they were not just pastors
but a father, a guardian and a true friend in need in who we could confide.
Well those were the good old days of our
glorious past. Europe is fast falling as far as Catholicism is concerned. We in
Asia and in Malaysia are not too far away from a scenario like in France and
other European countries. We seem to be following them as we never seem to
learn from the experiences of the West
In the West the people are leaving the church
in droves due to loss of faith but ironically in our country practicing Catholics
are ‘chased’ out of the church not because they are non-believers or
anti-catholic but because they disagree on the way the church is administered
and speak up against many what they see as not right.
If we do not check these unhealthy developments
and take pains to keep every member of the flock together in the family and
make the church more people-friendly we too will hasten the process of our
downfall here. If the church fails to touch the hearts of the people in their
struggles through life, like in the West, it will soon become irrelevant to
them in their lives.
The first
ever Christmas on earth was celebrated over 2 thousand years ago in Bethlehem
when Jesus was born in a stable fit for the sheep and cattle as there was no
place for Him in any inn. It was celebrated by poor shepherds keeping vigil
watching over their flock at night out in the wilderness of a cold winter.
There was no celebration, feasting or dancing. All that was there was solemnity
in an environment of simplicity and humility.
We
know that Christmas is a season of sharing and giving and we often without fail
year after year take great pains to share what we have with our family, friends
and relatives. But how willing are we in wanting to share the same with strangers,
the downtrodden and those we know may never cross our paths again?
