Interview with Philip Jenkins

Jeremy Lott has a very interesting interview with Philip Jenkins over at CWR. The topics range from the Islamicization of Europe to American Exceptionalism and more. Particularly interesting is his take on European demographics, which suggests that things really aren't quite as bad in terms of an Islamic take-over as some people think they are. Mostly so because, he suggests, Muslims tend to act like most other groups - there are a core group of committed fundamentalists who are small in number but loud in volume and then there are the rest who are interested in integrating as much as possible.

Add to that the overall trend over time that the second and third generations tend to integrate into their host societies more than their predecessors and the picture he paints is not nearly as negative as that we've heard otherwise. I'm not saying that he's right, but rather that he is bringing up a different set of facts. It's now time for those who are more dour on the prospects to respond, I would think, integrating these facts or providing proof they either don't apply or are mis-used. To be honest, I'm not a demographics expert so I have no particular leverage either way. As usual, I expect the end result to be somewhere in the middle but I wouldn't be surprised if they turn out much worse.

H/T to The Roving Medievalist.

Tags: Catholic, Islam, Politics, Eurabia, Demographics