People in Europe are still unhappy about singling out Muslims for special punishment, since it contrasts badly with the principle that The law is the same for all.
You wouldn't really have to "single them out" for special punishment though -- just stop singling them out for special tolerance. Treat aggressive madmen inciting violence and their dupes the same way that you would treat any such individuals, and don't let them plead the Koran as an excuse for their actions. Surely no one has special rights to kill, rape, assault or vandalize because of his faith, right?
The very fact that jails are swollen with Muslim prisoners hardly suggests that we do not take them seriously.
But for how long are you keeping them? Are you willing to go after the inciters and accessories, as well as the (duped) principals? And are you willing to expand your prisons if need be?
There is a lot at stake here. If the Muslims are allowed to build a shadow state alongside your own states, ruled by shari'a, then there will be no assimilation of the large Muslim immigrant populations, because those who try to assimilate will be forced off this path by the shadow state. And the creation of such a shadow state is an explicit aim of the radical Muslim clerics.
Futhermore, you are quite right that you should not abandon your own constitutional principles. But if the state, acting under these principles, fails to deal with the threat of a massive, violent unassimilated Muslim population attempting to force the rest of the population into dhimmitude, then the peoples of your countries will probably rise up, vote some sort of Fascist governments into office, and deal with the Muslims in a far less gentle fashion -- one likely to cause suffering to the innocent as well as the criminal.
And even that would be better than the Orson Scott Card future in which your lands become "Eurabia," your peoples living in servile fear, and your ancient cultures and traditions ruthlessly trampled by alien conquerors. Which is a very real possibility, if neither liberalism nor fascism finds a solution.
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You wouldn't really have to "single them out" for special punishment though -- just stop singling them out for special tolerance. Treat aggressive madmen inciting violence and their dupes the same way that you would treat any such individuals, and don't let them plead the Koran as an excuse for their actions. Surely no one has special rights to kill, rape, assault or vandalize because of his faith, right?
The very fact that jails are swollen with Muslim prisoners hardly suggests that we do not take them seriously.
But for how long are you keeping them? Are you willing to go after the inciters and accessories, as well as the (duped) principals? And are you willing to expand your prisons if need be?
There is a lot at stake here. If the Muslims are allowed to build a shadow state alongside your own states, ruled by shari'a, then there will be no assimilation of the large Muslim immigrant populations, because those who try to assimilate will be forced off this path by the shadow state. And the creation of such a shadow state is an explicit aim of the radical Muslim clerics.
Futhermore, you are quite right that you should not abandon your own constitutional principles. But if the state, acting under these principles, fails to deal with the threat of a massive, violent unassimilated Muslim population attempting to force the rest of the population into dhimmitude, then the peoples of your countries will probably rise up, vote some sort of Fascist governments into office, and deal with the Muslims in a far less gentle fashion -- one likely to cause suffering to the innocent as well as the criminal.
And even that would be better than the Orson Scott Card future in which your lands become "Eurabia," your peoples living in servile fear, and your ancient cultures and traditions ruthlessly trampled by alien conquerors. Which is a very real possibility, if neither liberalism nor fascism finds a solution.