Quarter of French Muslims Favor Ultra-Conservative Form of Islam

Being an 'ultra-conservative' Muslim most likely indicates that you are easily radicalized. This is not good news for France especially considering the most conservative (read devout) Muslims are under 25. As has been found in Britain, the younger generation Muslims are more devout than their parents. Will this hold true for the next generation? What a scary thought! 


© Raheb Homavandi/ / Reuters

More than a quarter of French Muslims, mostly aged under 25, support an ultra-conservative form of Islam, including the wearing of the full-face veil, a new survey shows. The majority of people who identify as Muslim support strict French secular laws, however.

The survey of 1,029 people was commissioned by Ifop, and carried out by a liberal think tank, Institut Montaigne.

At least 60 percent of the respondents said girls should be allowed to wear the headscarf in school and college, the survey published exclusively in Le Journal du Dimanche (LJD) weekly found.

Twelve years after headscarves and other religious symbols were forbidden in classrooms, the ban no longer seems to convince Muslims in France, the LJD reported.

Outside of school, 65 percent are in favor of wearing headscarves, and 24 percent support the wearing of full-face veils – the burqa or niqab – banned in public since 2010.

Another finding is that women seem to be more in favor of veils being worn in public than men: only 18 percent of women reject niqabs, against 26 percent of men.

The survey showed that contrary to common stereotypes, French Muslim women are actually more conservative than men. For instance, 56 percent of women said they would agree to attend a mixed swimming pool, compared to 75 percent of men. Eighty-five percent of Muslim women would agree to be treated by a doctor of the opposite sex, compared to 97 percent of men.

Researchers divided French Muslims into three main categories: "completely secular" (46 percent); "proudly Muslim" (25 percent), those who want a greater role for their religion in the workplace, but oppose the burqa and polygamy; and “the ultras” (28 percent), composed of mostly young (50 percent of those said to be younger than 25 years old), “low-skilled,” “inactive and precarious” individuals living on the margins of society. An alarming sign, according to the study’s authors, is that this is a generation effect that does not fade with maturity.

The survey, carried out between April 13 and May 23 this year, also showed that although most of the respondents consider their religion to play an important role in their lives, a third of the Muslims never actually make it to mosques, with only 29 percent attending their mosque on a weekly basis.

France has Western Europe's biggest Muslim population. The study authors estimated the number of French people who identify as Muslim to be smaller than thought, at between 3 and 4 million (5.6 percent of the population aged over 15 and 10 percent of people under 25, according to Ifop).

Can we assume from those numbers that the Muslim population in France has nearly doubled in one generation? If so, one more generation will see close to 20% of French as Muslim. While that may not seem like an awful lot, most Muslims are clumped together in enclaves, most of which are in Paris. 

A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhardt Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century. 

Dr Peter Hammond's research, revealed in his book Slavery, Terrorism and Islam, documents the general tendencies of growing Muslim populations in European countries. He writes:

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris , we are already seeing car-burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections.

After reaching 20% (Muslim population), nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare

These may lean to the conservative since we are seeing these things happen in France and Belgium already. 24% of the population of Brussels is Muslim, many of whom danced in the streets after the attack that killed 32 and injured many more in March of this year. 

In Paris, the Muslim population on the Ile-de-France is closing in on 15%. It is probably higher in some sectors.

What will Europe be like in 12 years when it is 25% Muslim? It won't be fit to live in. And that's in my life-time. What of our daughters and granddaughters just being born? Will they learn to love being invisible under the veil?

Passions have been running high on the beaches of French towns that have introduced the controversial ‘burkini’ ban. Last month, Cannes Mayor David Lisnard ruled that burkinis, a special Muslim swimsuit that covers the entire body, should be banned on the city’s beaches. Public reaction has been divided, with some accusing police of using “Nazi” tactics, and others supporting the move.

At the beginning of August, a “burkini pool party” was canceled in Marseille after the event received threatening comments on social networks. Some of the organizers even reportedly received death threats.

Tensions escalated in France after a number of terrorist attacks rocked the country during the summer.

In late July, two attackers stormed into a church in northern France and slit the throat of an 86-year-old priest, while taking several people hostage.

On Bastille Day in mid-July, a truck plowed through a crowd in Nice, leaving 85 people dead and hundreds injured.

N.Y. Church Descended into Fear Before Teen's Fatal Beating

Many current members fear talking publicly about ultraconservative Word of Life Christian Church

The Associated Press 

A teenager was beaten to death and his brother sent to hospital with severe
injuries following a 'counselling' session at the Word of Life church
in New Hartford, N.Y. (AP file photo)

Former members of the upstate New York church where two teens were viciously beaten, one fatally, paint a picture of a once vibrant and joyous house of worship that had declined into a place of fear and intimidation under new leadership.

"When I first arrived, it was warm and welcoming. It was encouraging. It was helpful," said Chadwick Handville, a massage therapist in Phoenix, Ariz., who left the Word of Life Christian Church in June 2000 after 10 years that included a stint as a worship leader and trustee.

Things went downhill after founder Jerry Irwin returned from some time away and reclaimed his position as pastor, Handville said.

"What was off the wall was his attitude toward others," Handville recalled. "It wasn't happy. He accused every male of lusting after his wife."

Personal attacks

Handville said Irwin's preaching was filled with personal attacks on parishioners, whom he forced to work long hours renovating the Irwin family's apartment on the third floor of the former school building that houses the church in New Hartford.

"He did have good points," Handville said. "Through him I was able to memorize half the Bible. He taught me a lot. What he failed to teach me was how to use what I read — how to treat people."

Church Killing

Bruce Leonard has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the beating death of his son, Lucas, 19. (New Hartford Police Department/AP)

Deborah Leonard is also facing a first-degree manslaughter charge in the beating death of her son, Lucas. (New Hartford Police Department /AP)

Handville said many current and former church members are afraid to talk publicly about the church for fear of recriminations.

In a letter to the Post-Standard of Syracuse, former congregant Nathan Ames said the church started out as a fast-growing Pentecostal church, but declined after Irwin reclaimed leadership. Ames described Irwin as controlling and intimidating.

Since Irwin's fatal stroke several years ago, his wife, Traci, and their children — Tiffanie, Daniel and Joseph — have been in charge. Ames said they continued in the style of the founder.

Six church leaders and parishioners now face charges including manslaughter and assault for a brutal beating in the sanctuary last Sunday that left Lucas Leonard, 19, dead and his brother Christopher, 17, in hospital.

Church members Bruce and Deborah Leonard, parents of the victims, face the most serious charge of manslaughter. Deborah Leonard's daughter, Sarah Ferguson, and Joseph Irwin, both face assault charges.

Police say the beatings arose out of a "counseling session" that may have been related to Lucas Leonard wanting to leave the church.

The New York Times reported Daniel Irwin told investigators that his sister Tiffanie, the pastor at Word of Life, told the church congregation that some members were practising witchcraft. The paper reported that Irwin said Lucas Leonard was one of them and that he was going to make a voodoo doll of a church leader.

New Hartford police said there is "no evidence that we are aware of that supports that Lucas Leonard was engaged in any such activity."

The roughly 30-year-old church has declined to about 20 members from 40, police Chief Michael Inserra said. Remaining members are devoted to their pastor and often "wait to be told what to do," Inserra said.

Unreasonable devotion to the pastor has been the ruin of many a church. Parishioners, particularly Board members or Trustees have to be able to hold the pastor's feet to the fire when he or she does not behave in a Christ-like manner. They have to be able to remove that pastor if he continues in said manner. Failing to do so leads to tyranny and serious error endangering the whole congregation both physically and spiritually.

If there is anyone left in the church after charges have been laid, they either need to disband the church or get rid of the Irwins, all of them.

Traci and Tiffanie Irwin haven't been charged and haven't commented.

David Bromley, professor of religious studies and director of the World Religions and Spirituality Project at Virginia Commonwealth University, said there are thousands of similar small, independent Christian churches around the country. They're typically very conservative, following a very strict fundamentalist theology with a literal interpretation of the Bible.

"Every now and then, one pops up that has gone awry," Bromley said. "That's statistically not shocking because there are so many of them."

Thanks for confirming that the vast majority of these churches are not a threat to themselves, and may well be of benefit to their community and beyond.

'Charismatic leaders'

The trend toward independent, conservative churches coincides with a decline in membership in mainline Christian churches. "A lot are forming in reaction to the liberalization of mainline churches," Bromley said.

The churches generally start with a pastor, sometimes branching out from an existing congregation, who starts out with a group meeting in a home or rented storefront. Many disband after a few years, but some flourish. As with any organization, leadership may take a bad turn, Bromley said.

"There are certainly cases of charismatic leaders who abuse their power," Bromley said.

The theology of a congregation may lead to strong resistance to a member's wish to leave the group. Nevertheless, Jesus never restrained any of His disciples from leaving, and many did. He even encouraged some who were not committed to Himself. The idea that you can keep someone in the congregation against their will is simply absurd.

"If you get into a very conservative group where there is only one way and God's wrath is about to be unleashed on humanity and we're the faithful remnant, then leaving the group is a very serious condition from the point of view of members," Bromley said. "Essentially, if you leave you're walking into Satan's dominion and your soul is lost."

There are cases where groups use physical restraint to prevent a person from leaving, he said.

"These cases look very bizarre to outsiders," Bromley said. "To scholars, they look like rare, radical events that occur in groups that are tightly organized and very conservative."