Gods Will

The downing of the plane leaving Sharm El Sheikh bound for Russia has again highlighted the increased activity in that section of the Islamic world which sees itself in the forefront of the Islamic tension with the none Islamic world.
Politicians are keen, as are the Muslims settled in this country and who have acclimatised themselves within the none Islamic society to play down the claims of the Islamists in the Middle East.
Politicians have to manage the potential tensions, many of them of their own making. Having persuaded their electorate that mixing people together will have the effect of of eradicating  differences, like a stone worn smooth in a fast flowing stream, (differences which define our initial tribal affiliation) and create a smooth homogeneous nation.
The experiment although succeeding in some quarters has not done so where large clusters of people, with significantly foreign customs have settled and become the salient feature in the area.
This is particularly true where religion makes a splash of identifying its particular congregation, specifically at worship.
The "them and us" tension was true back in the day when 'Church of England' worshippers would make a display of their godliness on Sunday, dressed in their best, bible in hand they exuded the special relationship they believed they had with the Creator, leaving the none -church going public languishing with their News of the World and the Sunday Pub.
This of course was a light touch form of segregation.  Islam is a much more serious contender to peace in our society and in the world in general.
Any "collective" is more powerful than the individual, one of the strong arguments for collective bargaining and when the meetings are stipulated in terms of "religious observance", determined by God, then the effect of a consolidation of views, puts the Islamic community in a very powerful position.
The rise of Islam has ebbed and flowed over the centuries. At one period it broke onto the shores of Europe in Spain and colonised much of the country. Only when that other religious monolith, the "Catholic Church" was able,to drive the Islamists back into Africa could, what we call European values find their place in the indigenous society.

All the monolithic religions found their origination and substance in the same area of the Middle East, amongst the barren lands of Palestine and countries close by. The Arabic society with its patriarchal structure and it's hard line strictures regarding the tribe and it's allegiance to tribal custom were the crucible into which the three great religions were formed. The way of life was harsh and the attitude of the people growing up in the region was far different to the European mind set. Marrying these two societies has always been a near impossible task and we see the fundamental differences even in what is going on today in for instance Egypt.

National boarders, the barriers to entering a region, were an antidote if one were needed for people to move from one relatively alien society to another. But today we see the inability of boarders to hold back a determined invasion when it is not clothed as a military adventure. Police are helpless as the tide of humanity struggles over the tracks and roads to reach what to them is a sort of Nirvana after the hell hole which has overtaken Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Most of these people are Muslim and under normal circumstances this would be irrelevant but in the background on the territory which these people are leaving behind, there is a vicious war being fought between on the one hand the various Islamic groups and on the other the none Islamic people who inhabit those parts of the Middle East.
Religious ideology is the main driver of these Islamic groups and it has a fervour which no amount of diplomacy can disentangle. There is no middle ground. The question is, does that religious fervour find resonance in the Muslim living here ?
Do we have to fear our own subset of Islamic followers on the basis that the religious war, a Jihad which is being waged in Syria and Iraq does not have the same connotation to some groups of believers in this country and what would tip the balance to see the numbers of supporter swell. Jihad as it is discussed in the Koran is a "struggle" between for the mind of its people and those it's people come into contact with. The defining position is, them and us !

There is only one faith. There is only one outcome. Allah has determined the boundaries of his faith to include all men and women since he created all men and women and if you are a believer then your ultimate wish has to be Gods will.