Liberal tolerance of Muslim presence erodes over the Islamic headscarf and Rushdie affairs

Evidence

But the very thing that is valuable about diversity – the cultural and ideological clashes that it brings about – is precisely what many fear. That fear can take two forms. On the one side there is the nativist sentiment that immigration undermines social cohesion and erodes our sense of national identity. Islam, in particular, elicits such fear. Many view Islam through the lens of the ‘clash of civilizations’, a perspective that leads politicians and commentators – not just on the right but self-proclaimed liberals too – towards deeply illiberal arguments: insisting, for instance, that Muslim immigration must be limited, or that racial profiling is necessary in the ‘war on terror’, or that it is not possible to be racist against Muslims because Muslims are not a ‘race’. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 684 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Rushdie Affair drove European Muslims to organize politically and prioritize religious identity — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 358; Liberal tolerance of religion extends only to religions accepting liberal discursive assumptions — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 893; Liberal tolerance of reformed Islam coexists with nativist demands to end Islam itself — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 303 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• The clash-of-civilizations lens drives even liberals toward illiberal anti-Muslim policies #complicates (0.72) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 684