Muslim assimilation in Europe depends on Europe secularizing its own public life

Evidence

In short, over time the immigrant Muslim popuiations become effectively indistinguishable from the native European populations. This process is facilitated by European societies further developing toward their own ideals. European laws and political and cultural norms become ever more strongly rooted in universal and secular principles and outlook. Traditional Christian sources of European values and historical symbols gradually fade from public life. In effect, a new synthesis of cultures transpires and a new civilization is born. — Michael A. Reynolds and Thomas D. Grant, The Future of Europe and Its Muslims, 63

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the standard ‘Muslim integration problem’ framing by making host-society Christian symbols the variable that must give way. Connects to material on French laicite and the neutrality-of-public-space debates.
• SEED: Angle: ‘The Assimilation Nobody Mentions’ — successful Muslim integration may require Europe to finish dismantling its own Christian establishment, an outcome European conservatives find as alarming as migration itself.