Islam groups calling for caliphate in Germany, aibu to be petrified?

[Primroseoil]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/protesters-germany-call-islamic-fundamentalism-caliphate-solution

There is a tiny fraction of a fraction of 1% of the population (80 million) of a democratic country calling for a caliphate. I imagine there are similar numbers of extremists calling for the same or worse in any similar country at any time, and probably have been for decades, before the internet enabled you to find out about it.

I have critical faculties which enable me to evaluate risk. So yes, I am more concerned at the moment about the risk posed by right wing propaganda, which has, let’s not forget, already delivered President Trump, and poses a far greater risk to us than a tiny, tiny number of extremists of any stripe who have no prospect of getting into power to achieve what they aim for.

So ordinary people don’t ever belong to or get influenced by political parties? Interesting take.

It's a small fringe protest.

You're looking at Fox News.

Yes, yabu to be 'petrified'.

It's going to happen here in the U.K.

Churches are falling by the wayside, derelict and unused. There are over 1,500 Mosques in the U.K. and London has the greatest amount of Mosques outside Turkey!

Some sources say there are nearer 3,000 Mosques -

www.nearestmosque.com/uk

petrified? give your head a wobble. it's never going to happen.

Surely it can't be news to you OP that some Muslims believe that the world would be better if it were ruled on Islamic principles by a religiously sanctioned leader: a caliph.

I strongly disagree with this ambition but it's not an unreasonable one if you agree with the premises: it's how you plan to get there that's the problem.

The PP with Nigerian family has much more reason to be afraid of Islamist organisations, tens of thousands of Christians (along with Muslims and atheists and others, but Christians have been specifically targeted) have been killed by armed Islamist groups in Nigeria in recent years.

@blimeyslimey Yes. People forget we are still fighting for Woman Life Freedom. Still being killed for showing our hair. Yet it’s not a problem that these violent ideologies are being promoted in our own country?

London has added over a thousand Christian churches this century. There's one on every corner round our way.

Christianity may be struggling in rural England (due to the rise of atheism, rather than Islam) but London is increasingly Christian.

I do not want to live in a caliphate, what if that idea spreads over here & more protests take place.

That would be the same Fox news that ran a whole story in the US claiming that the British police refuse to enter Birmingham because its too dangerous?

Extreme Islamic groups are always threatening these things, just like other extremist groups threatening things. I wouldn't worry too much.

It's a matter of time sadly.

Well done in giving traction to clickbait!

It’s a worrying time in general

This protest specifically - no.

I’d stop watching Fox ‘News’ it is designed to frighten the anxious

They can call for what they like, they’re not going to get it.

The OP asks if it’s unreasonable to be scared.

She wasn’t assessing risk and the chances of this happening.

She is reflecting that we live in a society where people are calling for extremist actions, in what is a relatively peaceful continent. That should alarm many people. That will also have the effect of frightening some people.

So it isn’t unreasonable to feel scared that there are people who are publicly calling for a caliphate. In the same way that it isn’t unreasonable that people would feel scared if there are groups calling for the closure of British mosques.

Don't understand it. Surely they left Iraq or Afghanistan as they didn't want to live under the regime and wanted a better life? If they want this then move to Afghanistan?

This is not about a German caliphate being in any way realistic. I am aware that it won’t happen.
you know it, I know it and these protesters most likely do as well.

This is a group of 1’000+ people feeling emboldened to publicly support extremely violent and extremist views that deny the human rights and freedom - or the right to simply exist - to many of us, particularly women, Jews, homosexual people…
Which also suggests that they aren’t particularly worried about facing backlash from friends, colleagues and family.
How is that not worrying? What does it tell us about the environments they live in?
And how would this affect people who are regularly exposed to that (be it due to the neighbourhoods they live in, an educational setting, work etc)?

I understand why one might find this disquieting.
and that is without considering the possibility that some of these protestors may actually turn to terrorism and violent extremism.

People who say it wouldn’t happen only have to look to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria. Look at what life was like there in 1960s etc and you’ll realise if we don’t fight against it it can happen

Well there have always been people who believe in Islamist extremism in the West. YANBU to be a bit worried but to be honest I don't think this protest is any different to anything that could have happened 20 years ago.

None of us want to live in a caliphate, but what on earth makes you think that this might actually happen, to the point that you feel "petrified" about the prospect?

There have always been people with extreme views on the fringes of society, whether those are Islamic fundamentalists or far right wingers etc. What is it about this group in particular makes you concerned that it might become more mainstream?

Personally, I think the far right is a much bigger threat right now, but even then, I wouldn't say that I was "petrified".

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely do you think it actually is that Islamists will establish a caliphate in the UK?

You need to put this in a wider context though, Muslims in Germany suffer a lot of racism.

The world in general - including the rise of the far right in Europe, which fuels this racism - is worrying.

The thinking behind this protest is part of a general breakdown of the post war world, it’s less worrying than many other aspects.

I would never have dreamed I would hear myself say this, 10 years ago it would have been unthinkable for me but: it's getting to the stage where I wouldn't be too upset if the right came into power in our western nations.

But those countries were nothing like the mature, stable parliamentary democracies of Western Europe. Can you seriously see a situation (based on what you know of the real world, not clickbaity propaganda) where such groups would reach a position of power where they’d be able to enact their ideas?

We should fight all extremism. But allowing freedom of speech, so that unpalatable opinions and movements get the disinfectant if sunlight is a very important part of democracy. We might hear things which are repugnant, but at least we hear them, so we can fight them.

NZZ, Spiegel, ZDF, Welt and a plethora of German language news outlets (particularly more regional ones) have been reporting about this protest…

this isn’t some made up right wing scenario. It’s actually happening.