Question:
According to http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/fr/popula.html , the population of France is just under 60 million with 1 % being Muslim.
Extracts from that site: "Ethnic groups Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities." Comment: The above Ethnic "group" breakdown is highly misleading. The Celtic, Latin, Teutonic, and Slavic "groups" aren’t groups at all. They’re just "French." They do not group together, have intermarried, and are indistinguishable. That’s largely true of the Indochinese contingent as well, and the process is continuing rapidly. I can’t comment on the Basques, but the North Africans are entering the melting pot too. One sees lots of young couples where one is "North African" and the other "French." The above extract also ignores the substantial African (not North African) segment of the population. Another extract: "Religions Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 1%, unaffiliated 6%" This is pure bull. Catholic (in any meaningful sense of the word) is no more than 10-15% and falling fast. Muslim is definitely much higher than 1%: way more than 1% of females follow Islamic dress codes and many others have adopted modified versions. However, integration in this respect is proceeding rapidly. When one sees three generations of "North African" women together at the supermarche or wherever, Grandma is likely to be in full Islamic dress, Mom in a substantially modified and quite sylish (even sexy) version, and Daughter in French dress that is indistinguishable from what other younger women are wearing. One suspects that secularization of religious traditions is following along with the secularization of dress. According to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/caldwell.htm there are 4 million Muslims in France. That would be 4/60 or 7%.
The above is a good article. It makes most of the right points. The statistics it quotes pass the sniff test — i.e., they confirm what one observes on the streets and in the malls. The bottom line is, France is a secular nation. The opinions of the people and the actions of the government are not based on this or that "faith" or on what some preacher says, but on facts, analysis, and of course on cultural factors. 
Jenny Before emailing, remove Clothes
Response:
However, integration in this respect is proceeding rapidly. When one sees three generations of "North African" women together at the supermarche or wherever, Grandma is likely to be in full Islamic dress, Mom in a substantially modified and quite sylish (even sexy) version, and Daughter in French dress that is indistinguishable from what other younger women are wearing. One suspects that secularization of religious traditions is following along with the secularization of dress.
Wow, Jenny. I’m amazed. For a nudist, you sure do pay a lot of attention to other people’s clothing… <g GB in NC
Response:
Marc Ginsberg, Fox Foreign Affairs Analyst, speaking to Brit Hume tonight said that France’s population was 20% Muslim. Hume questioned the figure, and Ginsberg reaffirmed it. According to http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/fr/popula.html , the population of France is just under 60 million with 1 % being Muslim. According to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/caldwell.htm there are 4 million Muslims in France. That would be 4/60 or 7%. Where does Fox get these windbag liars?
The rest of the non-muslims are hiding. That throws off the statistics. — Al Balmer Balmer Consulting
Response:
I’ve been to Europe, had a great time too. I didn’t use an RV and I didn’t go to France. Won’t go there either. I’ll still eat Deep Fried Potatoes though. I feel the same about France as these fine gentlemen….
Me thinks you protest to much. You don’t need any help if your resolve is strong. If someone doesn’t agree with you, maybe you haven’t explained yourself properly. And the righteous shall inherit the earth? Full moon over Baggyville next Tuesday – watch that space. BrentC remove the obvious to email
Response:
Marc Ginsberg, Fox Foreign Affairs Analyst, speaking to Brit Hume tonight said that France’s population was 20% Muslim. Hume questioned the figure, and Ginsberg reaffirmed it. According to http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/fr/popula.html , the population of France is just under 60 million with 1 % being Muslim. According to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/caldwell.htm there are 4 million Muslims in France. That would be 4/60 or 7%. Where does Fox get these windbag liars?
Ginsberg began as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy. Then he joined the Carter Administration as Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for White House Relations. Then he became Deputy Senior Advisor to the President. During the Republican Administrations of Reagan and Bush, he was out of gummit, and practiced corporate law. During the Gulf War, he was a consultant to CBS, CNN, NBC, and Al Jazeerah. Then he became Clinton’s Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs during Clinton’s campaign. Then Clinton appointed him as Ambassador to Morocco. Then Al Gore recruited him to be the Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator for his Presidential campaign. Now, with the Democrats gone again, he’s back in the private sector as a CEO. He’s also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations – which is generally considered to be a bit left leaning. From the above, and from the tone of several interviews I read, I think it’s safe to assume he’s left leaning. So now you know where they got him. They’re just trying to be fair and balanced. To be that, they have to balance the windbag fact tellers with windbag liars. And Fox, as you’ve noticed, will question windbag liars’ "facts". It’s this tendency that makes them stand out among today’s news media, and leads liberals to view them as right-wing. They’re still having trouble getting used to right-wing views being treated with respect, and with left-wing views being questioned, in the national media. — bill Theory don’t mean squat if it don’t work.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – According to http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/fr/popula.html , the population of France is just under 60 million with 1 % being Muslim. Extracts from that site: "Ethnic groups Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities." Comment: The above Ethnic "group" breakdown is highly misleading. The Celtic, Latin, Teutonic, and Slavic "groups" aren’t groups at all. They’re just "French." They do not group together, have intermarried, and are indistinguishable. That’s largely true of the Indochinese contingent as well, and the process is continuing rapidly. I can’t comment on the Basques, but the North Africans are entering the melting pot too. One sees lots of young couples where one is "North African" and the other "French." The above extract also ignores the substantial African (not North African) segment of the population. Another extract: "Religions Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 1%, unaffiliated 6%" This is pure bull. Catholic (in any meaningful sense of the word) is no more than 10-15% and falling fast. Muslim is definitely much higher than 1%: way more than 1% of females follow Islamic dress codes and many others have adopted modified versions. However, integration in this respect is proceeding rapidly. When one sees three generations of "North African" women together at the supermarche or wherever, Grandma is likely to be in full Islamic dress, Mom in a substantially modified and quite sylish (even sexy) version, and Daughter in French dress that is indistinguishable from what other younger women are wearing. One suspects that secularization of religious traditions is following along with the secularization of dress. According to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/caldwell.htm there are 4 million Muslims in France. That would be 4/60 or 7%. The above is a good article. It makes most of the right points. The statistics it quotes pass the sniff test — i.e., they confirm what one observes on the streets and in the malls. The bottom line is, France is a secular nation. The opinions of the people and the actions of the government are not based on this or that "faith" or on what some preacher says, but on facts, analysis, and of course on cultural factors. Jenny Before emailing, remove Clothes
No matter what they wear or what their religion, they constitute a voting bloc. For that reason they will be courted for the same reason minority groups are courted here. Your tunnel vision doesn’t let you get the point. Try to widen your focus. LZ
Response:
Wow, Jenny. I’m amazed. For a nudist, you sure do pay a lot of attention to other people’s clothing… <g
And yet I don’t gape, gawk, leer, or stare… <g Jenny Before emailing, remove Clothes
Response:
Marc Ginsberg, Fox Foreign Affairs Analyst, speaking to Brit Hume tonight said that France’s population was 20% Muslim. Hume questioned the figure, and Ginsberg reaffirmed it. According to http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/fr/popula.html , the population of France is just under 60 million with 1 % being Muslim. According to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/caldwell.htm there are 4 million Muslims in France. That would be 4/60 or 7%. Where does Fox get these windbag liars?
I’ve been to Europe, had a great time too. I didn’t use an RV and I didn’t go to France. Won’t go there either.
Who gives a damn where you go?
Response:
I’ve been to Europe, had a great time too. I didn’t use an RV and I didn’t go to France. Won’t go there either. I’ll still eat Deep Fried Potatoes though. I feel the same about France as these fine gentlemen…. "France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes." —Mark Twain "I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me." — General George S. Patton "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." –Norman Schwartzkopf "We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it." — Marge Simpson "As far as I’m concerned, war always means failure" —Jacques Chirac, President of France "As far as France is concerned, you’re right." —Rush Limbaugh, "The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee." — Regis Philbin "The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don’t know." — P.J O’Rourke (1989) "You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn’t have the face for it." —John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona "You know why the French don’t want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people." –Conan O’Brien "I don’t know why people are surprised that France won’t help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn’t help us get the Germans out of France!" —Jay Leno "The last time the French asked for ‘more proof’ it came marching into Paris under a German flag." –David Letterman How many Frenchmen does it take to change a light bulb? One. He holds the bulb and all of Europe revolves around him. Next time there’s a war in Europe, . .. … the loser keeps France.
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