I’m a German Catholic and read this article in Die Welt one of Germany’s leading news magazines, much like News Week & TIME in the US.

Can Europe and all its hard won freedom’s be at risk? Has the Catholic Church lost the fight in Europe?

The article is an interview with Princeton University professor Bernard Lewis.

…Europe will have an Islamic majority by the end of this century based on demographic & migration trends, Bernard Lewis say’s “Europe will be part of the Arab West”.

In addition to immigration, Bernard Lewis said Europeans were marrying late and having too few children, whereas Muslims in Europe married early and had more children.

“Current trends show Europe will have majority by the end of the 21st century at the latest” said Professor Lewis.

Germany, the biggest European Union country has over three million Muslims out of a population of 82 million.

European Leaders will in December decide on whether to open membership talks with mainly Muslim Turkey, which has a population of 70 million but is expected to outgrow Germany in coming decades…Die Welt.

-- gretchen (gretchenk@viabrt.co.br), August 05, 2004

Answers

"Europe will have an Islamic majority by the end of this century based on demographic & migration trends"

A: What this article fails to mention is that the primary cause of such "demographic and migration trends" is abortion. Most of the countries of Europe are producing children at less than replacement level. In some countries more than half of the children conceived are aborted. As a result, these countries no longer have enough working age people to fill the jobs required to support their economy. The only solution is importation of workers from other countries. But they can't import them from other European countries where the same situation prevails. Therefore they are importing workers from the Middle East by the tens of thousands annually. And, as the article does mention, the Muslims who are immigrating to take the vacant job openings do believe in large families. They view children as a blessing, not as a curse or inconvenience. Therefore many European nations appear close to losing their Christian heritage and becoming Islamic nations.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), August 06, 2004.

Paul,

Prof. Lewis does not discount that though. What he is saying is that if the current trends in Europe continue, Europe will be an Islamic region. And abortion plays a role in that low birth rate.

-- Scott (papasquat10@hotmail.com), August 06, 2004.

It's good to see this board is still going strong and may Christ's blessings be with all faithful.

Abortion certainly plays a major part but much like sand that moves with ocean currents across continents, so people migrate and will continue to do so. Europe is a magnet by virtue of its economy and proximity to the Middle East and its stringent adherence and acceptance of Human Rights that does not exist in 99.9% of Muslim countries.

Europeans justifiably are concerned that their culture will change dramatically, rights will possibly be curtailed and freedoms of expression and choice regulated. If Europe in 80 years or more does become a Muslim majority it does not spell the end to the Catholic faith (most Europeans don't attend church anymore, a result of a secular state and social alleviation), look at the Catholic faith in Iraq, still vibrant even though tiny in comparison to the Islamic population.

Europe like the US has an entrenched constitution that protects Human Rights for all, it also guarantees all people of various creeds and races same freedoms. So the Notion that Islamic Mullahs screaming from mosque minarets calling for chaos in the name of their religion will not happen. The Europeans of tomorrow will all indulge in vices without fear of retribution from religious clerics as they do now in Europe because curtail one freedom that is enjoyed like alcohol will lead a few to demand curtailing of other freedoms like consumption of pork and so on visa versa. The European population will not tolerate a few demigods trying to control their lives especially freedoms that they are used too, democracy being one.

Turkey will join and I truly believe will be the catalyst for the expansion of the Catholic church as freedom of belief's will have to be adopted through out that country, allowing the church and other Christian groups to move freely without hindrance. Realize that Muslim countries have for centuries been preventing freedom of religious expression in fear of losing the faithful. Unlike western nations that allow religious freedoms they don't, so it has not been an uneven playing field for Christian groups especially the Catholic Church to minister to existing Christians in Muslim countries as well as those wishing to convert to Christianity. Finally, European governments don't sponsor religions to be preached for conversion sake, where as the Saudi Arabian government alone spends billions of petro-dollars to expand the Islamic faith through construction of Mosques and Islamic schools through out the world.

Reforms are happening everywhere and especially in Muslim countries. Islam at the moment I believe is going through child hood pains, much like a spoilt teenager. Where other faiths have matured, Islam has yet too, but it will and it will be the impact of states within Europe and the US and others that inadvertently are doing this by the fruits of freedoms and materialism that offers those who reside, causing totalitarian states to eventually follow by example.

Apologies for the long script. I have always been a strong believer in my Christian faith, as Christ tells us “I have come so you will have life”, and those that leave him to other faiths, well he said this would happen, much like the seed sown on barren, rocky and weed infested ground. The seed that falls on good soil will bear fruit. Gretchen I hope you will stay stead fast in your faith as your Church has done in non- Christian countries for centuries.

-- aka max (aka max@breitv.co.fr), August 06, 2004.

Well said aka max. I would add that the magazine's extrapolation for 100 years from the birthrates of the current generation, is on very shaky ground. Experience has shown that when people migrate to Western counties, their children born there rapidly become secularized and ape western customs, including contraception and abortion. Europe will never have a Muslim majority.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), August 06, 2004.

Steve you are quite right about "dilution" into secularized states like the European Union, the States and other "Western" democracies. I have just returned from a holiday in Istanbul, Turkey and these people are so excited about joing the other European states as a Union.

Yes they are predominantly muslim, but accept that their ancestors were the predominant Christians 800 years ago. That country makes fine beer, liquor and cultivates and enjoys good wine. Perhaps the older generation avoid alcohol but not the new generation.

The woman are modern is dress with "Tank" tops and tan topless (Not many wear the head gear). They admire Atta Turk who took them from the theocratic government of the Ottoman's into a secular and up held by the military, failure of which would have mean't Turkey would probably be a very Islamic country today and backward.

And bit by bit Christians are quietly moving into Turkey and like aka max said they have the freedom to do so. The sad aspect is the Europeans won't accept them until rights to abortion are met amongst others. Great read aka max.

-- audrey (audrey76@lantic.net), August 08, 2004.