Quote Originally Posted by Husar View Post
And is that surprising? As I will say to Fragony below, you cannot expect people to have a 180° change of mind. And I assume that part of the reason they teach their kids not to adopt too much of our culture is that they are often not very welcome here (even before terrorism was a thing). And giving up a religion is only easy for atheists, everybody else is afraid of ending up in a sea of fire or so. I can also live with people who may not agree with me as long as they don't turn disagreement into violence.
As for being quiet and unnoticeable, wouldn't be the first time that a vocal minority drowns out the rest, that's more or less a fact of life.
Then it's the duty of the supposed majority to assert themselves. The principal foundation of western secular society is to treat others as you would be treated. One aspect of this is that fanatics and any kind are unwelcome. In the past it used to be Jehovah's witnesses who were shunned lest your marginal interest should encourage them to take up more of your time. But at least they were peaceful, and respected your rights as an individual. See my point about Christians generally meshing well with the general secular society. Islamists respect no individual bar their own, and will happily exploit their host liberal society to widen their voice, and there is a far, far disproportionate tendency for their like to turn to violence. I try not to impose on anyone, except to help those in need of help where I see it. Why should I feel guilty about their so called less than warm welcomes, and why should I accommodate their subsequent turn to violence?

And as for giving up religion being a hard thing for these second generationers: from childhood they were brought up to be British. Why was this easier to give up than a religion that they had to actively, to the point of leaving this country, pursue? IIRC at least one of these militants disgusted his father, someone who actually moved to this country and regarded himself as British through and through. His father disowned him as a traitor to the country that raised him.