I've gotta disagree with you here Macky. Let's move away from ethnic minorities (not just muslims, all of them - including me) who have been here for 'generations' and deal with the much more prevalent 2nd and 3rd generations (that's where I am placed for a start). These, plus of course 1st generation immigrants, are the ones impacting on British society now and are the topic of discussion over the matters raised by this thread and will be the people we are talking about for a good many years to come over similarly contentious issues. Because of my ethnic background I have mixed intimately with not only my own 2nd generation ethnic minority people (for want of a better term) but with very many asians from school onwards who I felt a special kinship with. Not one, I repeat not one including myself, would say they are as British as anyone else (or Bill Oddies and his boxer shorts). We all feel slightly ambivilent and slightly we are 'outsiders' in some way. Having said that, in my case all of my cousins and siblings of my age, I have found that we do most certainly owe our loyalties to this country, suport its institutions and way of life (and when the world cup comes around, support England to boot). When I say we support its insitutions and way of life, I have to say that it has predominantly been asians whose religion was hindu and Seikh (sp). In my own personal experience from a long way back, and before the current troubles, I always found Muslims more exclusive and harder to get to know. The few that I did, I often found more hostile and contemptuous of the host community. A small sample perhaps but given recent events perhaps an indicative sample. But my main point is not to sidetrack onto 'muslims' but to say, we are not as British as TBers born and raised here for generations. We are different.
The wider point is though to mix with all and sundry regardless of background, to be tolerant, not to beome 'haters' at the easiest so-called provocation and to respect the values of the host society.
