We can all pray to our respective gods privately. Within this religious focus we can choose to believe or disbelieve whatever our faith requires. This means that each and every one of us can practice how we want without affecting the lives or beliefs of others.

But Islam is not just a religion. There is a religious Islam; there is a political Islam; there is a governance Islam; there is a judicial Islam; there is a legal Islam; there is a cultural Islam – in effect Islam is an entire societal system incorporating not just religion but all other aspects of living. But Islam is not just a system for Muslims, it is a system for non-Muslims also. And whether we are dealing with its religious, political, governance, judicial, legal or cultural beliefs, they apply to all.

This is the Big Difference™ , even inside the smaller religious piece of Islam, that the West still attempts to hide from. We never seem to know all of the beliefs of the orthodox Jew as the Jew feels no real compulsion to tell anyone. We never seem to know all of the beliefs of the devout Buddhist as the Buddhist feels no real compulsion to tell anyone. However we seem to know an awful lot about the beliefs of the orthodox Muslim because the Muslim is compelled to let you know.

Therefore someone eating ham¹ in front of a Muslim demands that the Muslim tell the non-Muslim to curtail this practice. Whether this is dealt with through ‘peace‘ or through ‘force‘ of course depends upon the current status of the Muslim community within its host country; right now that status in France is strong and growing. This is the constant demand required of all orthodox Muslims: the non-Muslim must know about their beliefs and must accept them; peacefully if that is the only way open to them, forcibly when and where it is possible.

¹ Breitbart, Virginia Hale; ‘Couple Brutally Attacked For Ordering Ham On Their Pizza‘