Only Xenophobes Don't Admire Islam

News from Germanistan:

Sociologist Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer is the director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Conflict and Violence Research at the University of Bielefeld.

An article in the "conservative" newspaper DIE WELT from December 14 sheds some light on one of his ongoing projects:

Berlin – An increasing number of Germans are afraid of Muslims, are excluding foreigners and are against the democratic system. Responsible for that are supposedly the increasing number of (German) identity- and patriotism campaigns, like the national pride campaign during the Football Worldcup last summer. That is this year's result of the long-term study "German Circumstances" of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Conflict and Violence Research at the University of Bielefeld, which was introduced in Berlin on Thursday.

According to this study, half of the German population doesn't consider Islam an admirable culture anymore, almost 50 percent are generally xenophobic. Almost every fifth German hatches right-wing populist views...
[…]
The "party-patriotism", which emerged during the Football Worldcup doesn't have any positive effects either, so Heitmeyer. As proof he quotes a survey before and after the Worldcup. According to that, the percentage of those who are "proud of the German history" rose from 36.9 to 46.2 percent and those who are "proud to be German" from 79.5 to 86.4 percent. In contrast, the percentage of those who are "proud of the democracy in Germany" dropped from 76.4 to 64.9 percent and the percentage of those who are "proud of the social security" from 63.5 to 57.8 percent…
[…]

Isn't that precious? Here we have another overpaid expert not subject to call who is telling us what the hoi polloi ought to feel.

So you are not admiring Islam anymore? That makes you xenophobic and a right wing populist.

[To read the full article go to Roncesvalles]