“The assumption here apparently is that the imams simply don’t understand French values, including the idea of the separation of religion and government, and so preach Islamic supremacism and decry assimilation. If the poor dears just understood better, all would be well and all manner of thing would be well.
“In this the French are proceeding in blissful ignorance of the fact that the separation of religion from the government is well understood by influential jihadists such as Qutb and Maududi, and is a linchpin of their critique of the West. They offer Islam, with its denial of any sacred/secular distinction, as an alternative to this, which they see as a defect of the West.
“So this program, given that it will not touch on Islamic theology, and will only stress something that these imams almost certainly already despise, is doomed to failure…”
