Arrived in #Germany yesterday for a research trip on Islam & populism. I'll be in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Potsdam, and Hamburg. If you're here, let me know!
I had a fascinating dinner last night with a prominent AfD figure, where we discussed Islam, integration, and what it means to be German. Also met yesterday with Muslim politicians, including one from "far-left" Die Linke. For a moment, American polarization didn't seem so bad
I met with 3 different AfD members of parliament today and had extensive conversations with each on German Muslims and the role of Islam in public life. I’ll share some things that struck me
As one AfD member of parliament put it to me today, Muslims in Germany have high “Thymotic” content where non-migrant Germans have low Thymotic content. This leads, he said, to an imbalance in belief and self-confidence
I mentioned my attachment to “the land” and was going on about how much I love America (as is our wont as Americans abroad) and our German friend said: “But how can I love a country that killed 6 million Jews?”
I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but I think the fact that I’m the child of immigrants makes me *more* likely to believe in American exceptionalism (irrespective of whether or not it’s “true”). I want to believe in it and I do believe in it
I met with 4 AfD members of parliament and 2 AfD state deputies and brought up the role of Christianity with each. All, with one exception, volunteered that they were atheists, non-believers, or cultural Christians. But they were all believers in “Christian culture”
When I interviewed the AfD's "in-house" philosopher—a former student of Peter Sloterdijk's—I made it a point to bring up Michel Houellebecq's "Submission." We had a pretty interesting back-and-forth on what I guess I'd call "Muslim envy"
