Islamists of all stripes condemn the separation of religion and state as a western, secular aberration.

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France already has Europe's biggest Muslim population, and it is finding it hard to reconcile its model of integration, which relies on a strict separation of religion and state, with demands by French Muslims for religious expression within public institutions.

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When the Pope sent an envoy requesting the right to establish a Catholic diocese in America, Washington immediately said yes and mentioned that no permission was necessary because of freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.

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Meanwhile Firas Ahmad, a columnist who co-edits a glossy Muslim monthly from his home in Boston, maintains that a lot of Islamic history as well as the dilemmas of modern times should be reconsidered in the light of the robust separation between religion and state which (on his reading, at least), Muslims have quite frequently, and cheerfully, maintained.

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That is why Herod built both Jerusalem and Caesarea, "in effect giving the country two capitals and positing a separation of religion from state, " Mr. Schwartz said.

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One reason is their century-old secular tradition, which fiercely defends the separation of faith and state, and makes most French people uneasy about conspicuous religion.

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