The culture of the fear of Islam, which strongly characterizes the present time, emphasizes the threat which the supposedly radically different Muslim culture represents for contemporary European culture. There is a long history of these fears stretching back almost a thousand years to the Crusader wars, while on Slovenian territory right until now these negative sentiments are nourished primarily by memories of the Turkish incursions. The article warns about the active growth of the contemporary politics of fear with which some political forces deliberately exploit these newly aroused ancient fears, and then deconstructs the concept of European culture as exclusively Christian, drawing more complex outlines of contemporary European and Western cultures, to which Muslim cultures have also made their own contributions. In particular, however, secularity has had an essential influence, since this alone makes religious freedom available to non-Christian, alternative and non-autochthonous religions as well.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35975517