The clash between the West and Islam in Western Europe has a double character: religious and sexual. A new World Value Survey shows that we differ extremely in attitudes toward gender equality and sexual liberalization. The sexual clash of civilizations appears not only inside the societies receiving immigrants but also within the immigrant societies and through immigrants’ children. The West and Islam are not monolithic opposite sides of conflict — Europeans and Muslims express a wide spectrum of attitudes on moral issues. Europeans and Muslims want democracy, but the Muslims want sharia as a source of legislation too. The clash of cultures in Europe is provoked by economic recession. The clash of values between the second and the third immigrant generations, and between man and woman is especially pronounced in French Muslim suburbs. Unemployed fathers have lost their position to “older brothers”, who imposed the specific “macho-culture” oppressive to young women, which are perceived to be too liberal.
