result of which they stayed on a sane level of discussion, a civilized level, of interchange of thoughts. It was fruitful and revealing of each of the speakers. They will be judged by what they said, what they spoke, how they spoke, as that reveals each of them. It is only when language is badly used, or not used at all, that there will be discord or violence.
English-ness is embedded in the language itself. We are its history, one which spreads back millenia, one which is superbly flexible: we are shaped in our minds by it, just as we share a common history and a destiny according to its shape and how we employ it in our thought.
I would add to this. Muslims (but Sikhs, Jews, others) study their bibles in its original language, and they take the impress of their minds from their study of their language. They will stay 'foreign' while they continue to make this their goal. Latin was the original power of England in medieval times until English broke through it and claimed freedom. Muslims and others have the same choice to make. The essential goodness of the English language, its overwhelming virtue, is witnessed to by its acceptance as a world language. It is truly a lingua franca. The future of Bradford or the world will be determined by which language becomes universal. It might, of course, be French or Spanish, but personally I hope not.