Nothing of this is news to me, nor is it to any thinking person. But why judge a religion by its extremes? Christianity is obviously not being judged in this way, nor Hinduism, even though both of them have a history of person pracbreastioners if we want to focus on them. Ordinary Christians and Hindus don't behave like this, and nor do ordinary Muslims. In the Australian community, the majority of Muslims are at least as law abiding as any other community, but they are now being subjected to a relentless stream of negative propaganda which puts them in an impossible position. They don't deserve to be judged by the actions of propagandised mobs in the Middle East stirred up by ignorant fanatics with their own political agenda.
If Muslims here want to practise intolerance and hatred against other communities then I want those who do it exposed just as much as any other bigot. But if they want to live peacefully according to the law, I want children to be reminded that they have a rightful place in our community just as their own parents do. Imagine if the children to themselves are Muslim. Why should they be alienated and subjected to humiliation because some Muslims elsewhere are ignorant fanatics? How can they end up anything other than angry and humiliated at something that is not within their control?
You don't attack intolerance by attacking the innocent members of a community whose extremists are intolerant. We have a small but significant Muslim community in our midst. They are Australian citizens and they will live here and they are enbreastled to a decent life as long as they obey the law. We radicalise the young men of that community by treating them like the stereotypes portrayed in this survey, and then they start behaving that way. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Let's be intolerant of unacceptable behaviour by that community, but no more and no less intolerant of unacceptable behaviour by any other.
Rifty -- Academic and Computing Help
