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The word Islamophobia, meaning fear or hatred of the religion of Islam, appeared first in English in 1923, having been taken from the French word Islamophobie. However, it was not commonly used until 1976, when George Chahati Anawati wrote, “What makes the task difficult, perhaps impossible, for a non-Muslim is that he is compelled, under penalty of being accused of Islamophobia, to admire the Koran in its totality and to guard against implying the smallest criticism of the text’s literary value.”
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines religion as a particular system of faith and worship, and politics as the science and art of government. Although the two are not mutually exclusive, and historically have often gone hand-in-hand, it is reasonable in this post-Enlightenment age to question whether Islam is a political ideology based on the violent behaviour of its extreme practitioners or a system of faith and worship, or both.
This essay appears in November’s Quadrant.
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Traditionally, Islam has been lumped together with Judaism and Christianity as one of the world’s three great monotheistic faiths and has enjoyed equal status with them. The foundation common to all three religions is their belief in the God of the Jews. However, monotheism may not be enough to tip the balance in favour of religion over politics, no matter how strongly held a faith might be. If the major thrust of a religion is to achieve political power by any means, secularism displaces the sacred.
For centuries, the Christian church dominated politics in most European countries and, by extension, the thoughts and lives of most citizens. By comparison, present-day Western societies treat religions with kid gloves, fearing that any criticism of a specific belief or religious practice displays unacceptable intolerance. In a rational, liberal society it is widely accepted that citizens are free to believe whatever they wish, or to believe in nothing at all. This could only have come about in a society where church and state are separate.
Until comparatively recently, persecution of non-believers and laws against blasphemy were widespread in Western society. The last successful blasphemy trial in Britain was Whitehouse v Lemon in 1977, and blasphemous libel ceased to be a common-law offence in England and Wales with the passing of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. In the US, although there are no federal laws which forbid religious vilification, religious insult or hate speech, some states have blasphemy statutes.
Blasphemy is not a criminal offence under Australian federal law, but the situation varies at state and territory level. Common-law offences have been abolished totally in Queensland and Western Australia, while in South Australia, Victoria and Northern Territory the local criminal codes do not mention blasphemy. The criminal codes in New South Wales and Tasmania do include an offence of blasphemy or blasphemous libel, but the relevant sections are not enforced and are generally regarded as obsolete.
Blasphemy continues to be outlawed in Muslim countries where Koranic diktats are enforced, often by religious police. In those countries, “church and state” are not separate; religious leaders make all major political decisions without reference to human rights or public opinion.
A commonly held view in the West is that religions are, by their very nature, benevolent and peaceful institutions. One does not need to be a student of history, however, to know that religions have not always been benign. Even the Enlightenment did not put an end to religious intolerance in Europe, as witnessed by the behaviour of those social and religious institutions that supported the Nazis.
In recent years, however, in response to mass immigration of Muslims, many Western countries have made genuine attempts to be models of moral rectitude based on core Judeo-Christian values of charity, love and compassion. To these we may add tolerance of other religious faiths.
But is tolerance always a virtue? There is a weakness in arguing for blanket tolerance of all religions. When the boundary between the sacred and profane is indistinguishable, a political movement can masquerade as religion. Many Muslim states have corrosive, totalitarian political ideologies that hide behind a religious facade. Iran is a perfect example of a theocratic state that has allowed religious leaders to propound and export views and practices that are inimical to free, democratic societies. The West’s response to the malfeasance of many Islamist migrants has been one of appeasement, self-abasement and the toleration of intolerance.
A parallel movement has been the leftist ideology of multiculturalism, which has successfully conflated race, religion and culture. Utilising the language of political correctness, which bears all the hallmarks of Soviet style re-education, multiculturalism has ensured that criticism of cultural or religious practices, no matter how barbaric, demeaning, inhumane or cruel they may be, is categorised as racism, even though it has nothing to do with race.
Multiculturalism eats away at indigenous customs and traditions. It encourages cultural imperialism by supporting the entrenchment of imported alien beliefs and practices, such as those associated with Islam. By this means it seeks to destroy any sense of national identity and in so doing inflicts major wounds on the nation-state from which it may never recover.
Multiculturalism is planned “ghettoism”. The British philosopher Roger Scruton, in his book The West and the Rest, goes so far as to describe it as a form of apartheid.
While multiculturalism might cast itself as an innocent form of xenophilia (love and appreciation of foreign people, manners, customs or cultures), the fact that it has been enthusiastically embraced by Marxists and the Greens is a warning we should heed. Their multiculturalism is a manifestation of oikophobia, which Scruton has defined as “repudiation of inheritance and home”. Self-hatred and a pathetic abrogation of Western advancement are de rigueur among the progressive Left.
As well as introducing the pernicious idea of cultural relativism, multiculturalism has also provided the Left with a vehicle by which it can attack the nation-state. Criticism of multiculturalism is likely to be met with accusations of racism that puts an end to debate. The totalitarian nature of both Marxism and Islam brings them together in a partnership that uses Muslim extremism to undermine Western culture and society.
Despite being classified as one of the three great monotheistic religions, Islam falls into a vastly different category than Judaism and Christianity. It not only opposes the separation of church and state, but its holy text, the Koran, is clear in its castigation of all non-believers. For example, the Koran opposes friendship with Jews and Christians (V. 51) and any non-believers (IV.144, III.28) or the parents and siblings of non-believers (IX.23). As well as forcing non-believers to pay a special tax, the Koran calls for “terror to be cast in their hearts, for their necks to be smitten and their fingertips to be cut” (VIII.12).
Were a Muslim to advocate fraternal love, compassion and religious tolerance, he would be judged an apostate by his co-religionists. Extending such virtues to non-Muslims is foreign to Islam.
The Koran had numerous authors and is littered with contradictions. This makes interpretation difficult; in effect, the Koran may appear to be all things to all people. Nevertheless, Patrick Sookhdeo has pointed out that Islamic scholars solve the dilemma of contradictory texts with the rule of abrogation. According to this, where verses contradict each other, the latter-dated text abrogates the earlier one. It is ominous that the only peaceful texts in the Koran date from an early period, before Mohammed’s flight to Medina, while those verses advocating violence and war came later and are embedded in contemporary Islam.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has pointed out that “When he came to Medina, the Prophet had a revelation of jihad. After that, it became an obligation for Muslims to convert others, and to establish an Islamic state, by the sword if necessary.” Sookhdeo points out that the idea that Islam is a “religion of peace” is 1400 years out of date. “It was only for about thirteen years that Islam was peace and nothing but peace. From 622 onwards it became increasingly aggressive …”
According to Ibn Warraq, founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society, in his “Statement on the World Trade Center Atrocity”, the Islamic world is “divided into two spheres, Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb. The latter, the Land of Warfare, includes countries belonging to infidels. The Dar al-Harb becomes the Dar al-Islam, the Land of Islam, upon the promulgation of the edicts of Islam.” Pursuit of Dar al-Islam has resulted in the “totalitarian nature of Islam”, which is “nowhere more apparent than in the concept of Jihad, the Holy War, whose ultimate aim is to conquer the entire world and submit it to the one true faith, to the law of Allah.” Ibn Warraq goes on to say that unlike other types of fundamentalism, “Islamic fundamentalism has global aspirations: the submission of the entire world to the all-embracing Sharia Islamic Law, a fascist system of dictates designed to control every aspect of all individuals.” Roger Scruton writes, “Like the Communist Party in its Leninist construction, Islam aims to control the state without being a subject of the state.”
An argument often put forward by apologists for Islam is that we should not confuse moderate Muslims with Islamic fundamentalists. This is disingenuous. Since 9/11, few Muslims have condemned acts of terrorism committed in their name. What is one to make of this?
Writing in the London Free Press, Salim Mansur, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, said, “The truth is there does not exist an identifiable body of Muslims, substantive in number or an outright majority, who could be described as ‘moderate’ by their repudiation of Muslim extremists,” and that “violence has been an integral part of Muslim history”. He goes on to argue that since the Arab-Muslim world has had little experience of democracy, “moderation” remains practically non-existent.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali would agree. She considers the word moderate “very misleading. I don’t believe there is such a thing as ‘moderate Islam’ …The Koran is quite clear that it should control every area of life.” Ibn Warraq points out that “Islam itself is not moderate” and that, in fact, Muslim fundamentalists have a better understanding of the true message of the Koran than the so-called moderates.
A possible solution to this impasse is for Muslims who do not support the activities of Islamic fundamentalists to stop pretending that violence has not been an integral part of their religion, almost since the day it was founded, and to speak out against it. As Patrick Sookhdeo writes, “They must with honesty recognise the violence that has existed in their history in the same way that Christians have had to do …” This has yet to happen, and the West must face the possibility that it never will. On the contrary, many Western countries already have within their midst formidable fifth columns of so-called moderate Muslims who support the overthrow of elected governments, the dismantling of the rule of law and the curtailment of personal liberty in the name of Islam. Salim Mansur concludes, “the large number of Muslims unaccounted for as to what they think, in practical terms constitute a forest within which extremists are incubated, nurtured, given ideological and material support, and to which they return for sanctuary”.
In the light of the war being waged against Western countries by Islamists intent on replacing the democratic secular state with an Islamic theocratic dictatorship, and the tacit support this war receives from moderate Muslims, any claim that Islam is first and foremost a religion is wrong. Although Islam began as a religion, it soon metamorphosed into a political imperialistic ideology. If the Koran’s teachings were implemented in Western countries, they would be plunged into a new dark age.
Since Muslims seem unlikely and unwilling to cleanse their Augean stables of its fascist political content, this leaves the West with a problem that goes to the heart of its very existence: “What is to be done?” Upon this question hangs the fate of civilisation.
Governments in Western countries have limited options. The choice of some governments, including Australia’s, is that of supine myopia. By doing nothing to defuse the problem of Islamic fundamentalism, the government is leading Australia towards a future in which short-term economic gains count for everything. At the same time Australian society will be dismantled by immigrants who have no intention of integrating.
The result will be that Australia’s unique culture will be replaced by one which is foreign to most of its citizens. In effect, most Australians will become foreigners in their own home. This process is already happening in France, Germany and Britain.
A rational alternative migration policy would select migrant groups based on their record of assimilation. No doubt, this would be condemned by leftist ideologues as racist—a view held by those who favour the false assumption that all immigrants, regardless of race and religion, are of equal benefit to Australia. However, such a policy change is unlikely under governments that value migrants solely as employees for industry, while disregarding their negative influence on Australian society.
Brian Wimborne wrote “The Tactical Myth of Palestinian Identity” in the June 2014 issue. He has worked for many years as a research editor for the Australian Dictionary of Biography
An excellent summary of islam and the obvious dangers those in the West have already experienced. The slur of racist in opposing the suicide of Western cultures should not bother anyone as it is meaningless “shutup” stuff.
I found this on a blog it’s another short summary which resonated with me.
” Muslims. They kill because they go to paradise (Al Jannah) . They kill in a certain way – knives, beheadings -because it is in their book. They don’t show off, they prove it to their relatives, who as a result, will also be welcomed in Paradise. It is vital that we see this as a central belief. The West and the legal system gets this all wrong as the West lacks belief and hence judges their actions from a ‘rational’ point of view. They don’t commit suicide, they are entering paradise. Nothing stops them except meeting Mo. Their path is standard for the past 1500 years and can be predicted exactly. But our plods, politicians, lawyers, magistrates and judges have not woken up.”.
As for “moderate” muslims, yes, they may not commit crimes themselves but they will not “dob in” those who do. Police have a terrible time .
So many excellent sites such as Robert Spencer’s http://www.jihad watch.org , no one should be in any doubt about islam.
Oh dear, that rather enlightening 2014 article is going to send the Freddy Krueger doll into a frenzy.
I appreciated the prescience of the last sentence in the article:
Meantime, the talks will go on, terrorist attacks on Israel will proceed under Iranian and Syrian directives, and Palestinian Arabs living beyond Israel’s borders will continue to wallow in the ordure created for them by their fellow Arabs.
A similar response appeared in the latest comments to the Gabi Taub “We Will Defend Ourselves” essay today.
The erroneous echoes that “Palestine” is/was a country containing “Palestinians” are still on the turntable.
And then stretching the fallacy to some concept of Native Title…
The hallucinated logic is like;
I’m African therefore I’m Tunisian or
I’m South American therefore I’m Argentinian.
The actual logic is;
I’m a Sunni Muslim extremist terrorist and therefore I need to live in Hell.
I’ll sit here on my cornflake and await the sprinkle of sprays from Sunni extremist sympathisers.
I’ll bite. Some, not all, of the people living in the long-recognised area called Palestine had been living there for centuries, perhaps especially the Christians although I couldn’t say for sure. They anticipated self-rule or to be part of some Arab state after 1918 but were in essence double-crossed by the British although there is debate about what precisely was promised. It must have been rather disappointing to see your land.being inundated with foreigners instead during the 1930s but Britain took a harder line against the would-be Israelites during the war presumably to shore up her support in the Arab world and this made her unpopular with the Zionists for obvious reasons. However Britain was in the process of destroying herself in a Jewish cause so they didn’t mind too much. Post-war the clamour for Israel was deafening much like the current propaganda storm. This and an orchestrated gun-running and terror campaign helped overcome the qualms of some of the British about the fate of their non-Jewish charges. And so on….
The fact that there had been some Jews in the area for a century or even for millennia changes the fact that the area had been under Muslim rule for twelve hundred years, absent the century or so of the Crusader states, not one bit. The people, however long their ancestors had been there, saw Palestine as their home and themselves as part of an ancient and continuous Muslim civilization, which tolerated other religions relatively benignly.
The project to plant Israel there was always a recipe for chaos and perhaps on some level this was the idea behind it, to help prevent a strong Arab empire forming in full control of the Suez canal and vast oil reserves. Syria and Egypt did unite from 1958-1961 until a coup in Syria but therafter Anglo-American and Israeli foreign policy has been effective at destroying or co-opting strong nationalistic states in the area.
Another topic is the close relationship between Britain and then America with the house of Saud and their regime-supporting fundamentalist Wahhabism going back two hundred years.
“However Britain was in the process of destroying herself in a Jewish cause so they didn’t mind too much.”
He’s taking about WW2. Why do idiotic conspiracy-theorising Jew-baiters find QoL so congenial?
Is it your contention then that the vast preponderance of politically active Jews worldwide were not manoeuvring to bring down the National Socialist regime?
No but that’s not what you said. You said “Britain was in the process of destroying destroying itself in a Jewish cause”.
Yes, that is what I wrote and it is, by your own admission, manifestly true, any nitpicking paraphrasis notwithstanding.
Don’t play with words, my friend. What you meant by your smarmy “Britain was in the process of destroying itself in a Jewish cause” was that Britain was foolishly destroying itself by doing the bidding of the jews, when, presumably, Britain should have been making nice with Hitler.
As I said before, you give the game away when you come out with things like “The ingenious, fractious, restless, warlike white folks are an unwanted liability for the world controllers”. I mean, really. There are websites for people with those views, like Stormfront or Daily Stormer. Why pollute this site?
@Sindri
I’ll ignore most of your passive-aggressively prefixed diatribe with its interesting hypotheses but i will clarfy one point: ‘Britain was destroying herself in a Jewish cause’ means Britain was spending her treasure and losing any chance of retaining her position as a great power in fighting against Germany, which the vast preponderance of Jewish leaders worldwide wanted destroyed. Eight words as against thirty-one.
@David Isaac,
The history is interesting but surely what needs to be done today is to address the issue at its core levels.
The irony of the claim the Palestinians have not been there long is that Israelis have been there for even less time. But it is all about double standards.
What we do know is that in 1947 after extensive campaigns by Jewish terrorists, Zionist soldiers invaded and dispossessed nearly a million Palestinians killing tens of thousands of them. We know they eradicated 530 Palestinian towns and villages which remain marked on British Mandate maps and which Israel has tried to hide by building and planting over them.
We know that apart from some Palestinians grudgingly accepted as Israeli citizens, albeit second-class, the rest of the Palestinians have been given no rights and continue to be dispossessed.
All of those wrongs need to be righted for there to be peace. Israel occupies all of Palestine and uses maximum violence to crush resistance, including peaceful resistance. That too is wrong.
If Jews can claim and get reparation and compensation for homes, land, possessions lost in WWII then why cannot Palestinian Christians and Muslims get the same?
It is the double-standards which revolt all people of conscience and that includes many Jews.
I thoiught that you were still alive in Argentina. That Hamas has no weapons would be news to the 1400 Israelis they murdered on 7 October. Of course they must also have ovens and knives, for the Israeli babies they burned alive or decapiated. You also seem to be overlooking the thousands of rockets and missiles they launched at Israeli cities.
@wdr,
The Palestinian Resistance does have some weapons but nothing compared to Israel’s arsenal. And from survivor testimonies it seems many, perhaps most Israelis died because the IDF shot them along with the fighters and sent missiles into their homes.
Palestinian rockets rarely kill although no doubt they do frighten people. Israeli missiles always kill, hundreds and in this case thousands, nearly half of them children. There is a difference between a barely armed Resistance militia and the fourth biggest military in the world, Israel.
There is also a difference between Israel using massive weaponry to maintain occupation, colonisation and apartheid and the Palestinians using minimal weaponry to fight for freedom and justice.
I understand your rhetoric, however those who are carrying out the jihadist activities are totally brainwashed.
Children sit, rocking back and forth reciting the koran, they are tested on their knowledge.
The koran hold 161 statements that call for death to non-muslims, Sharia Law also calls for the death of infidels if they fail to convert to islam.
I would also like to point out the koran does not call for any woman to wear a burka, hijab or any other form of covering. Both men and women are ask to cover their sex, to dress modestly.
Considering the koran was written over 300 years after the death of Mohamad and there are 4 hadiths to use to understand everything.
Yes, I see islam as a violent, unforgiving and intolerant sect.
Children also sit rocking back and forth reciting the Torah and are tested on their knowledge. And your point would be?
“… such a policy change is unlikely under governments that value migrants solely as employees for industry, while disregarding their negative influence on Australian society.”
Much of the contemporary Left is hostile to the historic Australian nation – its people, heritage and identity. Massive non-Western immigration is seen as a way to bury the old Australia and disempower legacy Australians.
Meanwhile, the neoliberal Right views Australia as a mere economic zone as opposed to a distinct nation. Immigrants are regarded as units of labour and consumers. The sweeping cultural, societal and demographic changes that invariably accompany mass immigration do not worry neoliberals. Populations, in their view, are completely fungible.
Exactly the same phenomenon is occurring at breakneck speed throughout Europe, Britain, Ireland and North America. This cannot be accidental. The object is to destroy the homogeneity of all populations of European descent, anticipating a consequent reduction in family formation, especially by men and women of the same race. The ingenious, fractious, restless, warlike white folks are an unwanted liability for the world controllers. Our job, from their perspective, is done. It is an undertaking (pun intended) which literally takes my breath away whenever I allow my mind to contemplate it.
“The ingenious, fractious, restless, warlike white folks are an unwanted liability for the world controllers”
What “David Isaac” is not saying, of course, is that the “world controllers” are those pesky Jews. He rather gave the game away in his previous comment about Britain taking a harder line against the Palestinians during WW2, but the Jews didn’t mind because “Britain was destroying itself in a Jewish cause”. His take on Hitler’s aggression.
People with wealth and ambition do try to control the world and pass that control to their kith and kin, surely often heedless of any consequence not directly affecting themselves. I don’t move in those circles so I don’t know who they all are but by their support of mass immigration it’s clear the bulk of rhe European race is slated for absorption or more or less gradual destruction. Why?
@David Isaac,
I tend to avoid such conspiracy theories but you might have a point.
How best to control people? Destroy all religions for starters. Get the haters hating Muslims and move on from there.
Well we have our own degenerate international state religion now.: the worship of stone-age tribesmen, sexual deviants, transsexuals and people of every race bar the European. There are prayers at every meeting, flags on every building, festivals which seem to go on for weeks after they were scheduled to end. The best part is we get to keep the constant self-flagellation of Christianity. Who’s responsible? What’s it all about? One can only guess. But that would be theorising about a conspiracy.
Conspiracy is everywhere, from your surprise birthday, to the machinations behind the Voice, to the Hamas raid and the inexplicably undefended Israeli border. From the obfuscation of history to the Santa Claus conspiracy it is our civic duty to seek not just to understand events as nearly as possible but also the real instigators and their motivations. It’s a tall order, but anyone who cries out ‘conspiracy theory’ to silence you is either deluded or does not love the truth.
True but conspiracy theories are often sourced in fear and that is a distraction and a poor place for decision-making.
I do feel sorry for Israelis because the world is watching their atrocities. While the IDF is clearly skilled at targeting toddler terrorists after many years of practice, exterminating little ones before they can grow up and when they are too little to run far, if indeed there was anywhere to run, does not win hearts and minds and forever stains the Zionist State.
More Jews are becoming aware that the Israeli State defames and poisons their religion and themselves. The Orthodox have been saying as much for a long time and now the Israeli police are beating them up for challenging the genocide which loses even more hearts and minds.
This is a terrible time for humans of conscience but good can come out of the worst of things and the unravelling of Zionism would indeed be a good thing.
“Who’s responsible? What’s it all about? One can only guess.”
Oh, don’t be coy. You think it’s those devious jews. But do please go over to some crackpot jew-baiting website and spout your childish nonsense there.
@Sindri
‘Don’t be coy etcetera…..’
You’re very quick to tell me what I’m thinking or what I said. I try to retain an open mind on just about all questions, and would hope others do likewise and look as far beneath the surface as possible.
An excellent summary. They also multiply and have offspring faster than greased lightning.
Meanwhile, Westerners – Australians included – have stopped replacing themselves and are in decline within their own countries.
As Patrick Buchanan warned: “As Western peoples have begun to die, the vacant rooms in the House of the West will not long remain vacant.”
As to ‘moderate’ Islam so fondly spoken of by non-Muslims in the West particularly post 9/11 one recalls both former Malaysian PM Dr Mahathir Mohamed and then and still Turkish President and wannabe Sultan Recep Erdogan each independently pronouncing on this absurd product of wishful thinking that there is no ‘moderate Islam’, there is just ‘Islam’.
My GP is a Muslim in the ACT and will continue to support. My neighbour of our extended connections has no knowledge of who voted Yes: from a military background likewise. Something is corrupt here.
Another masterpiece by Henry Ergas:
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Hamas’s is a war of extermination. Its goal neither is, nor has it ever been, to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
As is apparent from its charter, it is to wipe Israel and its people from the face of the earth.
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(J)ust as the Nazis’ genocidal project arose from a long-term radicalisation of Christian anti-Semitism, so Islamism’s exterminationist goal emer ged from a deeply engrained tradition of Muslim anti- Semitism.
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Typified by the Muslim Brotherhood’s pledge in 1946 that it would “repeat the German massacres and destroy (the Jews) entirely”, and the Arab League’s proclamation soon thereafter of “a war of extermination which will eclipse the massacres of the Mongols”, Islamic exterminationism defined a mindset that both ensured war without end in the Middle East and became increasingly extreme with every calamitous Arab political failure and military fiasco.
todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=637f57f3-f912-4f9d-9c25-0e329f2f5d5c
“The Problem of Islam in a Multicultural Society”
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Not to worry – Biden/Harris have the answer.
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pic.twitter.com/pxZAn7RymY
There is a simple test that can be used to prove there is no such thing as the moderate Muslim. After some horrific atrocity carried out by Islamic terrorists in the West, has there ever been a mass outpouring of Muslims in Muslim-majority countries claiming Islam is a religion of peace and disassociating themselves from Islamic terrorism? On the contrary, there are either mass demonstrations in support of Islamist terrorists or else a pall of deathly silence. Compare and contrast this silencecwith the contorted faces screaming for vengeance against depictions of Mohammed in a newspaper.
What we are dealing with is Islamofascism.
The new progressive language.
Comparing the words :
1 Antisemitism (the problem is the Jews)
2 Islamophobia (the problem is you)
@Mike,
The problem is Zionism not Judaism and in fact Zionism is exploiting Jews and their religion and has done for more than a century.
Categorising Christianity as monotheism alongside Islam and presuming they follow the same God, or type of God, is one of the key misunderstandings of humanists and religious relativists. It is actually the Trinitarianism of Christianity which most profoundly sets it apart from Islam (and to a lesser extent, Judaism).
In Trinitarianism a fully personal God is realised, one who can speak both to the individual conscience and to the governance of universal affairs with equal aplomb. It is Christianity’s greatest strength, being the only way to logically decipher a comprehensive meaning from existence. Those who gave us democracy understood Trinitarianism very well, in spite of the claims of the humanist enlightenment.
On the other hand, Islam’s monotheism presents an indecipherable, impersonal God which exists only to control, by laws and mandates. Therefore conscience and personality are irrelevant, as long as one obeys and is part of the system.
For the west to survive it has to re-embrace the core worldview that made it what it was, and that was never enlightened humanism, which is simply nihilism dressed in drag.
The fruits of the Living God’s Holy Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23:(ESV)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”.
In stark contrast are the the poison fruits of the Muslim God Allah: hate, misery, intolerance, cruelty, wickedness, perfidy, brutality, and derangement. Against such is obsequious tolerance and willful ignorance.
Look, I’m no fan of Islam but this seems a bit strong. The OT is full of stories in which canny Canaanites wreak havoc, death and destruction with G_d’s blessing. Would you care to unload your bile on them?
It is the double standards. I would have thought such double standards were a clear betrayal of conservative values. Do such values even exist?
All religions have fanatics but the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist nutters are ignored. Only the Muslim radicals get a mention. The age of hypocrisy.
As a basic principle surely it is wrong to condemn all followers of a religion for the actions of their radicals. Oh, I forgot, the double standards again.
The fruits of the Living God’s Holy Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23:(ESV)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”.
Oh, hang on but not for Muslims and definitely not for Palestinians. Christians who hate Palestinians and Muslims are a travesty on the religion.
Maybe Jesus will pop back for that Second Coming because he is sickened by what is said and done in his name.
It is somewhat ironic and sardonically amusing to watch Q.O.L. morph into a battlefield of intolerance and name-calling! Symptomatic of the democratic West in its terminal decline?
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The German National Socialist political philosophy was in support of Europe and European colonisation, but the “democratic powers”, by destroying the Eurocentric philosophy of the Third Reich, ended up destroying their own colonial empires and now have become colonised countries themselves! The Commonwealth of Australia was conceived and thrived under the Pax Britannica, but now we are definitely going down the gurgler. Can the USA help save us, or are they themselves in the process of being culturally eaten alive from the inside?
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Paradoxically, given the anti-Islamic tone being expressed by conservatives, those same people would most likely be Anti-Russian and Anti-Chinese; the paradox being that both those countries faced the rise of radical Islam in their respective nations, and they took effective action to stamp it out; but they are being vilified in the West by conservatives and progressive Lefties alike!
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Western-type representative liberal democracies are definitely in terminal decline, due to their inherent contradictions.
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We have seen many quotations from the Koran and Hadith appearing in Q.O.L., to support the case that Islam is a violent and dangerous political/religious philosophy, but, are those posters unaware of what is in the Torah? I’m not taking any sides, but rather pointing out the contradictions and similarities.
Comparing Islam with Christianity :
https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/articles/jesus-muhammad.aspx
@cbattle1,
Well said as always but you are dealing with levels of fear-driven prejudice which make critical thinking impossible.
@cbattle1,
Do you think there is growing awareness in the US about this colonial war against Palestine? There seem to be more Jewish groups speaking out. And conservative media sites. The March planned for November 4 will perhaps be an indicator.
Quote:
First and foremost, there is no real war between Israel and Palestine, there is only war against Palestine. There is no war against Hamas, at least not in any conventional sense, because Hamas was created, built, funded, and supported by the Zionist Israeli government and Mossad, with the assistance of the U.S. government and the CIA. This is also true of groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.
The Palestinian people have no military, no navy, no tanks, no rockets, and no arms. They are virtually helpless civilians, mostly children, locked inside a completely walled concentration camp, that is heavily guarded by the Israeli military and Mossad. They are relegated to throwing rocks at Israel’s world class military that consists of advanced weaponry that qualifies as the third most powerful military in the world.
This is a slaughter and genocide of these people for political, geopolitical, and monetary purposes, and is nothing more than intentional, unbridled, and inhuman wrath against a persecuted population.
What is so confusing is that this torturous brutality, land and property confiscation, mutilation, starvation, and humiliation by Zionists against Palestinians, has gone on relentlessly for the past 75 years under the guise of a false claiming of a long-inhabited territory; all in the bogus name of defense of a forced Zionist State. But in the bright light of truth and honesty, this has been only offensive and unrestrained aggression.
Zionism is not Judaism, it is a tyrannical political cult bent on power, control, and the elimination of Palestine in favor of a singular ‘Jewish’ State.. Zionism is colonialism, pure and simple, a political/nationalist movement, formed and plotted for the purpose of taking over lands of the peoples in that region, and by any means necessary. This plot was decades in the making, with deals solidified with Nazi Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.
According to Jewish historian, Ilan Pappe, “Zionist leaders were well aware that implementing their project would necessitate the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population.”
A World Where Genocide of Civilians Is Not Only Accepted, but Cheered – LewRockwell
So it was WRONG to fight the Nazis? That’s an interesting outlook. Millions of Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, Christians, and others might disagree with you, if they had the chance.
This is a very important article. Thank you Brian Wimborne.
These are facts about islam:-
* islamic mosques are the organisational centres for islamic terrorism.
* imams, muftis and mullahs brainwash and indoctrinate the islamists in the mosques to kill the kaffirs i.e. Jews, Christians, non-believers.
* children born into islamic families are radicalised from birth and it is reinforced by indoctrination and brainwashing all their lives inside the mosques by the imams, mullahs and muftis.
* all islamists are allowed to lie to further the cause of islam. It is called taqiyya.
* islamists are taught in their mosques that they and their families will go straight to heaven if they die martyrs whilst carrying out jihad. An islamic mother with many children has a powerful incentive to want one of her sons to die as a martyr.
* the doctrine of islam is set out in the koran, hadith and sira.
* there are 4 Stages of Islamic conquest – https://civilusdefendus.wordpress.com/civil-defense/4-stages-of-islamic-conquest/
Why do many leaders of the West still say that islam is a religion of peace? This is a lie. Islam is neither a religion nor a race. It is a 1400 year old barbaric, sadistic, jihadi, male cult that follows an ideology of hatred, murder, brutality, misogyny and domination over all females. Its aim is to enforce world-wide sharia islamic law; death to all kaffirs/infidels; and global formation of a violent, jihadi, islamic caliphate. Islam is at war with the Democratic free countries of the West.
It is a criminal act to threaten to kill the non-believers. Charge the imams, muftis and mullahs for brainwashing and indoctrinating islamists in their mosques to KILL THE NON-BELIEVERS.
If those who preach islamic terrorism in their mosques were put in jail or deported, then the fear of islamic terrorism would soon be gone. Only then can the people who have been subjected to all the islamic propaganda, brainwashing and radicalising, safely become apostates. This would be the beginning of the end of the problem of islam world-wide.
Time the treacherous politicians began to deal with the real problem which is islam. If all they do is appease the islamists, and classify the truth about islam as hate speech or islamophobia, then those politicians must go!
“Time the treacherous politicians began to deal with the real problem which is islam. If all they do is appease the Islamists, and classify the truth about Islam as hate speech or islamophobia, then those politicians must go!”
Agree, and the High court judges who want Ali Benbrika to remain an Australian citizen should be treated likewise. Find an Islamic country to send them to.
What is it that motivates so many westerners to be tolerant of Islam and it’s it’s huge number of terrorist supporters and offshoots?
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We are currently seeing an amazing tolerance for example of the Hamas government in Gaza. The Hamas government that is defined as a terrorist organisation by our government. The Hamas government which gave us a crystal clear lesson on October 7 on who they really are.
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That tolerance is so misplaced. Islamic terrorists give us first hand lessons all the time on their true nature. They take the lessons right to our own streets. Islamic terrorist supporters of the Palestinians carried out brutal murders of innocent people in New York, London, Paris, Sydney and Melbourne for example.
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The people they murder on our streets have done absolutely nothing to them. In fact in many cases the Islamic terrorist murderers have been shown kindness and have been taken into our country from their own countries where their fellow Muslims find it impossible to live in peace with each other.
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Islamic terrorists gave us Australians another lesson on who they are in Bali, burning 88 Australians to death in the Kuta bombing in 2002. All the murdered innocent Australians were doing was enjoying a holiday.
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Palestinian supporters gave us a very recent example and lesson in Sydney on who they are coming out to support Hamas immediately after all the well reported atrocities their fellow Muslims carried out in Israel and before there was retaliation from Israel. They publicly chanted ” gas the Jews” in our streets.
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The Hamas government in Gaza has given us a huge number of first hand examples and lessons of precisely who they are. They carried out the most inhuman atrocities imaginable on a very well organized large scale across villages in Israel.
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They even went as far as to document that lesson on head cameras as they carried them out. To view later and enjoy.
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One even rang his mother to tell her how many innocent Jews he had brutally murdered with his own hands. The very fact he rang his mother to tell her about it tells you a lot about the nature of these Hamas government terrorists and the support they have at home for the unspeakable atrocities they carried out.
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Those atrocities included tearing an unborn child from its mother and beheading it. Baking a baby in an oven. Raping, torturing and murdering an innocent young woman and parading her sad mutilated body in the streets for bystanders to laugh and cheer at. That sort of open public display of their atrocities tells you the depth of support they have in the Palestinian population.
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Why have Green members of parliament, as reported in The Australian, refused to condemn the atrocities? Yet they condemn us and close a city like Melbourne down because they think we use too much coal. I’ll never let a Green lecture me again ever given this.
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Of course the Palestinian supporters now call for a ceasefire as Israel takes effective action to prevent such terrorist atrocities being carried out again. They still call for a ceasefire even though the Hamas Palestinian government vows they will continue to carry out such atrocities whenever they get the chance. And as the Hamas Palestinian government holds over 200 innocent Israelis hostage in Gaza.
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I don’t need any more lessons. I know who they are. I’ve had enough lessons.
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And I refuse to debate with the apologists of Islam and Islamic terrorist murderers. The apologists came out to support the Palestinians immediately after they carried out the atrocities in Israel. They came out to support the Palestinians before Israel had retaliated. That timing of their protests in our streets and on social media gives them away when they now call for a ceasefire as Israel now takes action to prevent further unprovoked large scale terrorist attacks on them.
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These apologists disgust me with their obfuscation, twisted arguments and twisted history to justify such inhuman atrocities which cannot be justified by anything.
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I’ve seen enough. I’ve had enough lessons. I know who these Islamic terrorists like Hamas are. I will not waste my time debating the obvious with twisted people. Such people sicken me.
“Such people sicken me.”
I wouldn’t t go out if I were you, you never know who you might bump in to. Possibly even some one with a different view of the world than you.
Occidental
Yes I might run into people with different views than mine – those who support the absolutely inhuman atrocities carried out by the Palestinians. People who came out to support the Palestinians immediately after the inhuman atrocities and before Israel responded. People who chanted “gas the Jews” on our streets to celebrate the atrocities.
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I might also run into a Muslim terrorist who’s on a murder rampage. That’s a very remote possibility but it’s happened to a number of Australians on our streets in Sydney and Melbourne.
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Some people who witnessed and survived such Muslim terrorist attacks on our streets would have been reluctant to venture out for a while because they were afraid they might “bump into” people with a “different view of the world” than they had : the sorts of people they saw murder people on our streets to support a cause like that of the Palestinians.
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And I repeat those who came out to support the Palestinians immediately after the inhuman atrocities and before Israel responded sicken me whether it was on our streets with chants of ” gas the Jews” or with twisted, disingenuous arguments posted on social media. There’s no argument which supports the inhuman atrocities the Palestinians carried out. And I will not debate with such people – it’s a waste of time.
An excellent and important contribution, BalancedObservation. You ask
“What is it that motivates so many westerners to be tolerant of Islam and its huge number of terrorist supporters and offshoots?”
One answer to your question could be the following:-
“The Story of Mohammed – Islam unveiled” by Harry Richardson, published 10.10.2013 – p62
“This is how Jihad works, slowly, step by step, leaders, opinion makers, academics, journalists, organizations and eventually the general population, are cowed into submission and forced to accept responsibility for deliberate islamic attacks against them.
Never ever, does Islam take responsibility….”
Thanks for your reply MargieCJ.
When we betray principles of justice and civilization for one we betray them for all. That is not the sort of world we would wish on our children and grandchildren.
The visceral, irrational and childish loathing of Muslims reflects not on Islam but on the haters who threaten our way of life and the values for which so many have fought and died.
In the famous words of Neimoller:
First they came for the Muslims. But I did not speak out was I was not a Muslim.
Then they came for the Lefties and I did not speak out—because I was not a Leftie.
Then they came for the Hindus, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Hindu.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
@rosross
Because of excessive concerns about justice we aren’t having any grandchildren. Instead we are filling the country up with peoples who have historic grudges against us, and desecrating our culture by permitting a never ending stream of egregious lies to be told to our youth. Dumb move. Really dumb. If we manage to retrieve enough of the global European hegemony that obtained before 1914, when we still had civilizational confidence, then we will be in a position to safely mete out justice in faraway lands. Until then we should act in our own best interests, namely consolidating control of the lands which we are rapidly losing and reclaiming the minds of our brainwashed people.
@David Isaac,
From what I can see more young people are having three kids and not the two my generation settled on. I have great faith in younger generations and as we did, they will find their way through. There are always some born in every time who don’t believe the bullshit.
As to justice in faraway lands, the earth is a global village and one can work for what is right for Australia and take a stand against genocide far away as a matter of principle because defending principles protects us all.
And I do not agree we are filling the land with people who have historic grudges. An attitude like that is racist. Australia has long had the highest and fastest rate of immigrant intermarriage of any nation and I see it in my own family which is great. I have no problem with a Eurasian Australia in 50 years, or 100, not that I will be around to see it firsthand. Things generally work out even as we make a mess along the way.
In the future I firmly believe that there will be a one-state solution for the Palestinians and Israelis, which, because of demographics will be Palestine again and still and religions will live and work side by side respecting the Holy Land of Palestine. The problem at present is not with Judaism or Jews but with the atheist, political military colonial regime which is Zionism.
Remaining hopeful and trusting is a human gift.
Jews will never willingly allow their state to be controlled by anyone other than themselves. Too much work went into its establishment. If we were wise we would follow their example rather than blithely condemn our posterity to minority status and the possibility of extinction.
‘Trusting is a human gift’, I agree, but these sentiments belong to hearth and home not existential conflicts between bitter enemies.
It is worth remembering that behind anger and rage there is always fear and where there is unresolved fear there will be growing anger and rage because fear makes us feel weak and anger gives the illusion of strength and the more we fear the more we rage.
Those who viscerally and irrationally rage against Islam and Muslims are sourced in the most terrible fear. But instead of resolving such fears as an adult, there is a regression into primitive, childish, instinctive responses. And when that happens, reason is lost because the unconscious drive is all consuming – to lessen fear no matter what it costs.
It makes no sense to fear or hate Islam and its followers. By all means condemn the primitive aspects of the religion but separate the actions and the teachings from the individuals. Otherwise your fear will grow and so will your rage.
If so many did not fear Muslims this support for the worst colonial genocide in modern history could not happen. Fear divides and fuels maniacal rage. This is Israel’s problem. Founded in fear, some rational, much irrational, driven by fear, mostly irrational and functioning in fear because without fear the raison d’etre for the Israeli State cannot exist. Whatever terrible suffering the Palestinians in Gaza endure, the destruction of soul, conscience and humanity in Israelis is a far higher price.
We each can choose whether to live a life of fear or one of reason and compassion. And no-one should be judged for failing to grow beyond their fears because it is indeed an often terrifying path.
When the dust settles and the blood has dried, let all those who supported and promoted this genocide forgive themselves. And let us hope that Israelis can be free as well as the Palestinians.
Hey rosross: The fruit of Islam’s Allah or the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit?: ‘I saw that Allah had sent me the Jewish woman and I understood that I had to kill her’
https://gellerreport.com/2023/11/i-saw-that-allah-had-sent-me-the-jewish-woman-and-i-understood-that-i-had-to-kill-her.html/
@STJOHNOFGRAFTON,
Yep, primitive stuff and I put it in the same basket as the Torah teaching that the death of a non-Jew is irrelevant and goyim exist only to be slaves for Jews because only Jews are real humans.
And then all that Christian violence inflicted on women who were said to be witches. And the Inquisition. You should read up on that. More for the box labelled, backward religious teachings.
And TODAY, which group is STILL calling for the deaths of ALL infidels/non-believers including Israelis and Americans? ONLY the death cult of Islam.
In Australia:
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Muslim leader ‘Brother Ismail’ insists ‘jihad is the solution’ as he compares Palestinian ‘freedom fighters’ with white colonialism in Australia at Sydney’s Al Madina Dawah Centre
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We say to every individual who says Hamas is terrorists, did you really forget your dark history? Did you really forget your ancestors what they did to the native people in this country … how they raped their women to change their colour
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12712111/Muslim-leader-Jihad-solution-Palestinian-freedom-fighters.html
Fundamentalist Jews and Christians call for the deaths of Muslims and Christians because they are Palestinians and fundamentalist Hindus call for the deaths of Christians and Muslims and your point would be?
The tricky part, requiring critical thinking, is to not take the fanatical Jews, Christians, Muslims or Hindus as representative of their religion and all followers.
WRONG rosross!
Christians are followers of Jesus Christ. Christ NEVER told his followers to “kill the non-believers”. In fact, Christ said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Your writings are like those of an Islamist sprouting Taqiyya all over the place. Do yourself a favour. Have a break. Go outside and smell the roses.
@MargieCJ,
I never said Jesus said to kill non-believers. I said Christianity has those teachings and it does in the Old Testament. That is what makes the teachings of Jesus so unique. There is evidence some of those teachings come from the ancient Egyptian religion of Isis, The Great Goddess, but religions have always taken from each other.
However, fundamentalist Christians do invest heavily in the Old Testament in the way more enlightened forms of Christianity do not.
Every comment here is just another opportunity for you to promote your BS. I’ve really never seen such a solid series of self inflicted idiocity.
And good morning to you also Katz.
I have said before, by all means make a case and demonstrate anything I have said is wrong. Simply resorting to abuse reflects on you, not my statements.
More facts which you call BS. But this time from a Rabbi. Who would have thought? Let us address extremists in Islam and Judaism. That would be balanced would it not?
Quote: Rabbi Arik Ascherman delivered an Oct. 29 online lecture on settler violence in the West Bank to Reform Jews in Canada from outside a Jerusalem cell phone repair shop.
He was there, in a perfect illustration of the topic he was discussing, because a settler fanatic stole his cell phone, so Ascherman was trying to get an old phone of his repaired to use as a replacement.
While the world’s attention has rightfully been focused on the situation in southern Israel and Gaza since Oct. 7, extremist Orthodox Jewish settlers have used this opportunity to escalate their ongoing efforts to destroy Palestinian villages in the West Bank, intimidating residents into fleeing across the Jordan Valley.
Ascherman, an American-born Israeli rabbi who founded the Jewish human rights organization Torat Tzedek — or Torah of Justice — addressed members of Reform for Human Rights, a new organization of Canadian Jews in the liturgically liberal Reform movement dedicated to defending Palestinian human rights.
“None of us, with all of our long-term collective memory, had seen anything like this. If we were saying that before the war, now it’s on steroids.”
Every comment here is just another opportunity for you to promote your BS. I’ve really never seen such a solid series of self inflicted idiocity.
Watch as another rancid example spews out.
Are you saying the Israeli rabbi is rancid? Is that not anti-semitic?
The Australian heads steadily the wrong way (influence of Sarah Murdoch?), but we can still count on Chris Mitchell for a strong dose of facts and commonsense.
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https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=a07caff3-3ceb-4ebd-a5c7-71d3e81f18cf
Further today:
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A southwest Sydney religious centre has refused to condemn a preacher who delivered a radical sermon that called on Muslims to wage jihad, declared Australia hypocritical for labelling Hamas’s massacre of innocent Israelis as terrorism and claimed Anthony Albanese had “dirtied” a mosque with “lies”.
Muslim gets it right:
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pic.twitter.com/YZ8YTqEhwQ
When genocide is promoted as a solution to a conflict just remember, it will be a precedent for many future ‘solutions.’ This is what is being created for future generations.
Quote: When Netanyahu tells the people within the walled ghetto to “leave now” because he’s going to turn every corner of Gaza into “rubble,” which is what he just said, this is genocide talk.
There is nowhere for the people of Gaza to go, other than the closed border with Israel, the closed border with US client dictatorship Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea.
The way he is talking about Gaza now is remarkably similar to the way Jürgen Stroop talked about turning the Warsaw Ghetto into rubble.
Source: Counterpunch.
I don’t care a fig for what happened in the Holy Lands in 900AD when the Kingdom of Israel was formed.
Nor for what happened in the 3rd century when the Romans took the Jews’ land and renamed it Syria Palastina.
Nor do I care about how Mohammed wrote the verses of the Koran in both Mecca and Medina with very different demands on his disciples.
Nor do I care about who did what since then.
What I do care about is how a person behaves today. We don’t live in mediaeval times. Every party to this war lives in an abundance of knowledge and resources.
The actions we have seen are concious, deliberate, and informed. These people are not helpless victims of their past with no power to prevent their behaviour. They choose to adhere to the commands of Islam.
Not in the past, but today, in the here and now.
The requirements for the disciples of Mohammed are very clear. The behaviour of the Islamic Extremists is entirely in keeping with these teachings.
That the entire Dar-al-Harb is to be forced to submit to the Dar-al-Islam is beyond debate.
That NO Moslem is permitted to believe otherwise at the cost of aposatsy, is beyond doubt.
That Islam explicitly aims for the complete extermination of the Jews is beyond doubt.
That every other infidel will have the same fate as the Jews if Islam has it’s way is beyond doubt.
That the campaign by Hamas is entirely in line with the teachings of Islam is beyond doubt.
That the vast majority of Moslems do not oppose the behaviour of Hamas and it’s ilk is beyond doubt.
That there are apologists in Australia who take the side of Hamas against Israel is beyond doubt.
But it is beyond my comprehension that such contemptible people exist in our nation.
Ray Martin: You must comprehend the incomprehensible!
I agree it is what matters today and not thousands of years ago. You are conflating this issue with Islam and pretending it is between Israel and Muslims. It is not. It is between Israel and Palestinians and many Palestinians are Christians. That gets forgotten. Christians are dying alongside Muslims in Palestine, as they did in 1947/48.
Israel targets those who fear and hate Muslims because they make unquestioning supporters.
Hamas is part of the Palestinian Resistance which exists because Israel brutally occupies all of Palestine and continues to colonise it.
I don’t support occupation ever so I won’t support Israel as the occupier.
I don’t support colonisation in the modern age so I am not supporting Israel as the coloniser. I will never support colonisation which denies human and civil rights to those colonised as Israel does to the Palestinians.
I condemn violence by anyone but I condemn more the violence committed by Israel to maintain occupation and colonisation because they have a choice and they are not fighting for their freedom, just the desire to take someone else’s country.
When the French Resistance resorted to violence that was a lesser crime than the Germans used to crush them. When the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto resorted to violence, that was a lesser crime than the violence the Germans used to destroy them.
Thanks for your very good sense and reasoned arguments Ray Martin.