Brillant article......who would of thought that sometimes to be reminded that a simple thing as common sense can make things clearer.
Or is it that people sometimes forget the simple things and unknowingly make things more complicated than it should be.
Bashir, well done and hope to hear from you again.

Bashir Goth's common sense logic applies equally to Christian Religions as it does to Islam.I am equally horrified by the suicide bombing round the world as I am to the carnage perpetrated on the civilian, non-combatants in Palestine and Iraq.
Maracas

Brilliant article, especially the Somali anecdote!

I won't call the article 'brilliant' :) but I will call it compassionate and heart warming.

Written from what seems to me the perspective of a 'cultural' Muslim (not a criticism, simply an observation) ie.. one who enjoys family life and community, and the company of family and friends.

Its almost as though the "Islam" to such a person is no more important than the various social taboos or rituals of any society.
Its just 'his religion'. Again, not a criticism, just an observation.

The difficult and challenging part of this coin, is that it has another side.

It is that side, which is promoted by the the Arabian connected Imam. or been educated in a Pakistani Madrassa, where the Glory of Islam is hammered into young impressionable minds as they rock back and forth memorizing the Quran, and due to the influence of the religious teachers, they also build up a fanciful and erroneous picture of 'The enemies of Islam and its prophet'.

There is ample evidence that there are small groups of like minded connected people in all areas where Islam exists.

Perhaps one way of 'testing' for such, would be to have suspect Muslims hold the Quran above his head and swear alliegance in the name of Allah and Mohammed to the country he is now residing in. Renounce fighting and violence in the name of Allah and Islam. I seriously doubt if any hard core fanatic would do this.

Jesus, made it quite clear that there are no grounds whatsoever for his followers taking up arms in His name. "Do good to those who persecute you" is enough to squash any validity of "Christian terrorism"

These are simple facts of life, we as a community, all want to live in harmony, friendship and co-existence. But while there are those who are taught "This is THE way and we will 'MAKE' them walk in it".... we have a problem.

Boaz, I think you may have missed the entire point of the article. It refers to Muslims only for an example - presumably because this is the culture the author knows most about.

However, we who have been brought up in a non-Muslim environment recognize these words only too well:

>>Therefore, I would rather call these people devoid of common sense and deprived of human feelings. These [fundamentalists] make a habit of covering themselves with clouds of pomposity; they like to hide behind out-of-context religious jargon; they love to reach out for history and holy texts to run away from taking a responsible position on obvious common sense issues.<<

I'm trying very hard to tell you something here, Boaz, don't make me spell it out for you.

Bashir Goth that was very a life-affirming piece of work.
Nevertheless, I don't think text in itself and history are negatives. It is how people use them to justify things that our human sense immediately knows to be wrong. I read the term commmon sense as you use it to mean that universal feeling that we all share in certain circumstances. Sometimes though it is used to mean common agreement (even if it is nonsense). Your detractors will probably remind you of this.
Most people regret the death of any innocent human or any human for that matter. Sadly, some have a sense of schadenfreude (secret joy of someones misfortune). I think that in Australia there are sadly peole who are secretly pleased that terrorists activity has increased. It gives them an excuse to have a go at people of different race or religion. Rather than attacking terrorism they seem determined to promote racist thinking and indulge in cultural supremacism. This negative politics they think will help "make one nation out of many tribes". Guess who. Yes. Bolt speak. He also says that reverse would be deadly. Now, I think, that is racist and cultural supremist nonsense. You will never get 20 million people to all embody the same thinking, religion and lifetstyles. A mono-culture. No way. Individualism is a trait that marks Australia. We, for christ sake, we started punk. The Saints out of Brisbane were throwing them back and knocking it out before Johny Rotten. No wait a minute - punk culture must rule supreme. No mohawk-no job, no tats-no entry to pubs, no safety pins no shooling - like that minority you conform of you get nothing. Stagger a mile through alleyways and backstreets with the straights coming down you before you talk of this one nation. The only way we can be one is if all allow for the others difference. Thank you for your insight Bashir.