Yoo hoo Yassir.

Do you support the commonly accepted Islamic idea that apostates of Islam should be murdered? If not, have you ever tried to condemn the majority of Muslims who do believe that apostates should be murdered? Or is it too dangerous for you to speak up?

Personally, I think that any religion which says that those who wish to leave it must be killed is an evil one. I also think that any religion in which it is written in black and white long long, and how thick, a rod can be for a man to beat his wife with is also an evil religion.

I think that any religion which has a holy book which openly declares hostility and violence towards non members is also evil, and the adherents of such an evil religion should not be allowed to immigrate into Australia.

I also think that a religion which has a legal system which declares that a womans testimony is only worth one half of man's testimony, is living so far back in the past that it is positively Neanderthal.

Would you like to defend your evil religion on these charges?

Apropos Lego’s point above, here’s another issue that seems off-limits within mainstream Islam.

“My trouble started three years ago when I wrote an article saying that we needed to move beyond the simplistic idea held by many Muslims that God created Adam from clay and then breathed life into him…”

“Recently you retracted your views because of the outrage they caused. Could you explain?
My retraction was saying that I misjudged how to go about explaining these things. Sooner or later someone will have to address the issue of evolution - it's a no-go area, especially with the clerics - but I'm abandoning my attempt to reconcile it with the Koran until things settle down. I am not willing to risk my life over this issue.”
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028085.200-scientist-imam-muslims-need-to-talk-about-evolution.html

The key thing to note is that Osama is nowhere involved--- he can’t be scapegoated for this one.

“it's a no-go area, especially with the clerics - but I'm abandoning my attempt to reconcile it with the Koran until things settle down. I AM NOT WILLING TO RISK MY LIFE OVER THIS ISSUE

Camo

I think you put it very well.

To say that those of us who have had experience with Islam on the ground have not “enjoyed” the experience is to put it mildly.

I am none to found of Christianity either but supercilious atheists who conflate contemporary Christianity with contemporary Islam don’t know what they’re talking about.

Note the use of the word “contemporary.” Maybe things were different back in the time of the crusades but, in 2011, comparing Christianity with Islam is like comparing a mild cold with AIDS

SPQR

Interesting piece in New Scientist. I had missed it.

Some of my fellow Jews reject evolution out of hand. However I’ve never seen any of them threaten to murder clerics who don’t share their view.

This is beyond bizarre. I’ve seen some universities in Australia teaching “Islamic finance.”

Are we going to have “Islamic biology?”

Steven, that there is an "Islamic finance" is an indication that Islam is a system of thought which attempts to have an opinion on all aspects of an adherent's life. (You could call it an attempt to control all aspects of an adherent's life, but because they all disagree with eachother on so much it's often not very hard to find someone who will say what you ask them to on minor points, although not on major ones.) Although Muhammad (if he existed, the evidence for which is not good), as a trader, was aware of the concept of credit and interest, he spoke out against them - interest in particular - and so a whole body of thought grew up. Yet because it's found in the Hadith, not the Koran (as far as I'm aware - I haven't finished it yet; there's only so much crap one can read at a time) it almost certainly is not authentic (western scholars dismiss the Hadith as later writings by other, self-seeking authors). Interestingly, Islamic financial institutions fared fairly well through the latest crisis, but then, so did Australian banks, so there are a couple of interesting stories to be found there.
I don't remember now if Muhammad's problems with the jews in Arabia was a financial one - certainly some of the jewish tribes were wealthy, and so may have been involved in finance. Muhammad certainly had a problem with the jews from very early on. The best explanation I've read is that he wanted to be accepted as a Jewish prophet, but when the local jews didn't accept him as one, he turned on them. It certainly makes sense of all the jew-like aspects of Islam - they're remnants of this attempt at acceptance, and couldn't be removed from his religious system after he'd been refused. And it makes sense of Islam's rampant, institutional anti-semitism

The word 'Islamophobia' is used 10 times in the article. It is the sole reason put forward as to why Islam is so dissliked.

It is noted also that pro islamic posters also use islamophobia often and 'racist' as well, without explaining how critisism of a religion can be racist.

Untill such time as muslims begin to look at their own conduct as a reason for others disslike, the situation will remain the same