Dear David,

Religion is the process of coming closer to God - social bonds and allegiances are hardly related.

It is sad to see all the evil and folly that is done allegedly in the name of religion.
It is equally sad to see so many good people believe that this evil and folly is what religion is about.

Chris Per,
The "convivenca" is a myth, Jews, Christians and Muslims barely tolerated each other in medieval Cordoba and sectarian violence was common as this well written and balanced article explains:
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/42700/why-cordoba

Dear DavidF

Albert Speer recounted a meeting between Hitler and some admiring Muslim mullahs who applauded his efforts to exterminate the Jews. Speer recounted how Hitler was full of admiration for Islam as "a warriors religion" which was completely different from flabby Christianity.

One of the reasons for the Dark Ages, was because after Rome fell, Europe was a continent under siege. Muslims from the South, Norsemen from the North, and from the western steppes came a never ending stream of barbarians (Goths, Visigoths, Cimmerians, Huns, Mongols, Franks) looking for land. It was true that the leaders of the Catholic religion misrepresented the teachings of the man/prophet Jesus Christ for their own self interest. But that was a priesthood being unchristian.

It was President Thomas Jefferson who insisted on there being a separation from church and state in a federated union of the 13 US states. That was because within each state, individual Christian faiths were persecuting each other and insisting that their one particular denomination be the pre eminent state faith within each state. But it was also Jefferson who warned that Islam was a dangerous religion. This was because of the attacks by Muslim pirates on US trade ships entering the Mediterranean. Jefferson sent the Sultan of Tripoli a polite letter asking why the Muslims were attacking US ships? The Sultan sent back an equally polite letter replying that Muhammad (peace be upon Him) taught them that infidels were sub humans and fair game for believers. Jefferson would roll in his grave if he knew that his ancestors were stupid enough to give religious equality to Muslims in the USA.

Until only recently, the most prosperous and inventive nations on earth were the white, north European Christian nations. One of the reasons why, is because the Christian faith does deserve credit for many of the virtues found in western nations such as an admiration for honesty, charity, and personnel integrity. Christian societies work so well because they are high trust societies. Compare that to the very high levels of corruption present in Asian and Muslim societies.

David F, you wrote:

"Laura, I applaud you. You saw a wrong and did something about it. Rudd and Abbott are also Christians. Their behaviour is more common among Christians than yours so you acted in a non-Christian fashion. Good for you!"

Two can play at that game: "Julia Gillard was an atheist. By cutting the single parents' pension, she was acting in a fashion typical of most atheists." I have no evidence for that ridiculous statement, just as you have no evidence for yours, but merely use that example to show you that equating a single obnoxious policy with a very diverse group of people you dislike isn't all that logically sound.

LEGO,
Partly true, Hitler had no particular affinity with Islam, he was however unfailingly polite and charming when receiving VIP's so the Imams would have been treated to a warm and hospitable meeting, the Reich's overtures to the Islamic world were really part of a plan to draw Turkey into the war on the Axis side, nothing more.
We agree that Islam never changes, right?
So bearing that in mind we can say with certainty that Spain in the 10th century would have looked like the Middle East in the 20th century with Christian and Jewish communities under constant albeit low level attack by Muslims with sporadic massacres and land grabs, a gradual whittling away of the minority faith communities until there was virtually nothing left. We can also picture the "enlightened" Andalusian Caliphs, think of Saddam Hussein, King Abdullah of Jordan or Muammar Gadhaffi, dilettantes,playboys who want the fine things of the West for their own households while using the brute force and terror of Islam to keep the masses in check. When those strong men fell Spain in 1100 would have looked like Iraq in 2006, gang warfare on the streets, persecution of anyone who was different, warlords and Jihadi groups carving off chunks of the country for themselves.
If you want to visualise a contemporary reflection of the "Golden Age" of Islam you need look no further than Nigeria, Sudan or Somalia, Islam's past, present and future all look the same.

Cohenite wrote:

(quoting me) "It is the separation of church and state that has limited the barbarism of religion."

Yes and the only religion which is striving to break down that separation is Islam.

Dear Cohenite,

Not true. The Catholic Church and fundamentalist Christians are making a great effort to break down the separation both here and in the United States. In Australia chaplains in the public schools are supplied by the fundamentalist Scripture Union in Queensland and Access Ministries in Victoria. Such chaplains are required to subscribe to certain Christian dogmas before they are accepted. The public schools are for all children – not just those of fundies.

There are many instances of Christians attacking the separation. One example:

http://www.examiner.com/article/pat-robertson-blames-9-11-attacks-on-separation-of-church-and-state

“Yesterday, on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist bombings, televangelist Pat Robertson spent some time on his 700 Club TV show explaining to viewers why the attacks took place. And the reason did not have to do with Al Qaeda or the failures of US intelligence or Islamic jihadism per se. Nope. It was something far more sinister: separation of church and state. Yes, according to Robertson, lack of faith was the problem.

But not just any faith, Robertson implied. It has to be the right one.”

Boat people are primarily Muslim. That does not mean they are trying to set up a Muslim society here. At least some of those are fleeing because they reject the society they are fleeing from. I know a Muslim Palestinian family with two sons and a daughter. The two sons would have none of it when an attempt was made to get them involved in the Middle East fighting. The daughter is living with an Australian of Irish descent. Our society has influenced them.

One thing that would help is to use the separation to stop funding religious schools of any kind. That produces a fragmented society. If parents want to send their children to a religious school, they or their religious group should pay the entire cost. Australian children of different backgrounds should learn, grow up and work together.