Hi McAdamNC,

"Is it not odd that the hostage taker, who is cramped for space, what he must man pack and the IS sentry who has to have his both hands free to discharge his duty, carry huge flags?. And flags they select for themselves are Shahada and Seal of the Holy Prophet; sacred for all Muslims?......a behavior unprecedented in all guerrilla and resistance movements of human history....Can't you see?"

I could have written exactly that ! And directed it at you, but I would have been too polite :)

Yes, I fully agree, phrase by phrase - and ask you - "Can't you see ?"

Monis went out of his way to carry a flag with the shahada and force his hostages to hold it up - to non-Muslims, that really does demonstrate clearly that he was claiming to act in the name of Islam.

NOTE: that doesn't mean he was necessarily acting according to the precepts of Islam as set out in the Koran and the hadiths, but that he purported to. With a flag, to emphasise the point.

I would be reassured to know that he wasn't acting in the name of Islam, even if he thought he was.

Joe

Luciferace,

I have seen your impressively worded messages, your questions and your drawn-out justification for your right to ask questions.

Do you have an obligation to answer questions as well? This is my Question 1 to you. Please answer Yes or No.

On the issue of actions against terrorists in Pakistan, I see McAdam responding to you with a thorough awareness of all the actions the state government is taking.

Hiding your ignorance of the ground realities in Pakistan in your response, you demand to see

<< What are McAdam and NC and their ilk doing to oppose the ideologues?>> (6th, 9:33 am)

Assuming that your answer to my Question 1 is “Yes”,

please elaborate your question with your example in the interest of a meaningful answer.

We know that just like terrorist-fringe in Muslim societies, there is a lunatic-fringe in the west spreading hate and intolerance against Muslims. This brings me to my second question to you:

Tell us what you have done against this lunatic-fringe. Your practical example will be easier for McAdam and NC to follow. This is my Question 2 to you.

I will hold my further questions, have quite a few, till you respond to these questions.

Constance,

On your

<<You want to throw me out the window? Sounds violent>>, (6th, 11:33 am),

I did not say that I want to throw you out of the window. Here is what I said

“Try your references in a session of scholars; your references will be thrown out of window, of course, along with you”

I just ventured to guess the response of scholars to your fringe-focused, intolerance-centred, hate-shaped, insane, unreasonable and unscientific references you so generously keep throwing around.

Now the scholars may choose to act differently, like ignoring your references altogether, of course along with you. Who knows?

Whatever they do, they will not welcome your references, of course along with you, I have reasons to believe.

That is where the mainstream views sit today almost in all fields of knowledge. Credibility of a reference today can be determined nearly as authentically as that of the mathematical statement of 2 plus 2 equals 4.

Still, many like you keep doing what they like to do.

Type, for instance, “earth is flat” on the internet and see thousands of references to the printed material, internet sites, Utube interviews and even societies supporting and spreading this view.

How do you think scholars will react to these references.

Much like they would to your references, my friend.

NC,

When you write,

“Try your references in a session of scholars; your references will be thrown out of [the] window, of course, along with you”,

forgive me if it does seem to suggest that not only will Constance's references be thrown out of the window, but: " .... along with you” -so will she (or he).

To which you (forgive me) go a bit psychotic, calling her response: "fringe-focused, intolerance-centred, hate-shaped, insane, unreasonable and unscientific references", when it was perfectly reasonable: she pinged you for what you wrote, and you denied it (a bit difficult when we can all see it here on OLO).

Or do you simply mean that whatever you write, if she disagrees with you, she's wrong ? How old are you, six ?

Joe

My main information on Pakistan comes from the English language site Dawn.com There are Urdu and Pashto sites I can't read and some pay-walled sites.

I have visited Pakistan, long ago, including Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad, which doesn't qualify me to say much, but it do have some feel for being on the street there. I've crossed the Khyber one way, then the other, and visited Afghanistan too. I've got photos, somewhere, of nice people I met everywhere. I saw guns aplenty too.

There is plenty in the Pakistan and international news about steps to combat terrorism directly, such as with military court legislation, but I have found nothing on countering the ideology. Please direct me to details on any ideological purge that is seriously attacking the root problem, and I will yield the point.

Regarding the sticking of change for the better in Pakistan
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pakistan-moves-to-end-policy-on-good-taliban-1419013453
covers some ground on this and its comments section makes for interesting too, as uninformed as some of it appears.

What am I doing to oppose religious-based terrorism?
I support my country's stand on ISIS, albeit somewhat trumpeted. I support secularism and democracy, and oppose support for theocracy, in the fora in which I partake. I oppose authority that is not truthful by raising what I see as the truth by writing letters to government departments or to newspaper opinion columns, which may or may not be published. I'm that stupid guy on the train that tells kids to stand for pregnant women and the elderly, or tell people to pick up litter they've dropped. I tell people what I support or oppose, and why, to influence their thinking, and do it well enough not to lose friends.

Sorry this is not a yes or no answer, but the question wasn't as refined as some put to Quranic defenders here.

Here's another link to a similar article if the other becomes pay-walled, with more depth:
http://www.ibtimes.com/peshawar-attack-highlights-pakistans-contradictory-approach-different-strains-taliban-1760401