Camo

According to your theory, the fact that Mohammed was a homicidal maniac who claimed God told him to do it, automatically excludes any question of Islam being relevant to anything he or his followers does?

All it means is that you're saying what you know is untrue.

DonMega
Ditto.

The bigots are those who are trying to pretend that the whole thing had nothing to do with the Muslim religion, and that Australians are all one big happy team, and that anyone pointing out that both these claims are untrue, are "bigots".

The word bigot actually has its origin in "By God". It refers to those who believe that their religion justifies them in intolerance. You've got it back-the-front.

You can't have it both ways. Muslims can't say on the one hand that they believe in Mohammed and the Koran, and then say on the other hand that they don't believe in killing and enslaving unbelievers, because that's what the Koran teaches, and Mohammed taught by example.

It's no use saying Muslims don't agree with their "extremist" co-religionists, as if that label solves the problem for you, because Mohammed happens to be the first among them.

It's no use saying most Muslims don't kill or enslave people, because all that means is that they're not doing what they believe in.

There's no way out of it by weasel words, which is all you, the Muslims, the politicians and the media have to offer.

According to your dopey theories, the fact that ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban, the Muslims decapitating Christians in South-East Asia in recent years, and this guy in the cafe, all claim motivation by Islam, is all some kind of strange coincidence, some kind of mystery, nothing to do with Mohammed and the Koran or the Muslim wrong.

You and Camo are wrong, simple as that. No-one can be as dumb as you're pretending to be. That's is just straight-out intellectual dishonesty on your part. There's no other explanation. It's you who are intolerant bigots.

"HATE THY NEIGHBOR"
Some friends are suggesting.
It is an unwise suggestion. As unwise as it would be to bring petrol cans to the house on fire.
There is too much violence in the world. Middle East is burning already.
Whose interest would be served to bring that fire home to Australia?
Australia is an island of peace and harmony...one of the most livable places....keep it that way.
Constant care and effort would be required to maintain that peace and harmony.
And the way forward is, with tolerance of diversity and LOVE FOR THE NEIGHBOR.

Loving thy neighbour is a great idea, and I'm all for it.

However
a) you got that idea from the Christian religion
b) other religions don't necessarily share it, and Islam definitely doesn't share it
c) reality doesn't cease to exist because you don't agree with it or like it
d) the Muslim religion definitely does preach killing and enslaving of non-believers, people who deny it are lying or ignorant, Mohammed practised it big time, the Koran teaches it, and the fact that Muslims throughout the world are currently involved in conspicuous killings of children, beheadings of people of other religions, and other gross abuses is NOT SOME KIND OF STRANGE COINCIDENCE.

We need to recognise and deal with truth. Trying to deal with a truth that you don't like, by pretending it's not true, is not just idiotic, it is morally culpable. Sensitivity towards others is fine and great, but it does NOT justify pretending what is untrue.

The appropriate thing to do is to call on Muslims to recognise that their belief system is abusive and fundamentally inappropriate to social harmony in a global society, praise them for not practising it, and call on them to re-think and renounce it, not to respect them for it or pretend that it doesn't exist or is somehow okay.

[Deleted for abuse.]

The fact you get emotional and abusive about it, doesn't mean that the facts of Islam don't exist.

" Which bit of islam?"

*Anyone* who embraces the faith of Islam embraces the teachings of Mohammed and the Koran, you fool. It is vastly idiotic, to use your phrase, to deny it.

Its vastly, astoundingly, obviously stupid to suggest that anyone embracing Islam does not embrace the killing, enslaving and rape of unbelievers that Mohammed and the Koran preach. The fact that you don't like people pointing out what Muslims believe in, doesn't mean they don't believe in it. If they don't believe in it, they should renounce Islam.

You can deny it exists all you like. All it means is that you're a lying idiot.

No doubt many thinking Muslims do in fact disagree with the teachings of their own religion, but are reluctant to openly renounce it because they fear being killed by their co-religionists.

Moron Camo,

" .... linking this guy to every other follower of islam is vastly idiotic."

Of course. Whoever said otherwise ? Straw man argument.

Do you think we are all idiots out here, or children ? That we fall for the dumbest of 'arguments' ?

This terrorist was an idiot, perhaps psychologically unbalanced, but a terrorist. Perhaps all terrorists are psychologically unbalanced, I don't know, or care really: if they are terrorists, i.e. commit terrorist acts, then they deserve what follows.

But to the extent that they declare allegiance to some fascist rubbish like IS, then they are declaring allegiance to a pre-civilized, primitive set of ideas - 'ideology' is perhaps too sophisticated a term to describe it - that may have been common a few thousand years ago, but has no place in the modern world.

And for those on the dumb-dumb-Left: every political position is, in a sense, in the 'middle' - there are political positions to the Right and Left of it. Your difficult task is to distinguish between the two - in other words, to every established political position (such as democracy, capitalism, equality before the law, liberalism, etc.) there is a reactionary response and a progressive response.

For Christ's sake, don't confuse the two.

Joe