Hi Suse,

"Terrorists who kill in the name of their God are criminally insane....no more and no less."

Are you suggesting that there can be no such thing as a sane terrorist ?

I agree wholeheartedly with you, that any convicted terrorist, provided he has not already been shot trying to escape, should be confined, and if indeed insane, confined for life as 'criminally insane'.

But is it just possible that some quite sane people can be persuaded by verses in the Koran that, in order to enforce a Caliphate all over the world and thereby bring down Allah's rule across the world, they must use whatever means necessary ? Terror, after all, is a very effective weapon of a very few to 'persuade' very many to comply with its directions - that's how it is supposed to work.

Of course, to kill without provocation, such as happened to that poor bloke in Parramatta, or to attack without provocation, as happened to those coppers in Melbourne, or .... etc., etc., - may indicate insanity. As a nurse, you would be aware of instances of such insanity, DV, brutal beatings, glassing, kickings.

But perhaps we need to differentiate between drunken attacks, and attacks which have been provoked by references to a book, perhaps by imams, attacks which some quite sane person has been led to believe is in a 'good cause', i.e. the spread of Islam over all the world. Is it at all possible that somebody, influenced by religious principles and a very persuasive imam/emir/sheikh, kadi etc., could possibly commit a violent crime ?

I don't know: as an ex-communist, it never occurred to me to ever hurt an innocent person in my 'cause', not in fifty years. Seriously. Never. Innocent people were, by definition, the very people whose benefit one was working for, even if they didn't know it. If anything, one was supposed to die for the people, for innocent people, certainly not kill them at random. Perhaps,

[TBC]

[continued]

you might say, I was completely sane, and therefore unable to commit a terrorist act, but many people, over the years, would disagree with you.

So, I would respectfully submit that most of the terrorists now killing and raping and burning people alive, etc. are quite sane. Yes, many are psychotics, sociopaths, who should have been locked away for life before they joined ISIS as a precaution, if we only knew.

Yes, I agree with your implicit assumption, that some ideologies are pathological. They can turn some people insane. As well, many weak people - not just on the 'left' - crave certainty, direction, being told, not having to negotiate their way in a complex world - wanting to cut the Gordian knot of complexity and fall into the comforting arms of a god, safe forever. Plus, the 72 re-usable virgins are something of a bonus ! And all you have to do is kill somebody, in the name of something. Sweet !

Joe

Joe,
You are wasting your time. As far as Suse is concerned, anyone who is opposed to or criticizes Islam is a racist, pure and simple.

Foxy the same, she presented some 'facts' a while back that proved Australia was a racist country. This included the 'fact' that we imprison brown asylum seekers and the 'fact' of the Northern Territory intervention. So I guess we are racist according to them.

No amount of logic will change their minds.

Loudmouth, of course some of the terrorists may well be sane, but I do question the sanity of anyone who truly believes that if they kill or die for their God they will receive 16 virgins when they get to heaven?? How can any sane person believe that?

It sounds like a very human man wrote that little sentence!
One wonders what the female suicide bombers get in heaven?

The fact remains that, like all religions and religious books, Muslims will cherry pick what they like from the Koran, and thankfully not all of them will believe all that c##p and act on it.

We already have Muslims and Mosques here in Australia so we might as well get on with it and just continue living alongside them peacefully.
If they aren't peaceful, then, like anyone else, they will be dealt with by law.
It isn't rocket science for most intelligent Australians.

Suse,

Have you got around yet to the sanctioning of wife beating in the qur'an?

Have you asked your Muslim friends about it yet?

Ever come across FGM in your nursing duties?

If you did, did you report it to the relevant authorities?

Is Mise, what IS your fascination with wife beating?
Wife beaters exist all over the world, so what is your point?

Actually I haven't had to deal with any cases of FGM in my working life of over 33 years in the health system, so I am guessing it isn't as bad as you guys like to think it is.

Mind you, I have had to deal with the awful physical and mental injuries of babies and young children who suffered genital injuries after being raped by Australian adult males who weren't Muslim, if that is what you mean?