This is a scenario that has been played out time and again in Australian history.

We are an immigrant nation, and each new wave of immigrants has to undergo a baptism of fire before it is absorbed into the Australian mainstream. Any national group that is at odds with our English heritage has had to fight for acceptance - the Irish, Chinese, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Sri Lankans and so on.

Although Muslims have been coming here since our earliest origins, and especially since the 1980s, Muslims have had a particularly hard battle to fight since 9/11. Their cultural origins are now inextricably conflated with terrorism, Sharia law and women's rights.

Ostracising and condemning them serves little purpose. Neither do shaming tactics that we are supposed to embrace love and universal friendship of all immigrants. Time tends to evaporate all this mind manipulation.

Even though Islamic cultures are so at odds with Australian culture, they are here to stay. It is a natural human tendency to assimilate and adapt. After a generation or two, they will slowly absorb into the Australian mainstream, as so many other immigrant cultures have done.

This is always a sad loss to the culture of origin, but it's a new beginning for future generations.

Yuyutsu:

People do not jump off cliffs because of the sheer delight and pleasure they derive from living. They do not concern themselves with what may happen in the future but what is happening in the present. It is just too good to choose to end it without any guarantee that there is any better future. Staying alive is the most reasonable thing of all to do.

Not everyone feels good all of the time but they know if they do not feel good then there must be a reason and they search for the reason until they find it and feel good again. They rely on reason to solve their problem of feeling bad.

Some do not engage their powers of reason and resort to drugs or alcohol or other substances or activities to numb the fact that they do not feel good. This does not make the bad feeling go away – it just numbs it and more and more numbing activity is needed the longer you ignore the pain.

One of the most prominent methods is to resort to religion where you create in your imagination an alternate reality that numbs the bad feelings you have in the present reality. The sad part is that you never actually solve the problems of feeling bad and your imaginary world becomes more and more bizarre as you try and hold back the wall you have built for yourself.

The only human activity that solves problems is the use of reason – everything else is a drug of some kind or other which just numbs them.

What you and the author of this article are appealing for is to be left unfettered in your quest for your drug. Anything that threatens that drug must be challenged and that is why Islam is so aggressive. It does not want to deal with reason and the western world rightly prioritises reason to solve human problems.

Najila,

It's nice of you to respond; it's a courtesy that we rarely receive from contributors. The only Muslim country that I have been to is Malaysia. I had no problems with the people at all, and it seemed to me that Muslims and non-Muslim inhabitants mixed and got along well. I am absolutely sure that the average Muslim person has the same humanity and feelings as I do. I would never do anything to harm or upset individual Muslims.

The problem here is Islam in. Not you or your family and friends. Not Muslims at all – but Islam.

I could perhaps believe that you, as an individual do condemn ISIS and the 'barbarities and atrocities'; but, my dear lady, Islam does not. It does, in fact, preach death to infidels, and I cannot believe that a person of your obvious modernity and intelligence can deny that.

I, and I'm sure many the of OLO regulars will look forward to hearing from you again. I am particularly interested to know how you maintain your claimed solidarity with Australians and Australian values when your religion clearly does not send the same message.

Najla,

Down to practical matters, what justification is there for insisting that girl children wear the voluminous coverings that you do?

I am not interested in any diversions on the 'differences' between hijab, niqab and burka and the other forms of concealment and political statement (claimed 'cultural' statements).

What I want to know is why any girl should be forced to wear concealing, restrictive garb but the boys are not.

However when it comes down to it, I'm not even interested in the gender inequity, but in encouraging girls to participate fully in life. In times where so many young people are suffering from mental conditions and diseases of inactivity and isolation, why girls should be further encumbered with the restrictions of a medieval creed and garb that goes with it.

Why can't kids be kids and girls be allowed to make up their own minds? -Without some sex-obsessed mullah telling them what to do.

In answer to JB. Everyone who publishes on On Line Opinion receives an email when the article goes up. It is generated by an algorithm, so the risk that I might forget is eliminated as well.

I think an author is pretty game to respond here, with the treatment that is often meted out, so many choose not to for that reason. Other's are just too busy - they've written the article, why should they devote even more time to dealing with discussion?

For students it is enough that they can play dress up on the cultural days that most schools have. Food variety, lots of music and fun, then back to being children with the promise of childhood for the rest of the year.