This is a nice piece, and I am stunned by the ignorant, hate-filled reaction from some of these respondants. The author is reaching out to be heard, but these people behave in exactly the way they accuse Muslims of behaving.

Dawood
I see no reason whatsoever for either 'smoke' breaks or 'prayer' breaks. Neither are good for productivity.

Friday etc..nope.. don't agree at all.. why should an Aussie employer even have to think about ways to accomodate some minority religions idiosyncracies?(includingChristian)

Next we will have the followers of the evil galactic lord Zur (or whoever the scientologists believe in) telling us they can't work between 10.00am and 2 pm.. just an example.. not a real one.

Your approach actually underlines the incompatability, you are going to great lengths to see how we can 'accomodate' a particular faith, and its just not on mate. (for me anyway)

Your willingness to share hospitality with non Muslims is welcome.

Dawood.. you say you are of Anglo Background, could you please have a look at the range of charges made by Kactuz (Mo is a 'murderer, child rapist,torturer,thief,adulterer etc) and give some kind of response ?
It truly stretches the boundaries of credibility that you, with an Anglo background have allowed yourself to be drawn to such a manifestly evil person as Mohammed. Sure, he had his good days.. but also his AWEFULLY bad ones.. He enquired after the health of the Jewish lady who through crap on him, but he had Kaab bin Al Ashraf (and others) MURDERED.. and the list goes on..

I'm guessing that you had a sense of meaninglessness and lack of direction in ur life, and found some 'good aspects' of Islam in the 'screen saver' but by the time you got to the 'real program' it was too late, you had said the prayers, burned your bridges, made public statements.. would look an idiot if you recanted, (plus endangering ur life) and made new friends etc... a gonner.

I'd be fascinated to hear the rationalizations on those SPECIFIC issues from one who claims to follow such a man. Let there be no mistake here.. you are following 'Mohammed' because you confess his divine connection 5 times a day.

Mher..please get a grip and stop reading 'hate' for 'disagreement' this is a FORUM for crying out loud.

Salam

I'll answer your question...Just how Aussie do we have to be?

I'll use Peter Costello's words and the words in the official policy of Multi-culturalism .

Costello

"'The Australian Citizenship Oath or Affirmation tries to capture the essence of what it means to be Australian, it reads as follows:

“From this time forward [under God] I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey.”

To be an Australian citizen one pledges loyalty first:- loyalty to Australia. One pledges to share certain beliefs:- democratic beliefs; to respect the rights and liberty of others; and to respect the rule of law.' "

Official Multi-cultural Policy

"All Australians are expected to have an overriding loyalty to Australia and its people, and to respect the basic structures and principles underwriting our democratic society. These are: the Constitution, parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and religion, English as the national language, the rule of law, acceptance and equality."

Quite simple really. Anything else is shallow and utter rubbish.

To be Australian?

Is to not have "community leaders" but instead to have elected representatives.

To not be represented by religious authorities: yes, they have a place in the collective conscience (I actually like hearing Archbishop Jensen speak out about social policy in relation to Christianity), but they are not 'authorities' from the perspective of their voice having more weight because of who they are.

To believe in democracy, not theocracy - at any level. Most Christian churches have the right to kick out their religious ministers if that is what they want, religious ministers being appointed by a mandate from their flocks.

Not having anyone recognised as 'the representative of Australian..(insert religion here)..'

Not being particularly religiosly distinctive by personal appearance - and I know that I am going to be attacked by some people of the Jewish faith here - but there is nothing in the Tora which tells a Jew to wear a black suit, big hat and curls from the temples of their heads (if there was all Jews would be so attired)

There are ways to protect modesty that do not signify 'Islamic'.

To publically condemn those who use the Islamic faith or culture as an excuse for anti-social behaviour.

To all who knock Christianity ,then get a life ,(a new lifein Christ) (born again one) I would have ranted on like most of you before I chose Christianity as a lifestyle (wasn't forced to be religious)like most Muslims are told they are born one.

You will NEVER believe ,or understand what is going on. Have any of you heard of the NWO (New World Order) taking over all nations ,who are using Australia as an experiment before the whole world HAS to accept a new religion designed by them or you are out?
Too much trouble with free religion ,so we will fix it syndrome.

It's all in The Bible ,you are crazy not reading it, as it becomes a reality daily.

This whole rucus is spiritual,and you won't get it, unless you are born again of God's Spirit ."He will tell you all truth" ,said Jesus Christ ,"and show you things to come."
It is awesome ,many changes will take place this year 2006.

Go to The Prophecy Club website for confirmation, or to websites on prophesies for 2006 and look at what is up for Australia this year .
We know the future, that's why I am on this forum and trying to get it to you ,wake up!It's not what you think. I have listened to and read so much on this for 27 years ,read Barry Smith's Final Notice and The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey all his prophesies came to pass from this book written 25 years agoabout what is happening now, he has more books now and a website as well as Dr Hilton Sutton expert on this too.

Kenny,
I am not a God botherer. I don't care much for any religion. I skip over the religous posts. But I do care about us having a cohesive society, where people show respect for others, our country and our laws.

I can't work out if Salam is naive or thick as she is still portraying Muslims as victims and saying that we (non-Muslims) must move past (or ignore)the common stereotype of Muslims. She certainly did not read the vast majority of the posts from the last article she had on this site, or she did not learn anything from it.

The common stereotype of Muslims is that they are intolerant, rude, arrogant and contemptous of our society. They either cannot or wil not integrate with others, and this is true. They are the problem. They have earned their bad reputation which cannot be ignored.

The problem seems far greater in males than females as there are few complaints about the conduct of Muslim women.

I considered what the PM and Treasurer had to say to be most reasonable. My only disagreement is, that while there may be only a few Muslim extremists (that blow people up) there are many that fit the common stereotype.

The question that must be asked is, what can be done about it?

We have accepted many people into our society and most have integrated and we adjusted our culture accomodating them.

If Muslims really want to be part of the Australian community, they will have to make some cultural adjustments also. The only way for Muslims to improve their reputation is by their own words, actions and deeds.