Quite an interesting and insightful article until,

“As a community of peace loving and compassionate people of God, devoted to our religious beliefs and bound together by our common desires to spread love, peace and harmony,”. Another poor attempt at religious deception.

Osman Softic then goes on to say that islam is completely dysfunctional as a religion, nothing could be more truthful as with all religions. He then tries to tell us that monotheists will do everything in their power to promote peace, as long as they can still have their own way. You will neve get harmony between religions or within them, its not a part of their nature and social expression.

Professor Samuel Huntington, is closer to the truth in “clash of civilisations” and that can be seen increasingly throughout the world. This country has a unique opportunity to go in the other direction, but we won't. Religion will ensure that we remain a part of the conflict, fully supported by its political representatives, social manipulators and empty headed primitive zealots.

Globalisation, multicultural, multi-religious and monotheism are all failed ideologies, as are communism, capitalism, and democracy. Like a wounded animal, they are staggering, but slowly losing strength. By 2010, they will have laid down and the fight will be over the leftovers.

As long as there is religion, there will be conflict.

If we havent learnt after a few thousand years that religion is a fruitless concept that divides us, causes immense problems and is often the core cause of conflict, we will never learn.

The weak and vulnerable need it as a belief system and the strong manipulate this system.

Pathetic, and the author is no better and religion is the reason we all will have one foot back in the stone age forever.

As clearly described by the author, the source of the conflict to world peace is: Islam.

This is the single force that is moving against everything the free world believes and has fought for.

Islam can use terror or "peace" to arrive to its evil ends.

'As long as there is religion there will be conflict'

Possibly - but the number of dead in wars of religion pales in comparison with those killed in the ideological wars of our century.

The imposition of Communism resulted in murderous purges, gulags, re-education camps, deportations, man-made famines, executions, show trials, and genocide. The Soviet Union appears to be the greatest murderer of all (approximately 61,000,000 people dead, with Stalin responsible for almost 43,000,000). Around 39,000,000 deaths were caused by forced labor.

Communist China (mainly from 1949 through the cultural revolution) is the second worst murderer (over 1,000,000 people killed). Let’s not forget the lesser murderers, such as North Korea.

Perhaps the most deadly and barbarous of all communist countries was Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and his vile followers killed some 2,000,000 Cambodians from April 1975 - December 1978 (from a population of around 7,000,000). This is an annual rate of over 8% of the population murdered - the odds of an average Cambodian surviving Pol Pot's rule was just over 2 to 1.

Communists have murdered approximately 110,000,000 people (nearly 2/3rds of all those killed by all governments, quasi-governments, and guerrillas from 1900 to 1987). It is several times the 38,000,000 battle-dead killed in all this century's international and domestic wars. The number of murders by the Soviet Union alone surpasses the war dead. And the murders carried out by communist China almost equal it. Communism has been the most disastrous social engineering experiment the world has ever seen - it has killed over 100,000,000 men, women, and children, not to mention the near 30,000,000 of its subjects that died in its aggressive wars and the rebellions it provoked.

Nazi Germany murdered approximately 20,000,000 Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Yugoslavs, Frenchmen, etc. The Nationalist government of China under Chiang Kai-shek murdered nearly 10,000,000 Chinese (1928-1949) and the Japanese invaders murdered almost 6,000,000 Chinese, Indonesians, Indochinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and others during world War II. Add to this 1,000,000 or more Bengalis and Hindus killed in East Pakistan in 1971 by the Pakistani army.

A very good article.

To the posters above:
Alchemist - "...By 2010, they will have laid down and the fight will be over the leftovers."
So what do you foresee as the successor to these failed ideologies?

Realist - "The weak and vulnerable need it as a belief system and the strong manipulate this system"
So which one does that make you?

Coach - "As clearly described by the author, the source of the conflict to world peace is: Islam"
Funny, I thought the author was saying that the source of the conflicts are "These small groups of extremists symbolised by the al-Qaida terrorist network have been spreading fear and insecurity, endangering innocent human lives and threatening our harmonious coexistence in Australia", ie individuals, people who are bent on bringing the world into chaos and stirring up conflict, regardless of the religious clothing they wear. A point i totally agree with.

Beliefs and ideas are transient and exist only in thought or on paper. Alone they cause nothing.

Surly the American century comes in somewhere. World domination is not a desire of just a few Islamists there are some born again Christians whose needs can only be met at the expense of others. As always there are politicains who seek their meaning in life by manipulating not serving democracy. Then there is economic well being and feeling secure a zero sum game. We tried with the UN the l;atest of the struggles for international communion and the rule of law. By passed with weazal words deceptions and lies! So maybe a continueing calsh but hardly as clearly defined, even to a politician desiring votes and power more than truth, as a clash of cultures>