This is a special message for HermanYutic and Philip Tang.

Now look, you guys, it's all very well using this space as your own personal whack-a-mozzie fitness regime, but you should spare a thought for where it will lead.

I don't care how many times you say "they're out to get us all", the fact is that you are nothing more than cowardly trouble-makers.

It's not all one way, you know.

Srebrenica, for example, saw the "largest mass murder in Europe since World War II", and was conducted by your lot, on purely religious grounds.

By continuing along the path you are taking, such events will continue to erupt in different places, and with different faces, around the world.

You obviously believe that you are "right" to conduct your own private guerrilla war-of-words, and to incite your fellow-citizens to rally behind you in your quest to eliminate your religious rivals.

But you are only "right" inside your own head.

To the majority of the rest of the world, you are simply interfering meddlers, intent on fomenting hatred and fear.

From a safe distance.

Every time you take up your pen to provide us with your own warped view of someone else's deeply held beliefs, you are bringing someone's murder one step closer.

You don't know who it will be, or where it will take place.

And you don't particularly care.

It might be one of your religious enemies, in which case you will rejoice at their demise.

Or it might be one of your own religion. In which case you will rejoice at having another reason to sling your evil verbal rocks.

Either way, some of their blood, wherever it is shed in the world, will be on those hands that tap away at your keyboard.

Frankly, you make me puke.

Thanks for the reminder Pericles.

However if you consider the following reasons you’ll see why your concern is an over-reaction of the appeasement policy to radical Islam.

i) OLO is a forum where the battle of ideas take place. It is different from main stream media where political correctness is the order of the day. Read The Age, SMH, CNN, Newsweek or listen to the BBC to get the feel-good stuff about Islam.

ii) I don’t think there are any posts in OLO advocating the beating up of Muslims, or taking the law into their own hands.

iii) The readership in OLO is minuscule. It is therefore very unlikely that a riot would take place because someone read the posts here.

iv) The ideals of democracy -- free speech, justice, equality are sacrosanct. They are non-negotiable and there can be no compromise. These are foreign to the Islam ideology.

I understand your fear of the reaction of irrational Islamists but the good news is that more and more people are now enlightened about the destructive nature of Islamic ideology.

Thanks to HermanYutic for the following:

France:
Le Figaro: 73% for ban on minarets in France; 27% against ban on minarets in France (sample: 49,000)
L’Express: 86% for; 12% against (24,000)

Germany:
Der Spiegel: 76% for ban on minarets in Germany; 21% against
Die Welt: 82% for; 16% against

Spain:
20 Minutos: 93% for ban on minarets in Spain; 6% against (14,000)
El Mondo: 80% for; 20% against (35,000)

The people of Europe are awakening from their slumber.
I hope it’s not too late.

Phillip Tang wrote the following:

QUOTE
About Prophets al-Razi wrote:

“The prophets—these billy goats with long beard, (as Ar Razi disdainfully describes them)—cannot claim any intellectual or spiritual superiority. These billy goats pretend to come with a message from God, all the while exhausting themselves in spouting their lies, and imposing on the masses blind obedience to the "words of the master."
ENDQUOTE

Al-Razi was referring to all Prophets including Jesus and Moses along with Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Is this your view as well? Do you argue that Moses and Jesus were frauds?

This reminds me of interfaith discussion with a representative from the uniting church. After apologising for the behaviour of avangelists and other fundamentalists christians he duly proceeded to lecture us Muslims on the need to take a good hard look at ourselves. He recommended ibn Warraq "Why i am not a Muslim", as has Tang (or was it Herman?).

Of course if you read ibn Warraq you'll also come across a chapter on Jesus. His view is that Jesus is an adaptation of a Greek myth (Zeus). So we have those who claim to follow Jesus recommending as authorative a person who rejects the notion of Jesus as a Prophet not to mention the Son of God.

We are not dealing with very intelligent people here.

more to come...

Grateful wrote:

"We are not dealing with very intelligent people here."

LOL

Sorry Grateful I cannot resist.

On the one side we have people who purport to believe that a first century itinerant Jewish preacher was the son of God and God and that he rose from the dead! This after raising his buddy, Lazarus, from the dead!

On the other hand we have people who believe a seventh century psychopath was the last and greatest "prophet". They further purport to believe that a compendium of claptrap called the "recitation" was dictated verbatim to this psychopath through the agency of Gibril, a messenger from the creator of the universe no less. Couldn't the creator of the universe at least get the basic facts of mammalian reproduction and geology right?

"We are not dealing with very intelligent people here."

You do have a gift for understatement Grateful.

Stevenlmeyer,

You state that the Prophet was a "psychopath" and the Qur'an is a "compendium of claptrap". Since you surely would not be so silly as to make such statements without the full authority of leading scholars in Islamic studies then please provide us with your sources.

Definition of psychopath: some with a personality disorder whose hallmark is a lack of empathy.

Here are some hadith with constitute evidence to the contrary:

(1) A man who saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, kissing his grandson said: "I have ten sons and i have not kissed any one of them". The Prophet looked at the man and said, "He who has no compassion will receive none." (ref: Buhkari, Muslim)

The Prophet, pbuh, said:

(2) "A true believer in God is an embodiment of love. There is no goodness in him who dares not show affection to others and to whom others do not show affection" (ref: Musnad Ahmad)

(3) "God will show no compassion on him who has no compassion on all mankind" (ref: Buhkari, Muslim)

(4) "God does not show mercy to him who does not show mercy to people." (Bukhari)

(5) "He is not oneof us who neither loves our young ones nor respects our elders."

(6)"Have mercy upon the earthly creatures that the One who is in the Heavens have mercy on you" (Abu Da'ud)

(7) "Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the slave" (ref: Bukhari)

So Stevenlmeyer, your sources please.

I'll come back to the Qur'an latter, but here is a sample of what you are calling "claptrap":

"O you who believe! Stand out firmly to justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not your lusts (of your heart) lest ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well acquainted with what ye do" (Qu'ran 4:135)

Battle of ideas?

>>OLO is a forum where the battle of ideas take place.<<

Is that what you call it?

This is not a "battle of ideas", Philip Tang.

You are merely engaging in inflammatory polemic.

>>...Islam is a demented and evil ideology<<

>>...taking a stand against the spread of Islamic tyranny<<

>>Islam is not truly a religion but a potential time bomb, waiting to explode as in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and many other countries and regions where this demonic ideology has taken a foothold.<<

>>The pseudo-LEFT are playing with fire by supporting the Islamists to get their votes, akin to Hitler’s alliance with the Islamists during World War II. The pseudo-LEFT political parties have more in common with the Nazis than other political parties.<<

And that only covers a fraction of your contribution to this one thread.

>>I don’t think there are any posts in OLO advocating the beating up of Muslims, or taking the law into their own hands.<<

So you don't think that your constant denigration of an entire religious movement has any impact on its adherents?

In your view, the Nazis did not cause Kristallnacht, because Hitler didn't advocate the beating up of Jews?

In fact, I believe he specifically said, following the news of the death of Vom Rath, "demonstrations should not be prepared or organised by the party"

The parallel is exquisite, don't you think?

>>The readership in OLO is minuscule. It is therefore very unlikely that a riot would take place because someone read the posts here<<

That has to be the most pathetic excuse for your whack-a-mozzie antics that I have ever heard.

The readership of OLO might be small. But your views, as you well know, may be Googled by anyone.

>>I understand your fear of the reaction of irrational Islamists<<

So, after all that mumbling about not advocating beating, and protesting that no-one is listening anyway, you accept that you expect a reaction.

You are even dishonest with yourself.

That's just pathetic.