Woman arrested for chewing gum during Ramadan!
I admit that the news source is a bit suspect.
It's that Islamophobic rag, the Arab Times:
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/145900/reftab/96/t/Woman-nabbed-for-chewing-gum-on-the-first-day-of-Ramadan/Default.aspx
I can see at least one positive for Sharia Law in Australia.
No more sticky mess on the bottom of your shoes.
Well, at least during Ramadan.

Dear Mr Tang,

I'm not going to point out the errors in
your statements and mindset because I can
see that it isn't going to change unless
you take a deeper inspection of the issues
involved.

You seem to be quite content to simply go by the news
reports about wars in Muslim countries or
terrorist attacks. You interpret the Muslim world
through the lens of extremist activity.

I'll leave you to it.

Foxy claims that Mr Tang
"interpret(s) the Muslim world
through the lens of extremist activity."
But Foxy
(who is apparently boycotting me because she's unable to defend her position-
which is, admittedly, indefensible)
is in fact
"interpret(ing) the Muslim world
through the lens of " political correctness and multiculturalism,
combined with a dash of, otherwise appealing, naïveté.
When Islamists, such as Major Nidal Hasan,
accurately quote from the Koran,
citing their justification for engaging in Jihad,
in total accordance with authoritative and almost universally accepted exegeses,
Foxy refuses to engage the issue.

Foxy, I'm truly sorry to see your attempt to bring some objective thinking into these issues has degenerated into the now-customary whack-a-mozzie dross.

Sadly, that's almost certain to happen, with the level of fear and loathing these people display.

It does show however that there is still a vast gulf between those who believe that radical adherence to religion itself is the root problem, and those whose dearest wish is to foment aggression against people who don't share their specific view of God.

Thanks for the references Foxy.

I'm putting them on my to-do list and look
forward to reading them.

I did find this very interesting (3 part)
debate between Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Tariq Ramadan.

I think the comments below the clips are
interesting too - some are pretty much the same
sort of horrible comments that are directed at
Western feminists. Same mentality I suppose.

Philip Tang: <"Get rid of the mosques, Islamic schools and imams in the West and a large proportion of threat posed by Islam terrorism would dissappear... ">

Oi mate. I would say that would be a great way to incite extreme violence. One thing that Christian cultures have in their favour is genuine tolerance. They have no record in the modern world of blowing up planes and churches and punishing people because their beliefs are different, or of forcing their religion on others by like um - beheading and whipping. I wouldn't like us to start behaving like terrorists now.

Sorry, here are the link/s to the debate:

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtO5Zo9grz4

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXR10XSFrVY

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsP5sm7-94c