I thought that it might be interesting
to discuss the positive contributions of
Australian Muslims to possibly dispel
the misconceptions held by some people
in the wider community
and the negative media faced by Australian
Muslims.

This was inspired by a recent visit to the
Immigration Museum's current exhibit on,
"Australia's Muslim Cameleers."

I learned a great deal from the exhibit, and
it made me question - how much do people
actually know about Muslims in Australia?
Hence this thread.

According to the 2006 ABS Census the Muslim
population in Australia has grown from 21,000
in 1971 to 340,000 in 2006. The Census indicates
that nearly 40% were born in Australia (therefore
not all Australian Muslims are new arrivals).
And some families have lived here since the 19th
century and have made significant contributions to
Australia. The Census also said that
over 60% are under the age of 35.

What is also interesting is that there is a
higher percentage of Australian Muslims
with Bachelor and Post Graduate degrees compared
to the total population.

It's also interesting that Australian Muslims come
from around 70 diverse cultural backgrounds and
traditions and would prefer to be identified simply
as "Australians." That makes perfect sense as
Australia is a largely secular country and
religious affiliation is not necessarily an accurate
identifier of any citizen.

I would appreciate the contribution of posters to this
thread who actually have something positive to contribute.
Your inputs will be appreciated.

Here are some contributions of Australian Muslims
that I've come across:

1) Socio-Economic contribution to the Halal
Meat Industry, contributing around $5.0 billion
to the Australian economy and employing around
30,000 people.

2) Success of Muslim players in sports,
such as the AFL in Victoria.

3) Active involvement of Muslim women in the
police force, such as Victoria.

4) Donations to various charities, such as
$50,000 by the Muslim Community to the
Leukaemia Foundation in Queensland.

Australian Muslims have made a significant
contribution to Australian society over
the past 150 years.

I shall list more later.

Your opinions please?

Falafels.

I think only the MOST ignorant and prejudiced would suggest Muslims being ABSOLUTELY worthless to the Australian community.

My Doc is a hell of a nice bloke and an EXTREMELY competent physician. I believe he's Muslim as well.

[Deleted. Completely off topic. Poster suspended.]

Yes, Proxy and while the cameleers were doing that, Christian missionaries were abusing children entrusted to their care.

Pelly...that jibe at Proxy was most unfair.

Foxy is leading us up a silly path on the basis of a spurious assumption that people who criticize "Islam" are incapable of recognizing social or academic good contributed by Muslims.

The very fact that this is your underlying assumption is evidence of misguided bigotry. You don't allow...not even a little bit.. for the legitimate criticism of a faith as a set of ideas..(which is what occurs on this forum) rather than what does NOT happen here.. in that "Muslims" as a class of people are vilified.

Even in Proxy's wildest moments..his focus is on..."Islam" as an idea set.

Can you show me just one attack by Proxy (or me..from any time) on "Muslims" as a class of people?

I don't feel you can do this. So..why the red herring which is not relavent to the discussion climate and context here ?

We all know.. that people can make useful worthwhile contributions to society. after all.. look at the VW beetle... get my drift ?

Take off the cloak of self righteousness and learn to tackle ideas as ideas..and don't bury your head in the sand. (please)

Oh.. for those who might be remotely interested.. today I passed some very pleasant moments of conversation with a Pashtun Muslim at the place of my contract work.

I find it grossly insulting that some here seem to speak so much about 'fear and loathing....hate mongering' that they actually believe it.

If no one is condemning "Muslims" as a class, Foxy..why do you see the need to defend them?