Dear commentors. There does appear to be a life force which drives the natural order of the planet in which we exist. Call it as you will God, Allah or deny the concept out of hand. But, as has been pointed out religion is a man made construct and the fact that vast numbers of people over the centuries have embraced the fabric does not necessarily prove the legitimacy of any religion. This said, there is much wisdom to be extracted from religous philosophy.

My limited study of islam suggests that there is little in the koran to support violent activity as a response to perceived insults directed towards the prohpet or islam as a religion.

Muhammad's personal mission was to bring Arabs into the rightly guided family of Abraham. Muhammad was a ruler and was motivated to change the culture of the entrenched tribal way of life. He didn't entirely succeed.

The islamist movement has its roots firmly in seventh century tribalism. Islamist's claim, dishonestly,that the justification for their attitude to the rest of the world lays in the teachings of the koran, it does not. The evils besetting Arab communities are a hangover from tribalisim and only they can eliminate those.

The demonstrators in sydney were out of order in terms of what they presented in Sydney and owe an apology to the community. However if they were actually venting fury over the murder of millions of muslims and arabs during the west's ongoing military interventions in arab countries, I'm inclined to think they have a supremely valid point.
DEN71

Suseonline,
You asked how would they fix it.

Well, for a start they could stop muslim immigration. That would restrict their numbers and keep the problem within manageable levels.

Secondly they could completely dispense with the flawed ideology of multiculturalism which divides people into tribes.

Thirdly they could get a lot tougher with those that partake in the sort of behaviour we saw last Saturday. Also increase penalties for anti social behaviour generally.

We need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that, after 2-3 generations, some groups will never integrate and if we desire a cohesive society we will have to bar entry to members of those groups.

Banjo, we can't just say 'no more Muslims allowed in' and expect the rest of the world to understand!
If we think we have trouble with some radical Muslim citizens now, imagine how aggressive they would be if we said we don't want Muslims here anymore?
Even good, law-abiding Muslim/Australian citizens would be offended by that.

Imagine how annoyed predominantly Muslim countries would be with us, not to mention all the other countries who have thousands of Muslim refugees in camps there.

We wouldn't be welcome to trade with these countries, or travel, or do business with them etc anymore.
Oil is an important commodity right now.

Australia and Australian travelers would be in even more danger than Americans with these radical Islamists.

No, we have to think more clearly about a less extreme answer...

Susyonline your last post was good balanced and true.
Now I get a little weird.
Why would I think like this, am I getting a bit lost as I age?
No let me assure you I think not.
And believe what I say.
*We fix it*
By understanding if we do not some one will do it for us.
A new drive to research the roots of every religion, honestly done honestly reported.
INVENT one new religion, for everyone, give only it, any tax breaks or help,teach only it.
All men are brothers and equal invention.
Not a power but a leveler.
Then united in a few, no more than ten, generations we could progress.
Here is the weird bit.
Others are waiting,post ww 3 or a crisis, to do this, for total power total control.
Do not believe? OK but why do we teach evolution yet divide on lines of fairy tales unless it is of use to others to keep us divided.

Suseonline,
So you do not think we can stop muslims from coming here.

Why not? "We determine who comes to Australia......"

Other countries have selective immigration, I am told japan will not allow Koreans to be citizens and they do not appear to suffer from that. Or are you saying that muslims should be treated differently to others and we just let them do as they wish?

I now notice that i am not the only person calling for a stop to muslim immigration, it is coming from other quarters as well.

We certainly could introduce selective immigration if we desire to do so. My recomendation is for selection be based on culture. Those groups that have shown us they will not integrate and cause social unrest be excluded. These may not be all muslim. For example, I would exclude Croats and Serbs, all groups that practice FGM and those that force marriage. I would keep an eye on the Sri Lanken groups for exclusion, if their fighting continues.

There is no laws, except our own, that we have to accept all comers.

Banjo,

Don't stop there....

What about people from countries who invade other countries for unfettered access to resources under the guise of delivering democracy? What about people from cultures, who with the use of bombs and armory, destroy infrastructure, who kill and maim children and adults? What about people from countries who instigate long-term sanctions which result in malnutrition and poor health outcomes for the general population?

Hypocrisy much.