Paul,

If a stranger started screaming unprovoked abuse at me in public, I would definitely feel intimidated, and on a jury, I would be very sympathetic if it happened to anyone else, regardless of race, religion, etc. This is very different from trying to silence people whose opinions I don't like, even if they haven't said anything that is actually a lie or profoundly misleading. I often disagree with them, but in this case, I think that SM and the Liberals have it right: it is about finding the proper balance, not providing a charter for racial abuse.

Foxy "You stereotype people".

Quote me. Who have I "stereotyped" and how?
You are stereotyping me, reacting not to me and my comments, but to some imaginary boogeyman that you presume I am.

Nonsensical?

Again, quote me. What have I said that's nonsensical.

I'm still waiting for your "well-reasoned argument" justifying an absurdly incongruent immigration policy.

YEBIGA "I think after that comment I might be done with this forum entirely."

There were newspapers in 1900 and 1800.
Were there daily/weekly reports of fanatical Muslims committing all kinds of atrocities?
Or is that radicalisation a recent phenomena?

Show me a news report from a century or more ago of Muslims hijacking a ship and burning it, killing all its passengers (the equivalent of crashing a plane today).

Until we see evidence that this radicalisation is fading away, we should be very careful with immigration from their lands.

Of course, if we'd kept immigration restricted to Europeans, there'd be little to worry about in this regard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IslamInEurope.png

Dear Shocker,

There's nothing further to be said.
There's simply no point. I don't have the will
to continue to argue with someone who sees
homogeneity as not only desirable but
mandatory. Ethnic minorities have a right to
be different, to protect
their traditions, ro remember their languages.

As I understand it you don't want to give our
ethnic minorities a choice between the invisibility
of assimilation and the drama of separateness or any point
between. All I see coming from you are restrictions.
No compasson, no tolerance. To me Australia's cultural
diversity is a strength which makes for a dynamic society.
And I strongly believe that within a framework of laws,
all Australians have the right to express their culture and
beliefs.

See you on another discussion.

Cheers.

Shockadelic
When analysing politics and history, one should always keep in mind the possibility that not everything reported is entirely accurate. If for example, one country had military presence in 90% of the worlds States, would it not be wise to consider that just perhaps they should be kept accountable to some degree when things go array?

When the British controlled India and violence broke out by local radicals was it possible some of those radicals had legitimate gripes?

What about the inhabitants of Diego Garcia? Is it possible that some of the may have legitimate gripes about being forcibly removed from their homeland to make way for a US military base?

Did the Vietnamese have legitimate gripes when US forces arrived, were there excesses committed? What about the Shah of Iran? Did the Iranians have a legitimate gripe when the US installed this lunatic as their leader?

Ohh and where oh where did Iraq's WMDs go?

And why were Iraqi's tortured in Abu.graih?
And why are Muslims he.d indefinitely in Guantanamo, and why have none of these perpetrators of 9/11 held in Guantanamo been before a court?

And why are their US military bases in Saudi Arabia? Which is a it like Iran having a base in the Vatican?

Look I am all for cultural supremacy but lets not lie about it and pretend we are the good guys. We have the muscle with our Anglo partners and we will do as we like to ensure we keep things to our advantage.

I can live with that but I can't live with the nonsense of them bad us good. Remember it was us white people who are best at religious warfare, we became Fascists, we dropped atomic bombs on civilians, we invented the holocaust. We are the ones that glorify crucifixion, Christians are trained to suffer like Christ not for virgins but for salvation alone. We conquered the world centuries ago and whilst we like to portray a different image of ourselves to ourselves and the world, the truth is imperialism never ended it just got more sophisticated.

Yebiga,
yes the whites have done terrible things but they have done even more good. They're also starting to realise that helping those who don't want to help themselves is a lost cause.
The non-whites who also did some terrible things have yet to do the good.

Beach,

I would not expect you to understand anything about another peoples culture. I sure in your ignorance you don't understand anything about your own culture. The first Maori tungi I attended was for my partners brother. you would not have a clue as to what a tungi is, it is much more than a funeral, something spread over 4 days. The man was a kaumatua within his community so his tungi drew people from all over NZ. People coming and going to pay respect over several days before the actual funeral. As it was my partners brother the immediate whanau are expected to stay at the marae for all 4 days eating and sleeping there together. Yes at least 500 Maori people attended, some Pakeha came to pay respect also, but I was the only white person who stayed in the marae for the 4 days eating and sleeping there, seeing a part of Maori culture for the first time.
For you my son, who thinks he knows it all, I say ignorance is bliss! Now you are a little bit wiser.
p/s I do believe the tungi of Sir Howard Morrison drew 7000 people, and was catered for by the NZ army, so 500 is not that many.