The rate of firearm related deaths in Australia is 10 times lower than in the US.  So yes, it is a pretty good thing Australia has tough gun laws, even if they don't prevent every single gun death.

I've not lived there persay, but i spent 2 weeks in pakistan attending a friends wedding, some genuinely lovely people there.

Again, you say the problem is islam, but then focus only on countries that have been in the news for extremism and isis related issues, as i said, i lived in indonesia, it has a higher islamic population than any of the countries you listed yet people being islamic wasnt an issue, just as it isnt for bangladesh, just as it isnt for china and many, many other places.

You are essentially cherry picking instances of small extremist groups to condemn an entire religion, even if you were to say extremists and isis, etc were a million strong, given the islamic population is 1.6 billion it would STILL be a tiny fraction.

But why stop there, why not attack whites for the national front, Klu Klux Klan and BNP, after all thier being white contributed to thier actions, right?, how about germans? Well since some are neo-naxi then that makes them all Nazi's! 

Do you not see how rediculous that line of thinking is?

The level of bigotry and hate towards an entire religion based on the actions of a tiny fraction of fringe extremists is both disappointing and frankly, disgusting.

You all need to turn off your tv and travel the world.

Was thinking it was a Muslim before I came in to the thread. Of course I predicted right.

That just means the media's goal of making Islam synonymous with Terrorism has been successful on your tiny mind.

Erm, I've been studying the Middle East and Islam extensively. I've always had great admiration for what Muslims achieved during the "middle ages". Spain used to be one of the wealthiest parts of Europe during the middle ages, thanks to the Islam. The same can be said of South Eastern Europe in the late middle ages and early modern time, thanks to the Ottomans. Arabian scholars saved a lot of ancient Greek and Roman knowledge. Without them we would know so little. They also brought a lot of new technology and wisdom to our continent (compass, better ships, Indian math: we even refer to our current number system as Arabian numerals even though they're Indian in origin, better irrigation, etc.). Salah ad-Din was/is a greatly admired Islamic leader, even during the middle ages in Europe!

But then came the Great Divergence and Islam is still behind and stuck in time. During the 19th and 20th century once great powers like the Ottoman Empire and Iran/Persia were mere playballs of the Europeans. The whole world was our playball (and I'm not saying that was a good thing) and our might went uncontested until the Russians suffered a humiliating defeat against Japan in 1905.

My cousin's girlfriend is having a fantastic time working/living in Ethiopia. In a heavily fortified urban society with servants tending her every move. Does that mean everyone in Ethiopia can enjoy such great living conditions? Of course not.

Are you seriously calling the population of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Libia, Tunis, Somalia, Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, etc. a minority? Have you ever taken a look at the laws in those countries? Are you denying the Islamic influence there? What about the poverty? Inequality (between rich and poor, but also gender and sexuality)?

It's not like Indonesia is such a great place to live in to begin with. It has a terrible HDI for a reason. Although as an old colony of the Netherlands there's as much Western influence as there is Islamic influence. It's not even a religious state (it's a democratic republic), so it's not the target of my criticism. I'm against Islam as a political institution. And the Islam is definitely the biggest political power in the Middle-East.

Oh and aren't the Muslims in China being treated like crap by Chinese officials?

How many Germans think Jews are inferior nowadays? I don't have the numbers, but it won't be many.

How many Muslims think females are inferior to males? Many millions...

I have the same opinion of Islam as Christianity. The difference being that the West is a lot more secular than the Islamic World and thus Christianity doesn't have as much influence on the lives of people anymore as the Islam has.

And FYI, I'm attacking Islam as a (political) institution, not individual muslims. One of my best friends has a Muslim father (Morrocan) and is a very kind man and didn't even force his son to become muslim (because he ain't).

Ah Lawlight, showing your quality, bravo & a round of applause!

Very, very well said. Scaremongering indeed, spreading propaganda & fear much like the real terrosrists!

Well there was the whole flying passenger jets into the worlds tallest (or near tallest) buildings AND into the symbol of American military power (the Pentagon) angle. Which, you know, as far as I can tell are unprecedented events in world history, and were quite symbolic completely indenpendant of any deaths. Indeed AFAIK Al Qaeda didn't expect the buildings to come crashing down, and had they not come crashing down I don't think 9/11 would be quite as burned into people's memories as it is. It would have been regarded as somewhat more significant and memmorable as the World Trade Centre bombings of 1993, but not on a whole different level. And it is on a whole different level to the 1993 bombings because the buildings did fall in a most spectacular fashion. 

You kick so much ass ass with your megaton LOGIC hammer & sharp KNOWLEDGE katana! You made my night, thank you Tachikoma!!!

Spot on!!!