Reply to Sarah.

Submitted by Tony (Australia), Jul 4, 2006 at 23:07

Sarah.

The guys name that had his head hacked off is Nick Berg. His murderers shouted Allah Akbar to the camera and sawed through his neck. There have been numerous other cases but this one struck a chord.

There is too much in you post to reply to each point. But the general theme I read is that Islam is very peacefull and really blameless. It is people misreading the quran carrying out these acts. There is even a little conspiracy theory - "Sometimes I feel that this whole thing is something that has been planned out" in regards to 9-11. You wouldnt be alone. Many of your fellow Muslims believe such rubbish which is incredibly offensive... not to mention stupid beyond belief.

This idea that people are flocking to Islam in droves needs to be addressed. Its not true !. You have some high profile people (creeps) like Michael Jackson whipping up some press and Islam is popular with prison inmates because it aligns nicely with the blame mentality. As always there are young lost people searching for answers who wander into Islam as they do many other religions. Ive read many other comments boasting about Islams growth....Like its a sporting competition, which excuses it..? Well it doesnt work that way. It also takes hold in poverty stricken nations in Africa and makes matters far worse than they were. Essentially legalising the slaughter of non adherents. There are 1 -1.5 Billion Muslims in a world population of 6 Billion. They cause the VAST MAJORITY of atrocities in the name of religion. You dont hear as much about the brave people leaving Islam because it is a risk to their lives. Please explain why apostates should be punished with death..? That is a very insecure God you pray to.

Your comments about the hijab I just found very odd. I think you are saying that the hijab helps stop discrimination against less attractive people..? becasue you cant see them..? and sexual assault as well. I think thats just silly and childish. But fashion is a minor issue with Islam as far as Im concerned. The thought of an Islamic world where any fashion, Style, colour, taste, individulaity, flair, fun is outlawed is horrible to me personally. But if you know western women - I can safely say that Islam has a big fight on its hands if it wants to impose that sort of idiocy.

All of this pious talk of how Islam is peaceful protecting women (including the ugly) is ridiculous. You may be in a very civilised and respectfull Muslim houeshold where your freedoms are many - but there are millions of others who cannot claim that.

Im from Australia and there has been a lot of debate in this country about the Lebanese Muslem community and why they make a disprortionately large section of the prison population and crime staistics. A lot of questions are being asked about the culture within the households and how young muslim men dont accept responsibilty and are cloistered in this culture of superiority (because they are male) which just doesnt manifest itself in the real world they find themselves in. Its not rascist against Lebanese because the Christian Lebanese in this country have had an equally disproportionate degree of succes in terms of immigrants to this country. 2 of our state premiers are Lebanese. Many of our most successfull business people are Lebanese. whats the problem here..?

I think on the education question we basically agree...in a very around about way.

Most of your comments basically say that this "is not part of lslam" or "ignore the teachings of Islam". If this is the case, then I think you would at least have to agree that there is a serious problem in the communications department of this religion.

All that said - I respect your opinions and do agree with your last point that we all hope to understand each other better one day.

Regards

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".