David Boots

What is it that suggests being poor causes you to be a terrorist?

Stega I think the idea that helping people rather than using force to change them is an attractive idea.

But western countries have given billions of dollars to various countries in aid. Some of those countries have extreme theocratic views. It is not clear to me how this has helped reduce religious violence.

Strega wrote:
What would you offer to the young men that would be a better option for them than joining the jihad movement and getting food and water for you and your family?

I think the notion that terrorism is a result of social and economic circumstances is probably unfounded. Bin Laden was wealthy. Lots of westerners fighting for isis come…[Read more]

Very good point. It is easy to observe and complain and difficult to change.

If it were up to me I would focus on the economics of islam, the unchecked population growth and of course the indoctrination at a young age.

Simon Paynton wrote:
You might find this article interesting, by a “progressive” American Muslim written in 2015.

Well there you go. Perhaps there is hope after all.

I had not heard of Asra Q. Nomani before but she must have some courage. She says ‘I wont stop writing’.

Why not email her with a supportive message – her email is a…[Read more]

Any extreme culture that endorses violence is not good for society as whole. It is not that long ago that catholic/protestant terrorism in Ireland dominated the news daily.

Does islam present a special case? Arguably it does and for two reasons. The first being that the koran represents the last and unalterable word of god. The second is that the…[Read more]

Unfortunately most westerners introduction to islam is through terrorism. If you meet and know individuals then you can get a perspective and hopefully retain that perspective.

It is not helpful of indeed accurate to suggest that neither I nor the community in general do not face a threat from extreme muslim violence. And even if it were; that would not render my opinion any less valid.

Your likely risk of attack from a muslim extremist depends in part on your geographic location but mostly on whether you agree to…[Read more]

Ask a supernatural being to suspend the laws of the universe and in my favour alone? Not for me.

Belle it seems like your in a tough place mentally right now. You might try looking at the little things you can do each day that at least help until you can change the big picture for you.

You do know a good proportion of the world’s population would desire to live in the USA right?

I should say it is difficult to do so legally.

No. Australia gets 15,000 applications A DAY just from India alone.

Come to Australia. It is awesome!

Wow. Big decisions. But if you think you made the wrong decisions do you now think you could go back in time and make a better decision. Probably not.

But also the choices were very different. One required a positive action to end a life. The other decision was to refuse treatment.

Dr Bob thank you for your comment but I think I have to disagree.

The first thing I would say is that the discretion in the aplication of a law is not the same as choosing to obey a law. And here we are not talking about just not following a law but actually disregarding it in favour of a person’s own subjective view of what the law should…[Read more]

I would distinguish between freedom of choice of religion and freedom of practise. There is no need to interfere with anyones choice of religion but there are very pragmatic reasons for limiting the practise of religions.