From an aspiring Australian senate candidate who I and many others admire, Bernard Gaynor. Hopefully he is observant enough to not get imprisoned on trumped up charges like Pauline Hanson did some years back due to a united effort (it turned out) between our two major ("left" and "right") political parties.
Good luck Bernard, Zenaan
Hello Zenaan, I'm afraid that Islam, and Islamic ideology, although undoubtedly founded in the midst of violence and chaos and closely linked to quite violent and bloody wars throughout much of history, is not a violent religion. Texts in the Qur'an, as in the bible, promote and glorify the violence of it's followers when perceived in the context of historic events. Such is the nature of holy texts, advocating the victory of their followers in battle over the followers of other religions pertaining to foreign cultures. To say that Islam is a violent religion by referencing battles that occurred hundreds of years ago completely negliges the positions members of other religions and faiths, such as Christians, took throughout the course of history. Christian movements such as the crusades and the idea of spreading religion through missionaries to be a noble act caused damage in the same way that Islamic movements did by conquering swathes of land in order to spread their ideology and economic power. Such a comparison clearly reflects the nature of religions based on interpretative scripture without so much as delving into the violence caused as a result of more modern colonialism, closely linked with Christian ideology and capitalism. An even more modern example of tragedy motivated by religious interpretation is that of Australia's "stolen generations", where, by means of the Christian religion, Australian society itself separated up to 30% of indigenous children from their families. Evidently, no religion is immune to acts of violence perpetrated in the name of religion or "protection of religion", taking as an example the persistent Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where Judaism and the fear of Jewish people being oppressed is used as an excuse for the colonization of Palestinian territory. To blindly accuse "Islam" as the root of all violence perpetrated by those proclaiming to be of Islamic faith is a broad and particularly callous generalization, especially when addressing the issue of immigration. Regardless of one's religion, if a person is conditioned to react with violence, violence will ensue. Preventing any group of people based on their faith from immigrating to a country is simply discrimination issuing from a stereotype propagated by members of a society acting out of fear. Instead of screening immigrants (refugees or otherwise) based on their religion, it would be much more appropriate to screen for signs that a person may attempt to perpetrate or incite violence.
Ladies and gentleman, Australia is facing a crisis.
Australia is not facing a crisis. Rather, the Australian government is facing a particularly tough issue of generalization and misrepresentation within Australian borders. I hope that Australia will not succumb to the fear and hatred of Muslim people so often preached by those able to benefit from it. All the best, Endless