Malik Shakur wrote on Jul 23
rd, 2008 at 9:32am:
5000 Australians on the beach of Cronulla demonstrated quite clearly that even a person with illogical views can move the masses into action when they are ignorant enough about the facts and if FD allows these people to continue doing it on this forum then he is giving them a place to sew their seeds of hatred.
This is true, and we've discussed before that Cronulla isn't Australia, nor is it how most Australians think. I have met "dinky-di" Aussies who moved out of Cronulla not only because of the racism against Muslims, but European "wogs".
I'm also aware of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment among some where I live, but I can't say it's anywhere near "epidemic", and most people want a peaceful society where we can all tolerate different beliefs and traditions. I think the real fear many Australians have, whether grounded in fact of fiction, is that
any religion will try to influence government to impose laws the majority don't want. I think the attitude is "live and let live", but don't tell
me how to live. That is what they fear, and how some Islamic countries are governed brings them no solace. That's the
last thing they want here.
Perhaps, I'm only suggesting, that Muslims can quell these fears, but doing things like trying to legalise polygamy isn't going to help, because regardless of the hypocrisy, most Australians believe this is basically a Christian society, built upon
basic Christian ideals. The idea of this being overturned by Islam doesn't sleep well with them. It is a secular state founded on Judeo-Christian ideals, which includes the freedom to be critical of Christianity, not easily won, since last century into this one, blasphemy was a crime. No one wants to go back to those days, and rightly or wrongly, many perceive that this could happen when considering how other Islamic countries are run.
I'm only suggesting some of the roots of prejudice. Racism is something Aborigines still experience, and that's not because of religion. So talking about religion and racism isn't always the same thing.