Einstein's insanity test

As the post protest debris settles in Sydney, bitter sentiments resonate across the country.

The age old questions persist."Is Islam compatible with the West? If Islam means peace why are all the terrorists Muslims."

Whether the film was free expression or defamation under the mask of freedom is the forgotten question.

The question now is the lurking Muslim problem."We let them in. Now they threaten" headlined a major newspaper blog akin to a science fiction title.

It was a sad day for all, condemnations and 'wake up calls' were issued by Parliamentarians and 'intolerance" considerations from commentators. Electronic messages demanded violent retribution against Muslims.

Witnessing the familiar questions over a decade after September 11, Einstein's insanity test comes to mind. Are we doing the same thing but expecting a different result?

The self-assured narrative suggests an irreconcilable clash between Islam and the West. So in the Western spirit lets turn to free inquiry, and ensure no proposition is left unexamined.

Violent protests and assaults against police are unacceptable! Are they unprecedented?

Reality suggests otherwise, remember the July 2012 anti-Olympic Dam protests (13 arrests), the 2010 Occupy Melbourne protests (100 arrests), the 2009 Victorian power plant protest (22 arrests), or the 2007 APEC protests (17 arrests), to name just a few.

If bad apples are undesirable but inevitable, why the shock about nine arrests? Why? Perhaps because there is something obnoxiously abhorrent about a toddler with a beheading sign and a Mum taking happy snaps.

Described as 'pedestals of hate' by one newspaper with an MP suggesting the child be put in better care. One does wonder whether the fact that neither Mum or Bub actually knew what the sign meant carries any significance in the debate.

Seniorpolice sources announced that the mother turned herself in, she had been in Australia for only two years and didn't know what the word 'behead' meant she recognised the word 'Prophet' and waved the sign around before handing it to her son. Before issuing statements reminiscent of the stolen generation, is it worth testing whether the 'children as pedestals of hate' is another case of 'children overboard'. 

Surely the other abominable signs will make it to cracked.com's 25 most nonsensical protest signs, wanting from that list however are protests from Australian teens displaying body art saying "F....off we are full"

If violent protests are regrettable but not exceptional why the intolerance calls? If the protesters were just 0.06% to 0.1% of the total Australian Muslim population (i.e. 300 to 500 out of 467,000) and the recalcitrant segment even smaller (0.001%) then why the 'wake up call'?

If 'children as pedestals of hate' is much like 'children over-board'' then what's the threat and why the sensationalism? Why? Because contrary to the Western spirit it seems the appetite for rhetoric is ever increasing whilst the appetite for facts is ever diminishing.

Facts such as non Islamic groups are responsible for 94% of all terrorist attacks in the US (FBI data base 1980 to 2005) and 99% of all terrorist attacks in Europe (Europol 2006 to 2010). Or Al-Qaeda kills 8 times more Muslims than non Muslims (Speigal International) simply do not register. Only the rhetoric registers "Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslim" despite the facts.

We know NSW anti Muslim attitudes are at 54.4 % (2011 survey), I would be surprised if this isn't at 90% given the recent sensationalism. History tells us the creative synthesis of diverse ideas makes civilizations great.

The lacking case is the case for bigotry as demonstrated by the evils and failure of the "democratically" elected Nazi Government. Goebbels in his abhorrent 1941 essay maliciously slandered the Jewish people, comparing them to parasites which feed on the good will of the people. Evermore haunting is that over half a century later an Australian commentator possessed by Goebbels's spirit of hate implied the same about Lebanese males referring to them as vermin infesting our shores.

Who are the preachers of hate and who is threatening our way of life? The prevailing story is that the film was as an 'excuse' to unleash rage over global events. Yes a negligible lot were protesting the Iraq invasion which just from 2003-2006 resulted an 'excess death' tole larger than the combined populations of: Mackay, Geelong Luanceston, Carins and Darwin (655,000 -  The Lancet ).

Perhaps the untold story is about the sensationalism labs who used this as an 'excuse' to manufacture and infect the Australian people with hate and fear. If we are genuinely concerned about radicalisation within our borders then let's extend the debate beyond the $10 Garage Mosques radicalising youth to the multi-million dollar sensationalism industry radicalising the Australian public.

Anti-Islamic views at 54.4 % and still rising is an insane number. Lets extend the debate from overseas preachers of hate affecting Muslim youth, to the local preachers that publicly ask for hate against the Muslim youth. Perhaps if we include this into the equation we might get a different result, rather than just more insanity