Unless there is a major change in the way in which people in western governments think, the future will unfold something like this:
There will be a terrorist attack on home soil by Islamists and Islam will not be blamed by the vast majority of academics and policy makers.
There will be another attack in a few years with another following every year or so. (There may be occasions where there are clusters of attacks. Again, academics will excuse Islam.)
The attacks will become more frequent e.g. once every six months. (Islam will not be blamed.) In time it will become one every three months, one month etc.
Within 50 or 60 years we will be witnessing attacks in our country almost every week. We will be like Iraq with some important differences: 1. No one will be able to come to our aid for all western nations will find themselves in the same scenario. 2. While fighting internally we will have to contend with Islamic nations, who having been overrun by Islamists; they will choose to go to war with us if they think they can win. (see also What the west needs to know.)
The future looks grim unless we start making some serious changes now. First we must safeguard democracy.
To safeguard democracy we must ensure that those with
extreme views do not gain the balance of power in parliament. If a
Muslim with extreme views was to gain the balance of power what laws
might be passed or blocked regarding immigration and security? Under
our present system we are very vulnerable; changes will have to be made
to the electoral system.
We must also challenge the Islamic community and hold the leaders of mosques
accountable before things are completely out of hand. We can do this by
asking them to: 1. adopt the Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding
(written by a former radical Imam) and 2. Challenge Islamic leaders to
defeat the arguments of the Islamists using the Quran, Hadith and
earliest most respect biographies of Mohammed.
If terrorist attacks do
start to become a regular occurrence in this country we will have to
take some serious measures if we are to survive. I do not advocate
racial profiling, but there may be room for religious profiling. See Why the Japanese Internment Still Matters.
We must also make changes regarding immigration, this can be done without mentioning religion. Two changes in particular must be made: one regarding skilled labour and the other to do with refugees.
1. Regarding skilled labour, if 1000 Australians adopt Saudi citizenship and move to Saudi Arabia this year we should allow 1000 Saudis to move to Australia next year under "similar conditions" (Many think we have to allow people like the Saudis into western
nations so that their values may be influenced by ours. Unfortunately, the values of many are being influenced but in a way we do not desire. Moderate Muslims are returning to their country with extreme views after seeing western immorality. e.g. gay mardi gras'. We are not helping the Saudi people by allowing lots of them to come into our country. The situation is a bit like a drowning man whom you try to help, but if you try to help him the wrong way you will drown also. We will not help Middle Eastern nations by destroying western nations. It will be more helpful for them and us if we place indirect pressure on their governments to change. So what did I mean when I mentioned coming to Australia under similar conditions? If one must acknowledge Mohammed and Islam as the true religion to enter Saudi Arabia then anyone coming from Saudi to study or live in our country must deny those tenets, and if they are seeking Australian citizenship they must be prepared to give up Saudi Citizenship. Does this sound too tough? I am not advocating a blanket ban on Muslims; Muslims coming from countries which do not require people to acknowledge Islam to become citizens would be free to enter our country without denying their beliefs.) These requirements will place pressure on extreme governments from their own citizens to improve conditions within their country and be more open to people of other faiths. If a country is not good enough to go to why would we want people from that country to come here? (Unless of course they are genuine refugees.)
2. Regarding refugees we should reach out to those groups which are most oppressed and most neglected. Minorities within Islamic countries are amongst the most oppressed peoples of the world; they know about Islamic law (they have been oppressed by it) and are not likely to be fooled by smooth talking Imams. They will help make western nations secure. I believe we should allow more refugees into the country.
Further changes which must be made if the west is to survive
1. We must reform our legal system.
The system of precedents is deeply flawed, judges need to start weighing up precedents more carefully rather than simply accepting them. (No matter what your views are you will find the following challenging. Listen to Who Makes the Law? by Debbie Brezina for more on precedent and law.)
Is it possible to develop a system whereby judges who make ridiculous decisions can be removed by the public?
In Switzerland, the public can remove judges by a process called Citizens Initiated Referendum. (Citizens obtain a certain number of signatures before a binding referendum is held. Geoff Walker, emeritus Professor of the University of Queensland, wrote an excellent book on the subject entitled Initiative and Referendum: The People's Law). Judges must be accountable to the public; they are not free to interpret laws any way they choose. Changes will also have to be made for lawyers.
If a lawyer is paid by a member of the public it ought to be regarded as bad as paying a judge. Why should a person receive better legal representation simply because he or she has more money? Is justice determined by how rich you are? Legal costs must be within the grasp of everyone. (Naturally, appealing a decision would be different.) If the government is made to wear the vast majority of legal costs we will see some big changes in the laws of our country.
The role of a lawyer must also change. After having adequate time to argue the case
for his client as the defence, the lawyer should also have to argue the case for the
prosecution and vice versa. In doing this, if the prosecution has a good lawyer so
does the defence. The lawyers job, like the jury's and the judges job, is now to find the truth.
Each lawyer should be paid by the government in accordance with how highly judges rate him or her.
2. We must work towards a separation of ideology and state. (I have also shown how this will lead to the creation of better emergency services. This is paramount if my future prediction about terrorism is correct.)
3. We must have the courage, as individuals, to take a stand and disobey those in authority when necessary.(We have much to learn from men like Dietrich Bohhoeffer, who resisted Adolph Hitler.) Just because a law is enacted does not mean that it should be obeyed. See disobey.
This was written on the 5th of July 2007, last edited on 24th of Nov 2007.
