I picked Australia for the same reason the British picked it as a penal colony. It's in the middle of an ocean far enough away so as to keep the bastards there. And I wouldn't worry about any "mismatches". There would be enough hate-filled idiots to even out the sides with more coming in. Make the place like NYC in "Escape From New York".
Being a former Muslim, I agree with many of your points, about the inherrent hatred being instilled at a young age. My parents are the most conservative, not radical, muslims I have ever met. I don't think my parents could hurt a fly much less a human being. Yet even they have this dislike for all things Jewish and to a lesser extent American. It is not that they hate these things. It is that they are so afraid of them, that somehow American culture will change everything they stand for, that they react too emotionnally to a situation. I think this is fairly universal for all Muslims. They are afraid of change, and that is why they react hatefully toward Americans. Just my $.02 cents.
They are not afraid of Americans. They love the country in fact. They don't like some aspects of American culture, mostly because it is so different from the one they grew up in. I suppose compassion and understanding is something of the past and knee-jerk response will be the norm. I am not articulate enough to explain their feelings.
Abuapu, I know where you are coming from...There are a lot of people in the community where I live in Livingston Parish who have reared up on their hind legs as the influx of people from East Baton Rouge and other surrounding parishes have caused them to forget the past stereotypes... Livingston Parish-the Parish I live, love and grew up in and hope to die in-was once-and still is to a certain extent-a hotbed of Aryan Supremacy Activity. I have heard backwards viewpoints in the past, but my parents did a wonderful job of instilling in me an inherently even handed worldview in terms of race and religion. I think that many here think the race relations issue revolves around something other than what I think it does. I think it has more to do with socio economics than anything to do with color. I think the same principles apply to the Middle East. They are so new to the rest of the world from a standpoint of wealth, information, culture, etc., that they are admittedly balking at ideas that other Western Cultures long ago embraced... For a long time, most of those peoples were nomadic, and had no lines on maps to hold them down to one spot or another. But, slowly, surely, they are being led towards the inner part of the envelope of the modern day society of our world, as opposed to being on the edge of it. They cling to religion because-like any tradition-it's a solid surface to hold onto in times of change. That's a basic fact of Sociology. It's also a basic fact that religion is adaptable to change in times, culture, and situation. The Bible, as well as the Quran, have stood the test of time. The changes that modern day Muslims have undergone is unfathomable by some of the Muslims of only hundreds of years ago, just in the same ways the changes that current day Christians have undergone is unfathomable to those of the 17 or 1800's by comparison... But, what some seem to find impossible to understand is that change is inevitable. Time will march on. If you don't watch out, time will march right over your face and keep on going, with or without you. It is possible to maintain your Muslim faith in today's society, just as it is possible to maintain your Christian faith in today's society. Very possible. You just have to have the faith.
