Plan to build $84 million Super Mosque in Dublin Ireland.

Nodin

Deleted User wrote: »

Will this be a Sunni mosque or a Shiite mosque.
and who is paying for it.? Saudi Arabia?

If so, I propose we allow it when Saudi Arabia allows basic freedoms within its own territory.

...yet another person who thinks we should run our country in parallel with repressive regimes.

And it won't a Shia mosque if it turns out to be financed by the Saudis.

Memnoch

Deleted User wrote: »

Will this be a Sunni mosque or a Shiite mosque.
and who is paying for it.? Saudi Arabia?

If so, I propose we allow it when Saudi Arabia allows basic freedoms within its own territory.

So you want us to allow the same freedoms that Saudi Arabia allows? Can I ask why you want us to be like Saudi Arabia?

Because your logic seems to be. Saudi's practise religious intolerance therefore, we should also practise religious intolerance.

MrD012

Bannasidhe wrote: »

What about EU citizens who are Muslim - should be stop them coming in too?

whats an EU citizen anyhow , most people I know dont consider themselves EU citizens . They consider themselves Irish and Irish alone.
EU ideology is the last thing on most Irish People's mind nowadays . Thank God.

dizzywizlw

Memnoch wrote: »

So you want us to allow the same freedoms that Saudi Arabia allows? Can I ask why you want us to be like Saudi Arabia?

Because your logic seems to be. Saudi's practise religious intolerance therefore, we should also practise religious intolerance.

Saudi's practice denial of basic human rights, their society is one of barbarity.

Memnoch

Memnoch wrote: »

So you want us to allow the same freedoms that Saudi Arabia allows?

My point relates to the eventuality that it is financed by a foreign state, which would be built for political purposes.

Thats a completely different situation to believers here financing their own mosque.

Allyall

Woah woah woah woah..

I'm up for a party as much as the next guy, but Islamists are terrible party goers.

All that aside, how is Gerry Gannon allowed to be involved in any development given the amount of money he owes? (1.5bn at last count).

MrD012

Memnoch wrote: »

So you want us to allow the same freedoms that Saudi Arabia allows?

Saudi's practise religious intolerance therefore, we should also practise religious intolerance.

But Islam itself is riddled with intolerance ,

therefore to be intolerant towards it is actually promoting tolerance in the long term .

anyway , there is tolerance and there is naivety

Memnoch

Deleted User wrote: »

My point relates to the eventuality that it is financed by a foreign state, which would be built for political purposes.

Thats a completely different situation to believers here financing their own mosque.

What political purpose are they going to achieve? Should it also be illegal for the Vatican to finance any initiative or provide support financial or otherwise to pressure groups? Since it is also another state?

Memnoch

dizzywizlw wrote: »

Saudi's practice denial of basic human rights, their society is one of barbarity.

So? What does that have to do with the freedom or not of people wanting to build a Mosque in Dublin?

Nodin

MrD012 wrote: »

well obviously if you set up the facilities - schools , mosques , housing , communities etc , it is bound to be an attractive destination as opposed to somewhere that does not have any of these.

What houses? What "communities"? You're talking nonsense.

MrD012 wrote: »

of course it does , sharia will be practiced here just like it is in the UK , causing much conflict with domestic law.

Theres no similar law allowing them to, so no. There is no "conflict with domestic law" as pointed out more than once now.

Memnoch

MrD012 wrote: »

But Islam itself is riddled with intolerance ,

therefore to be intolerant towards it is actually promoting tolerance in the long term .

anyway , there is tolerance and there is naivety

Nonsense. The same could be said of Christianity with their homophobic, anti-science, anti-women agenda.

See how generalisations work?

Nodin

MrD012 wrote: »

But Islam itself is riddled with intolerance ,

therefore to be intolerant towards it is actually promoting tolerance in the long term .

anyway , there is tolerance and there is naivety

Islam is not a monolith, which makes such silly generalisations redundant. Your mentality is akin to that marching around outside that church up north playing sectarian songs.

K-9

MrD012 wrote: »

Muslim women who are so desperate for help they are turning to the BNP !!

Where did you read this?

SeanW

Memnoch wrote: »

So? What does that have to do with the freedom or not of people wanting to build a Mosque in Dublin?

It depends on who'se paying for this: the developer mentions "financing from around the world" I'm thinking Saudi Arabia.

If so, the problem is that the Saudi agenda is one of spreading Wahabbist Islam to all corners of the Earth. Wahabbism is the bat**** crazy branch of Islam whose people hate secular democracy, want Sharia law in all its barbarity including amputations (which Saudi textbooks teach UK Muslim schoolchildren how to do) death for homosexuals, death for apostates, death for blashphemers, hatred of non-Muslims (especially Jews). They are also very active in funding mosques and training Imams to preach their brutal, barbarian ideology. 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia because that's the kind of Islam they practice out there.

If someone just wants to be a normal person that just happens to pray to the East 5 times a day, fine whatever, by all means let them have at it.

But I know enough about Wahabbism to know that I wish I had never heard of it and don't want in Europe, or Ireland. Not now, not ever.

Memnoch wrote: »

Nonsense. The same could be said of Christianity with their homophobic, anti-science, anti-women agenda.

See how generalisations work?

Which is why we need a secular society that has freedom of religion, but more importantly freedom from religion for people who don't want to know about it, but where we are not naive and recognise that there are those religions out there that are at best, totally insane. At worst, at war with secular civilisation. Scientology, Wahabbist & Salafist Islam etc.

Ellis Dee

The neck of some foreigners who come here with their new-fangled religions and expect us to adopt them. And they will do anything to attract attention.

Like that Patrick fellow, who lit his spring bonfire before the High King lit his. If there had been a Boards.ie in those days, lots of people would have been telling him to feck off back to wherever he came from and take his weird religion with him.:)

old hippy

MrD012 wrote: »

whats an EU citizen anyhow , most people I know dont consider themselves EU citizens . They consider themselves Irish and Irish alone.
EU ideology is the last thing on most Irish People's mind nowadays . Thank God.

Must you bring your religious mumbo jumbo into the argument?

Feckin extremists

old hippy

MrD012 wrote: »

but something needs to change if we want to protect Irish Society from the widespread and well documented damage we've seen in the UK .

What "damage"? Have you ever been in the UK?

Seriously???

Piece of Bread.

Pretty amazing how this Mosque seems perfectly fine and even money spent on building it. And yet the Dublin Orange hall has to basically remain hidden to some degree.

skD13

The planning application went in yesterday;3325/12.

Searchable on DCC planning but related docs could take 2 weeks to follow.

Gerry Gannon owns the land, he might not be building it. But considering his architects (Conroy/Crowe/Kelly) designed it, it's possible he will be the main contractor.

The company submitting the application are called the "Dublin Welfare Society Limited".

Anyone who is interested can download information on this limited company from the CRO. Directors names etc. are all there as a matter of public record like any limited company.

Their mission statement (from their articles) seems laudable, even specifically mentions the empowerment of women. I haven't researched the directors.

I live in Clongriffin and I think this is good for the area despite some social concerns I have. I am chasing these up with various channels. Most of Clongriffin is empty space right now. This will finish a lot of it off including promised neighbourhood parks etc.

Most of the residents I know are broadly in favour with a few like MrD having none of it of course.

P.S. I'm basing a lot of my views on how the Clonskeagh centre seems to work and to my knowledge it works quite well. Ostensibly there are quite a few Islamist nutters in the UK but the law should be dealing with them. Preventing the building of mosques etc. isn't the answer IMO. And I think Islam is as batty as the next religion, but each to their own beliefs!

Memnoch

SeanW wrote: »

It depends on who'se paying for this: the developer mentions "financing from around the world" I'm thinking Saudi Arabia.

If so, the problem is that the Saudi agenda is one of spreading Wahabbist Islam to all corners of the Earth. Wahabbism is the bat**** crazy branch of Islam whose people hate secular democracy, want Sharia law in all its barbarity including amputations (which Saudi textbooks teach UK Muslim schoolchildren how to do) death for homosexuals, death for apostates, death for blashphemers, hatred of non-Muslims (especially Jews). They are also very active in funding mosques and training Imams to preach their brutal, barbarian ideology. 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia because that's
the kind of Islam they practice out there.

If someone just wants to be a normal person that just happens to pray to the East 5 times a day, fine whatever, by all means let them have at it.

But I know enough about Wahabbism to know that I wish I had never heard of it and don't want in Europe, or Ireland. Not now, not ever.

Which is why we need a secular society that has freedom of religion, but more importantly freedom from religion for people who don't want to know about it, but where we are not naive and recognise that there are those religions out there that are at best, totally insane. At worst, at war with secular civilisation. Scientology, Wahabbist & Salafist Islam etc.

I don't see any of the big organised religions being different from one another. There are lots of religious people teaching their kids things that I or you might personally disagree with.

The bottom line is that Ireland is a secular nation (or at least should aim to be.) If someone wants to build a mosque/church/synagogue and pray/worship there, then that is their right.

As long as they don't break the laws of the land. And if they do, then they can be shut down. The rest of your post is pointless scaremongering. People can WANT sharia law all they like, it's not going to happen in Ireland, no matter how many mosques they open here, though I suspect there won't be the market for more than one or two.

If you are worried about oppression by religious nut jobs then you should advocate for the removal of tax exemption for all religious organisations (including the RC).

philologos

Memnoch wrote: »

Nonsense. The same could be said of Christianity with their homophobic, anti-science, anti-women agenda.

See how generalisations work?

Except Christianity doesn't inherently have any of those things?

Slurryface

lagente wrote: »

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Plan-to-build-84-million-Islamic-center-in-Dublin-to-host-40000-Muslims-in-the-city-172632091.html#ixzz28drMaw1L

I personally object to this and I hope we quickly quash the argument that this will lead to creation of new jobs and investment, because the long term ramifications of this are large. We would not be allowed to even spread other religion on the street in many of the countries where the people are from, let alone build a cultural center for it. It is because of this religion that 9 year old girls can be married, and had sex with in countries like Saudi Arabia, beheadings of gays, etc. Islam has branches that are still stuck in the Middle Ages and worse, I'm not even going to argue on that point, and I think we should take active steps against it being built. There has been enough suffering due to unchecked religion here already.

That has to be the singlemost objectionable and insulting post I have read on this forum.
It appears the OP has no grounds for his stance other than naked and unabashed sectarianism and xenophobia based upon nothing more than ignorance and the common western trait of feeling a sense of proprietry superiority over all other cultures.
Nothwitstanding the civil liberties ramifications of the stance proposed by the OP on this issue, if his/her objections were to be followed through then where would it end, would all muslims be required wear a little yellow cresent in public? Would we phrohibit them from practising professions? Ban them from holding public office or publicly funded employment?:mad:

MrD012

old hippy wrote: »

What "damage"? Have you ever been in the UK?

Seriously???

I Just spent the last 47 posts explaining the damage with various Links to Articles about the Impact of Islam & Shariah in the UK and now you want me to do it all over again ? why not just read from the start of the thread and get up to date with whats going on.

I can spend all day posting links and factual information like I have done but eventually someone like yourself will make a new post saying whats wrong with muslims anyway , this is why I am really wasting my time posting on this forum , not one of you in favour of the Mosque have posted any documented evidence or reports that suggest Islam being good for society , on the other hand I have posted many links throughout this thread to prove the opposite.

Fratton Fred

MrD012 wrote: »

In mainstream society it does but not within Islamic communities. There are a number of reasons for this , the main reason being fear , fear of being outcast by their community.

please take some time to inform yourself on the issues . Here is a link to a report commissioned by one law for all , a uk organisation on shariah in britain.

http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/New-Report-Sharia-Law-in-Britain_fixed.pdf

THat's a load of claptrap tbh.

There are vastly differing applications of Sharia Law and the only ones implemented in the UK are those to settle disputes. There is no Sharia Court in the UK that sentences anyone to imprisonment, stoning or flogging. Sharia Courts operate only when all parties are happy to sue tham and can only operate within the laws of the country they are in.

Quoting the extremes of Sharia Law are akin to claiming that under christian law people should be stoned to death for working on the sabbath or that taking slaves from neighbouring countries is acceptable.

sensationalist scaremongering bollocks.

Memnoch

philologos wrote: »

Except Christianity doesn't inherently have any of those things?

Neither does Islam.

irishconvert

MrD012 wrote: »

I Just spent the last 47 posts explaining the damage with various Links to Articles about the Impact of Islam & Shariah in the UK and now you want me to do it all over again ? why not just read from the start of the thread and get up to date with whats going on.

I can spend all day posting links and factual information like I have done but eventually someone like yourself will make a new post saying whats wrong with muslims anyway , this is why I am really wasting my time posting on this forum , not one of you in favour of the Mosque have posted any documented evidence or reports that suggest Islam being good for society , on the other hand I have posted many links throughout this thread to prove the opposite.

Why don't you answer old hippy. Have you even been to the UK?

MrD012

The Guardian Newspaper , a reputable uk newspaper published this article.

What isn't wrong with shariah law http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/jul/05/sharia-law-religious-courts

wether you like the facts or not , we cannot afford to dismiss them as just a silly old rant against muslims , they speak for themselves and are well documented throughout the UK Media.

Fratton Fred

MrD012 wrote: »

The Guardian Newspaper , a reputable uk newspaper published this article.

What isn't wrong with shariah law http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/jul/05/sharia-law-religious-courts

wether you like the facts or not , we cannot afford to dismiss them as just a silly old rant against muslims , they speak for themselves and are well documented throughout the UK Media.

Same paper, signed by the person who wrote the article on Islam.

Should we campaign against Catholci Churches being built?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/harsh-judgments-on-pope-religion

JustinDee

MrD012 wrote: »

The Guardian Newspaper , a reputable uk newspaper published this article.

What isn't wrong with shariah law http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/jul/05/sharia-law-religious-courts

wether you like the facts or not , we cannot afford to dismiss them as just a silly old rant against muslims , they speak for themselves and are well documented throughout the UK Media.

You are linking an article about the same two-year old report you already linked and are referring to the very same person who helped compile it on atheistic grounds.
Is she saying "Muslims out"? No. You appear to be saying this though, given your comments made already about immigration control requiring a person's religion or ethnicity as another criterion determining their entry to a country. This is where your concerns cross over to willful prejudice which as you know is just as much the antithesis of the law of the land as any Sharia court might be.

Ffs, in Ireland if two underage teenagers are caught having sex, the boy is charged with statutory rape regardless of age or consent, while the girl is . . . told off.

MrD012

JustinDee wrote: »

given your comments made already about immigration control requiring a person's religion or ethnicity as another criterion determining their entry to a country.

No I never made any comments about this , your saying this , quote me where I said the above.

I said we need to look at the problems they face in the UK society and avoid them here .

I said we need to reform our Immigration system to take in less Immigrants regardless of ethnicity . We are heading for a 15.5% unemployment rate next year and a 5% drop in economic growth.

but now you have gotten me off the topic that was being discussed which is what you more than likely intented.

Fratton Fred

MrD012 wrote: »

No I never made any comments about this , your saying this , quote me where I said the above.

I said we need to look at the problems they face in the UK society and avoid them here .

I said we need to reform our Immigration system to take in less Immigrants regardless of ethnicity . We are heading for a 15.5% unemployment rate next year and a 5% drop in economic growth.

but now you have gotten me off the topic that was being discussed which is what you more than likely intented.

again. What problems?

MrD012

Fratton Fred wrote: »

again. What problems?

again , read through my posts , take a look at the linked articles.

Bannasidhe

MrD012 wrote: »

again , read through my posts , take a look at the linked articles.

You posted the link to where you got those stats you were quoting yet?

Fratton Fred

MrD012 wrote: »

again , read through my posts , take a look at the linked articles.

I have.

You have linked articles in right wing sensationalist newspapers about a few isolated incidents. All of which are completely irrelevant when it comes to building a Mosque in Dublin.

I lived in an area with a significant Muslim population and (heaven forbid) it's own Mosque. I won't for a minute say the local muslims were saints, but there was absolutely nothing to suggest they should be considered some sort of threat to English society.

Opposing a mosque on the grounds that Islam as a religion should not be encouraged is nothing short of simple and ignorant bigotry.

JustinDee

MrD012 wrote: »

No I never made any comments about this , your saying this , quote me where I said the above

I said we need to look at the problems they face in the UK society and avoid them here

You said "but its not pre-conceived or even obscene, its factual" in reply to my saying "Of course there should be border-controls and immigration policies. Just not some obscene pre-conceived decision based on race, religion or ethnicity as I illiustrated earlier has already been evident in Ireland".
This followed limp tosh as you tried to pigeon-hole me as some "Eurocrat or something".

MrD012 wrote: »

I said we need to reform our Immigration system to take in less Immigrants regardless of ethnicity . We are heading for a 15.5% unemployment rate next year and a 5% drop in economic growth

Economics, regardless how simplistic or subjective a slice you try to convey, is not the subject being discussed in this thread, particularly the faux-fission on immigration v unemployment.

MrD012 wrote: »

but now you have gotten me off the topic that was being discussed which is what you more than likely intented.

You did that yourself already. Give the presumption a miss. Doesn't do you any favours.

old hippy

MrD012 wrote: »

No I never made any comments about this , your saying this , quote me where I said the above.

I said we need to look at the problems they face in the UK society and avoid them here .

I said we need to reform our Immigration system to take in less Immigrants regardless of ethnicity . We are heading for a 15.5% unemployment rate next year and a 5% drop in economic growth.

but now you have gotten me off the topic that was being discussed which is what you more than likely intented.

What problems do you encounter in the UK, specifically?

Did you ever live near a mosque and find all manner of shenanigans upsetting the applecart or what?

jmayo

Bannasidhe wrote: »

The countries where these people are from? Oh dear, oh dear.

Old school friend of mine is Muslim - she's Cork born and bred. Can't say I have noticed many beheadings in Patrick St but I'll keep an eye out just in case.

Or two Muslim's I recently met in Spain. They're English. Not in a born in England way but in an actual Anglo-Saxon with a drop of Norman way. Has there been an outbreak of beheadings in England??? No mention of it on Sky News...
...

Converts to anything are always the worst.
They have a point to prove.

BTW where exactly is this mosque going to be ?
Just wondering becuase as sure as hell the US is going to be moving in next door keeping an eye on it.

old hippy

jmayo wrote: »

Just wondering becuase as sure as hell the US is going to be moving in next door keeping an eye on it.

How so? Why?

Benny_Cake

jmayo wrote: »

Bannasidhe wrote: »

The countries where these people are from? Oh dear, oh dear.

Old school friend of mine is Muslim - she's Cork born and bred. Can't say I have noticed many beheadings in Patrick St but I'll keep an eye out just in case.

Or two Muslim's I recently met in Spain. They're English. Not in a born in England way but in an actual Anglo-Saxon with a drop of Norman way. Has there been an outbreak of beheadings in England??? No mention of it on Sky News...
...

Converts to anything are always the worst.
They have a point to prove.

BTW where exactly is this mosque going to be ?
Just wondering becuase as sure as hell the US is going to be moving in next door keeping an eye on it.

The US government must have incredible resources at it's disposal if it can dispatch teams to keep an eye on every mosque.

MrD012

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Opposing a mosque on the grounds that Islam as a religion should not be encouraged is nothing short of simple and ignorant bigotry.

but nobody is doing that , they are opposing the mosque after studying the UK society model and realising its not for them .

can the pro mosque side show me one report that details the benefits of Islam to western society ?

because if you cant do the above well then its just all hot air with no substance from your arguments.

lagente

Dr Donkey wrote:

My point relates to the eventuality that it is financed by a foreign state,
which would be built for political purposes.

Hit the nail on the head Dr Donkey. The politics is a MAIN concern. I've been watching the Libyans take off to
Syria from Ireland, being funded and armed from Saudi and Qatar,and how religious institutions provide the perfect, moralistic, environment for deluded freedom-loving merceneries to set off and ultimately do Saudi and Qatars bidding, creating failed states while they are at it.
Having mosques in various countries increased the options opened to Saudi and Qatar, where can they get militants, etc.

They meet some guy with a sad story at the Mosque, add him and a few others as a friend on facebook,
head off to Syria/Lebanon/Libya/Turkey when they are told, and get paid for it.
Get in there quick, catch them by surprise. No time for introspection when there is freedom at stake.
Of course, we can see how great the democratic intentions of Saudi are, even lending a mighty hand to the
Bahrain regime when the democratic movement got out of control. :rolleyes

We had a well documented case of a 16 year old boy
from Ireland who was brought to Libya to fight, and underage fighters are common in Libya, even right
now in Bani-Walid.
The boy said his religion allowed for his participation. Outrageous that this comes to be, in this country.

There is more to come from here and this will need constant supervision over an indefinite period of time. Why do
the multiculturalists have so little to say about all of this?

MrD012

Do we really need this sort of thing right now, take a look at this Muslim protest in Dublin .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SggQhHdZ1Y&feature=youtu.be

wes

MrD012 wrote: »

Do we really need this sort of thing right now, take a look at this Muslim protest in Dublin .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SggQhHdZ1Y&feature=youtu.be

You mean a small protest....... Wow, the horror :rolleyes:.

Bannasidhe

MrD012 wrote: »

but nobody is doing that , they are opposing the mosque after studying the UK society model and realising its not for them .

can the pro mosque side show me one report that details the benefits of Islam to western society ?

because if you cant do the above well then its just all hot air with no substance from your arguments.

Why should we?

Why should we need to?

You want to ban it - it's up to you to prove your case. Something you have singularly failed to do.

You have also utterly failed to demonstrate this so called negative impact on UK society you keep harping on about. Tellingly, you have dodged every question about your real life experience of how UK society is negatively impacted and ignored those posters who have actually lived and worked among UK Muslims that there is no problem.
All you have is a few dubious newspaper articles and some spin (on your part) of a report that calls for a secular society in the UK.

I say this as an Atheist who absolutely believes religion should be kept separate from all and any interference in the State but by the same token people have a right to their religious beliefs as long as they do not expect me to conform to them - this goes for Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism. Pastafarianism, wheteveryourhavingyourself.

Why should Islam be singled out? Every religion has it's nutters but the majority just want to live their lives and observe the tenets of their religion in peace. Let them to it I say.

If our society cannot deal with a few fundamentalists - of any religion or none - then our society is in even deeper doo-doo then I feared.

MrD012

wes wrote: »

You mean a small protest....... Wow, the horror :rolleyes:.

It looked big enough to me , and the stuff they're chanting remind me what was it again ?

wes

MrD012 wrote: »

but nobody is doing that , they are opposing the mosque after studying the UK society model and realising its not for them .

Your most prominent example, has no bearing on Ireland, and you ignored that fact repeatedly, and just repeated the same thing over and over again.

MrD012 wrote: »

can the pro mosque side show me one report that details the benefits of Islam to western society ?

Care to show were in Irish law, where the benefit of a Religion needs to proven, so that a Church, Mosque, or temple etc can be built? As it stands, your question has no bearing on the Mosque either way.

MrD012 wrote: »

because if you cant do the above well then its just all hot air with no substance from your arguments.

I would think that page after page of whataboutery, and conspiracy theories, would qualify as hot air.

wes

MrD012 wrote: »

It looked big enough to me , and the stuff they're chanting remind me what was it again ?

It was a tiny protest, and again I see you are completely avoiding talking about the mosque, and just having another go at Muslims.

Here is an example from other protesters:
Rally brings 20,000 into city on 'Day of Action'

If we are to follow your logic, we should ban farms.

JustinDee

MrD012 wrote: »

Do we really need this sort of thing right now, take a look at this Muslim protest in Dublin .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SggQhHdZ1Y&feature=youtu.be

They marched upon the Israeli Embassy then further down road to the US Embassy and by the time they got to the British Embassy they'd filtered down to a whopping ten or twelve people.
Bear in mind that non-muslims also do this whenever it takes their fancy and the weather's good enough.
I had an argument with one of those screamers outside the Israeli embassy one day as he tried to convince me that Hamas's rule in Gaza was democratic but couldn't answer why they has suspended the electoral register there yet again.

Personally I'd be more necked up at protests by cabbies.

MrD012

JustinDee wrote: »

Personally I'd be more necked up at protests by cabbies.

I know you would , thats what worries me .

JustinDee

MrD012 wrote: »

I know you would , thats what worries me .

Thanks for your concern but life is good and the Muslims I know through work, travels or through sport are okay in my book and I'm glad and privileged to know them. Like all walks in life, there are ignorant planks everywhere. We don't agree on everything, my friends and I, but I can relax safe in the knowledge that they're not actually trying to take over my country, rape its women or steal my job.

Seriously, travel a bit and take a peek outside the confines.