Dutch director killed by islamist fanatic!

[Michael Z]

Wow. Now European governments are being compared to the fundamentalist regime in Iran due to a few minor superficial similarities. Could the Europe-haters possibly sink any lower?

Though if you want to play Devil's Advocate, may I suggest that American conservatives have far more in common with Islamic fundamentalists in that they both wish to see Europe wiped off the face of the earth? At the very least they are united by a seething hatred of this continent, if some of the comments here are anything to go by.

[Michael Z]

Wow. Now European governments are being compared to the fundamentalist regime in Iran due to a few minor superficial similarities. Could the Europe-haters possibly sink any lower?

Though if you want to play Devil's Advocate, may I suggest that American conservatives have far more in common with Islamic fundamentalists in that they both wish to see Europe wiped off the face of the earth? At the very least they are united by a seething hatred of this continent, if some of the comments here are anything to go by.

Once again we have another example of statements made of the sinking europeans which are NOT founded in reality.

Your vitriol is pretty apparent from your posts, otherwise you wouldn't see the need to display that kind of hostility in front of all and sundry.

Or let me put it this way; you state that Europe will sink into irrelevancy. Not as a warning, or allied with some constructive suggestion of how it could improve (which might actually result in you facing less rancour), but simply in the vain hope that merely by stating such a thing it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe it was at that point where I QED'd and arrived at the conclusion below...

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I never directly aimed my comment at you, though I admit the statement was an extreme one.

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Well, you'd think a few million deaths would make people over there somewhat jumpy towards pseudo-fascist groupings. But then this completely and utter unwillingness to understand the trauma WW2 embedded on that culture is symptomatic of little more than ignorance. 

Oh, and of course religious freedom is principally desirable, but then "persecuting" is hardly the word here. The government in Germany refused to give religion status to Scientology. Big deal. By using such an emotive term you make it sound as if people are being hounded and herded into cells just for having that specific belief; which also makes your accusation of melodramatics above seem like a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Besides, just to rebuke your initial point further, governmental intolerance of certain groupings alone does not automatically result in a culture's downfall. Look at China.

At any rate, I refuse to be drawn into these immature "my country is better than yours!"-playground arguments you seem to enjoy indulging in. You can rant and rave to your heart's content, the USA and Europe still have far more in common than people like yourself would like to have us believe.

[Michael Z]

Well, your posting was long on opinion and short on facts.

Then you didn't read it properly. Read again and rebuke each point I made one by one. Then we'll talk.

[Michael Z]

Oh, and by the way, a long winded diatribe is NOT a fact.

Another case of the pot calling the kettle black.

I notice that you've decided not to answer my specific examples as well.

State one FACT where Scientologists are "persecuted" against.

And while we are there, perhaps you could name one FACT which states Europe will delve into irrelevancy, as opposed to your personal interpretation.

[Michael Z]

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How ironic that the name of the link should include the word "opinion", when it's meant to be one of those "facts" you were going to subside me with. And how ironic that it doesn't mention the alleged persecution of Scientologists, but simply the reaction to a propaganda campaign started by the "church" of Scientology as a reaction to them not being granted church status by the German government. As for what the state of Bavaria does, to judge all of Germany according to Bavaria is like judging all of the US according to Alabama. It's foolhardy. And that's not just a mere opinion, believe me. Ask Lewis Trondheim.

In any case, none of these links state that Europe will delve into irrelevancy, as you did.

Heck, I even agree with most of these articles - but then show me something new and something I did not agree with five years ago. At any rate, it still doesn't prove your point.

[Michael Z]

You really are dense.

This really proves my point. You obviously can't debate without adding personal insults, which illustrates that you're an extremely hate-filled individual.

I can take a good argument, but remarks like this one show that you don't care one bit about convincing the other side - you just want to belittle, patronise, and generally throw insults at them. QED.