The Terrorism Theory That Explains Everything… Except Terrorism
Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg is not only an expert on gender, he’s also a bit of an expert on Islam.
He was asked on Sunday about Pauline Hanson’s claim, on a podcast back in April, that a lot of Islam is based on terrorism.
Here’s what Hanson said…
“It’s an ideology and a lot of it’s based on terrorism incompatible with our culture and our way of life. And wake up Australia.”
The Australian newspaper called Hanson’s remarks “incendiary”.
Fair enough.
But an argument being incendiary tells you precisely nothing about whether or not the argument is true.
Andrew Bragg on Islamic Terrorism
Here’s Andrew Bragg responding on the ABC Sunday morning…
“Where people of the Muslim faith have engaged in acts of terror they’ve done so on the basis of a mutation in their own mind.
“The very vast majority of Australian Muslims have no interest and would entirely reject the idea of taking up arms against their fellow Australian citizens.”
So according to Andrew Bragg… when Muslims commit acts of terror… it’s got nothing to do with Islam.
It’s all down to a mutation in their own mind.
Perhaps Andrew Bragg has special insights into the minds of terrorists.
He certainly seems to have insights into biology that the rest of us don’t have.
But his assertion that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam does raise more questions than it answers, doesn’t it?
Avoiding the Difficult Questions
If Muslims who commit acts of terror do so because of a mutation in their own mind… why does this strange neurological condition seem to occur most often in Muslims?
Why aren’t Baptists, or Presbyterians, suffering this same mutation of the mind that leads to acts of violence?
When was the last time a Methodist screamed “For John Wesley!” before detonating a vest?
Over the course of 500 years the Anglicans have produced dreary sermons, endless committee meetings and weak cups of tea… but never suicide bombers.
Now, of course, I agree with Andrew Bragg that the vast majority of Australian Muslims have no interest in taking up arms against non-Muslims.
And thank God for that.
Although now I’ve accidentally raised another awkward question…
Which God are we thanking for that?
Do the vast majority of Muslims live peacefully because Islam is a religion of peace, or because they choose not to follow the violent example of its founder and what seem to be violent commands found within parts of the Islamic scriptures?
Dismissing jihad as a mysterious mind mutation does seem to be a rather convenient way of pushing those difficult, but important questions aside.
Liberal Deputy Leader Jane Hume certainly isn’t interested in those questions.
Here’s her response to Hanson’s comments about Islam…
“To suggest all Muslims believe in a terrorist ideology is divisive, inflammatory and un-Australian. Australians want change, not outrage or hate.
“But real change has a plan and that is what Australians will get with a Liberal-National government.”
Pauline Hanson didn’t suggest all Muslims embrace terrorist ideology. They clearly don’t… or we’d be in big trouble.
Hanson said that Islam encourages terrorism.
So can we talk about that?
Well no. Not according to Jane Hume, who says the conversation is divisive, inflammatory and un-Australian.
We Need to Have Serious Conversation
Now I agree with her that a conversation about whether or not Islam — as practiced by Mohammad and as outworked historically across the world — promotes violence is going to be inflammatory.
How could it not be?
But since when was it un-Australian to question religious ideology? Especially a religious ideology that’s been imported to this country via our immigration system.
Surely that’s a conversation worth having.
Not least because last year 15 Australians were shot dead… allegedly in the name of this religious ideology.
Clearly our security agencies believe Islam has something to do with terrorism.
Otherwise ASIO would have agreed with calls from the government’s Islamophobia Envoy to remove religious motivation as a central criteria for terrorism offences.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald…
“ASIO… strongly disagreed… arguing for religious and ideological motivation to remain in the definition of terrorism, as they ‘reflect the key overarching belief systems through which narratives can… mobilise large numbers of people to action, including towards violent action’.”
In other words, ASIO appears to believe that ideas matter, belief systems matter, ideology matters.
Which makes the Liberal Party’s preferred explanation — that terrorism is merely the product of a mysterious mental mutation — feel less like serious analysis and more like an escape hatch.
Because once we’re forbidden from asking whether ideas influence behaviour, we’ve already decided that some ideas are simply too sacred to examine.
Pick your poison.
Pauline Hanson asking uncomfortable questions about Islam?
Or the Andrew Braggs of this world shrugging their shoulders at every terror attack while scratching their collective heads at why so many people keep having the exact same mind mutation?
___
Republished with thanks to The James Macpherson Report.
Images via screenshot of X and Wikimedia Commons.
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This is why nobody wants to vote for the Liberals they are Labor-lite. Although with the nonsense you hear from their moderates ( disguised teals) even saying Labor-lite may be a stretch.
Peaceful Islam… Followers of Islam are the only people that shout ‘God is Great’ whilst murdering people
* 1993 Bombay Bombings (India): A series of 12 coordinated car bombs orchestrated by Dawood Ibrahim’s syndicate killed 257 people and injured over 700.
* 1998 US Embassy Bombings (Kenya & Tanzania): Al-Qaeda detonated near-simultaneous truck bombs outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing 224 people.
* 2001 September 11 Attacks (United States): Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people.
* 2002 Bali Bombings (Indonesia): Suicide and car bombings targeting tourist nightclubs in Kuta, perpetrated by Jemaah Islamiyah, killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
* 2004 Madrid Train Bombings (Spain): Coordinated backpack bombs detonated on four commuter trains by an al-Qaeda-inspired cell killed 193 people and injured over 2,000.
* 2004 Beslan School Siege (Russia): Chechen rebels seized a school in North Ossetia, holding over 1,100 hostages; the three-day siege ended in a chaotic shootout that killed 334 people, mostly children.
* 2005 London Bombings (United Kingdom): Four coordinated suicide bombings targeting London’s public transport network during morning rush hour killed 52 commuters.
* 2007 Yazidi Communities Bombings (Iraq): Four coordinated suicide truck bombings targeted the Yazidi towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, killing 796 people.
* 2008 Mumbai Attacks (India): Ten members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group launched a four-day shooting and bombing campaign across Mumbai, killing 166 people.
* 2014 Sinjar Massacre (Iraq): The Islamic State (ISIL) systematically slaughtered an estimated 953 to 1,200 Yazidi men and captured thousands of women and children during their invasion of Sinjar.
* 2014 Camp Speicher Massacre (Iraq): ISIL militants executed between 1,000 and 1,700 unarmed Iraqi military cadets after capturing the air academy near Tikrit.
* 2015 Paris Attacks (France): A series of coordinated shootings and suicide bombings by ISIL cells at the Bataclan theatre, cafes, and the Stade de France killed 130 people.
* 2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting (United States): A gunman swearing allegiance to ISIL opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub, killing 49 people.
* 2017 Mogadishu Bombing (Somalia): A massive truck bomb detonated by al-Shabaab outside a hotel in Mogadishu killed 587 people.
* 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings (Sri Lanka): Coordinated suicide bombings targeting three churches and three luxury hotels by a local Islamist group killed 269 people.
* 2023 October 7 Attacks (Israel): Hamas launched a massive, coordinated cross-border assault involving rocket barrages, military infiltrations, and massacres at a music festival and local communities, killing 1,139 people, injuring/torturing/r4ping 3,000+, and taking civilian hostage who were tortured.
* 2025 December 14 Bondi Beach Massacre (Australia): an antisemitic and Islamic State (IS)-inspired terrorist attack occurred at the Archer Park area of Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, during a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah attended by around 1,000 people. 15 people shot dead, including 11 men, 3 women and a 10-year-old girl; 40 injured.
Here is a consolidated list of 20 major terrorist organisations active today, drawn from GTI (Global Terrorism Index https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-terrorism-index-2026 ) data and corroborating sources. (All groups listed are responsible for severe harm, mass violence, and human rights abuses.)
GTI 2026 shows 70% of global terrorism deaths come from just four groups: IS, JNIM, TTP, and Al Shabaab.
Top 20 Terrorist Groups in the World Today (2025–2026)
1. Islamic State (IS / ISIS) — Deadliest group globally; active through affiliates in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
2. Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) — Dominant jihadist coalition in the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso).
3. Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — Driving Pakistan’s sharp rise in terrorism.
4. Al Shabaab — Somalia based; responsible for mass casualty attacks across East Africa.
5. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) — IS affiliate; responsible for most terrorism deaths in Nigeria.
6. Boko Haram — Nigeria-based jihadist group; continues attacks despite fragmentation.
7. Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — IS affiliate in the DRC; rising violence targeting civilians.
8. Taliban — Although governing Afghanistan, still designated terrorist by several states; linked to regional destabilisation.
9. Al Qaeda — Decentralised global jihadist network; active via affiliates.
10. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) — North African jihadist group; now largely merged into JNIM.
11. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — Yemen-based; historically responsible for major international plots.
12. Hamas — Designated terrorist organisation by multiple governments; responsible for mass casualty attacks including Oct 7.
13. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — Iran-backed militant group active in Gaza.
14. Hezbollah — Lebanon-based; designated terrorist by many governments; operates regionally.
15. Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — Separatist group driving attacks in Pakistan.
16. Khorasan Province (ISKP) — IS affiliate in Afghanistan; responsible for high fatality attacks.
17. Ansar al Sunna — Mozambique insurgent group linked to IS.
18. Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) — Former al Qaeda affiliate controlling parts of northwest Syria.
19. New People’s Army (NPA) — Communist insurgent group in the Philippines.
20. ELN (National Liberation Army) — Marxist guerrilla group active in Colombia and Venezuela borderlands.
Just because there are a few terrorist organisations like:
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, Indian Mujahideen, Students Islamic Movement of India, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Al-Badr, Al-Umar Mujahideen, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Ansarullah Bangla Team, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh, Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State Khorasan Province, Islamic State Sinai Province, Islamic State Central Africa Province, Islamic State East Asia, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, Ansar Dine, Katibat Macina, Al-Mourabitoun, Ansar al-Sharia, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Sunna, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Khorasan Group, Jund al-Aqsa, Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Fatah al-Islam, Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic Jihad Union, East Turkestan Islamic Movement, Turkistan Islamic Party, Caucasus Emirate, Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs, Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade, Ajnad al-Kavkaz, Armed Islamic Group, Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Takfir wal-Hijra, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Maute Group, Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao, Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, Ansaru, Jundallah, and Jaish ul-Adl,
doesn’t mean Muslims are evil.
\sarcasm tag just in case.
Mr Bragg needs to read ‘A Journey into the mind of an Islamic Terrorist’ by Mark Gabrielle (ex lecturer in Islamic history at Al- Hazar university)
His mindset is one that turns a blind eye to the truth, lest he upsets the small minority who subscribe to Islam. Though it is growing 6% of Melburnians are Muslims. Through Gramskis ‘long march through the instituions’ they will gradually gain positions of power.
James, such a great article & the fact that you always shine a light on such a unique & individualistic style & you expose the evil, vile & monstrous grubbiness of I$lamic ideology & their desire to infiltrate the countries that they want to dominate.
Kym, nicely researched & articulated. . .wonder if the msm were to be presented with these facts, would they dare to broadcast it or just tear it to bits with their academic, 😈 evil-eyed far-left, woke critique?
Senator Andrew Bragg (an Opposition Minister ) is a reason why no thinking person and who loves Australia would vote Liberal. Is he really “Nuts” like The Mad Hatter in ‘”Alice in Wonderland ” , and, is the Liberal Party ( apart from Sen. Alex Antic, Michaela Cash and a few others ) like the crazy characters in that story, or, are they so desperate to retain seats , and, the impossible dream of becoming government with all the privileges and rorts that come with the job, that they will promise the Muslim Community anything, provided the Muslims make huge donations to the Liberal Party from money , we , the taxpayers previously donated to the Muslim Community !!! First, Bragg insults our intelligence by saying there are male , female and ” others “. Now ,we have his asinine statement that Muslims have a genetic mutation which makes them do violent acts. He implies that they are not responsible for acts of terrorism .
Please enlighten us ! What is the name and number of this alleged ” Genetic Mutation ” ? Is it inherited from one , or , both parents ? Is it only found in males , or, females ? Is it a Recessive or Dominant Gene? When did the alleged Mutation first occur ? Precisely, in which ethnic populations is it found ? In which religions ? And in which countries does it predominate ?
In contrast with Bragg , we have Associate Professor Andy Schmulow of Wollangong university of School of Business and Law, specialising in Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law, who is standing for the Senate in 2028 (Australian Citizens Party ). He is fed up with the massive CORRUPTION in Australia , that Royal Commissions have exposed corruption, but, nothing ever happens ! One of many cases was the CBA charging dead people for financial advice; the actions of Joyce ; of a Director of PWC, etc , etc. No senior executive ever goes to jail for Fraud ! APRA and ASIC turn a blind eye . The Professor’s assessment is that Australia is being destroyed by the Bandits who include politicians and their Big Business Mates (which include the Big Unions ).
According to “Unemployable Media ” , Albanese believes private savings should be nationalised .(This happened in Greece a few years back ) . Superannuation is OUR money to be spent how we choose . It is compulsory savings out of people’s earnings to fund their retirement. Albanese held “The Superannuation Round Table “. He believes Super should ” be used as a national asset ” . This is why he gave $500 million to India to improve their infrastructure with our money ! Please remember he was president at uni of the Communist Party. ” The Leopard does not change its spots ” ! This is pure Communist Ideology ! And WHAT is the Liberal Party going to do to stop Albanese’s proposals ? Rein ! Rein ! Zero !
One of the Associate Professor ‘s Podcasts was taken down and he was prohibited from posting for 11 months. Critic, Journalist and Activist Tommy Robinson who reports on crime, Climate Change , etc,, and who said a Catholic priest who visited him in prison was “brilliant “, and, Mahyer Tousi who reports on the Iran War, etc have received many Death Threats and been banned from running their Podcasts in the UK. They now both broadcast from the last bastion of Free Speech–the USA . If I were young ,I’d go to live there because the Corruption in Australia is unchecked , and, growing worse every day with people like Sen Andrew Bragg and Liberal MPs Jane Hume and Hastie, etc who , instead of making Australia a good place to live , just spend their energies in trying to destroy Pauline Hanson and ON.
So goes the leader, (Mohamed) so goes the pack. By their fruits you will know them. Why isn’t there more historical evidence and information about Mohamed in the public arena? Maybe that’s too inflammatory?
Maybe that’s inconvenient to the people, including, ignorant & blind politicians, trying to dismantle the Judeo – Christian culture of this nation and the West in general?
I say ignorant & blind because, if they would recognise and see Jesus as worthy to follow because of the fruit of His life and leadership, contrary to Mohamed’s and the fruit that comes from people acknowledging and following Jesus’ ways, they would have a massively different attitude on Islam.
Barnabas Aid’s Prayer Booklet (some 80 pages) lists 40 countries where Christians are persecuted. Out of that 40, in 22 of those countries, the persecution comes from Islamists through government or terrorists. How does Mr Bragg explain that? Mutations?