SOCIAL media, talkback radio and newspaper blogs and letters pages have lit up with angry sentiments in the wake of the ugly scenes in Sydney on the weekend.

Search for yourself or just start a conversation at the bar of the local pub if you don't believe me.

For Christ's sake - or Mohammed's or Buddha's, for that matter - is that really the sort of light in which you galahs who decided to run amok on the weekend want your particular faith viewed?

What on Earth did you think you were going to achieve by confronting a few hundred police about a gripe that has nothing to do with most of us here?

What is to be achieved by appalling 22 million fellow Australians who believe, regardless of your case, the best solution is not throwing blunt objects at people in uniform who are just trying to keep the peace rather than hurt you?

For those of you who may have fled foreign climes, we're trying to befriend you, not persecute you here, which is why I suspect you came in the first place.

So don't bugger it up for everyone else by being stupid.

At the risk of being inflammatory, Saturday's scenes of surging violence and religious extremism - not the least being that enduring image of a young child holding aloft a poster exhorting people to "behead" anyone insulting the prophet Mohammed - is the public relations equivalent of a suicide bomb.

Yes. That image alone, which went viral within minutes of being taken, is that strong. And not in a positive way.

You bloody idiots.

Here you are, ostensibly protesting about an amateurish hate video funded (and reportedly heavily re-edited) by some fringe group of nutbags in the US, and thinking that you'll help restore or avenge Islam's good name and honour by trying to stage a mini-riot on the other side of the planet?

All you have achieved is setting back the cause of assimilation and multiculturalism in this country a good few years; possibly half a generation.

And you have trashed years of hard work when it comes to building goodwill, community understanding and acceptance.

And for what?

There has been no slight against your names or that of your God or prophet from Australia. There has been no repression of your religion here.

All you did was demonstrate yourselves to be as dimwitted and bigoted as the (allegedly Christian) extremists who put together that amateurish and offensive video in the first place.

&lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=f5db0201ae" &gt;Riots in the name of religion are not on. Join Paul Syvret to discuss&lt;/a&gt;

Deep breath.

In fact, to all of those who decided it was a terrific idea to go to war on the streets of Sydney over the weekend, may I just say you have achieved one thing for me and that is to reinforce the thinking that organised religion is poison to civilised society.

We saw it in the Crusades. We've seen it more recently in the IRA's brutal campaign.

We see it now everywhere from Kashmir to Kabul to Cairo as sectarian extremists of all brands of God-botheringness decide to kill each other in an effort to prove whose god or prophet or imaginary friend is more all-loving and omniscient. Get a grip, people. Any power-mad cleric can twist words of whatever holy book they have at their hands to suit them.

And the Bible is just as full of smiting, retribution and intolerance as sections of the Koran depending, of course, on who is channelling divine interpretation of the messages.

Conversely, both books are also full of messages of love, tolerance and peace.

media_camera Angry protesters clash with police in Sydney on Saturday, in response to a film that attacks Islam.

So to the people who - let's face it - went feral in Sydney on Saturday: cool it.

If there is one sure-fire way to attract persecution in this country, it is by acting like nongs and importing foreign squabbles to our shores.

You are doing the vast majority of people who make our country richer through their cultural and theological contributions a grave disservice.

And my apologies go out in advance to the thousands of Muslims in this great land who will likely suffer, even indirectly, as the result of the actions of a hot-headed and extreme few, and indeed for those of us who would lump the beautiful majority in with the bloody-minded few.

May your God bless you, preferably peacefully.

Email Paul Syvret

Originally published as PR suicide bomb from idiot rioters