Thanks from me too Tony. I am a little younger than you, just turned 60. I spent my working career in the public service and watched the standards of integrity slide over that time, both politicians and public servants. It used to be a standard rule that public servants would provide impartial advice to Ministers without fear or favour. Now the only advice that goes on the record is what the pollies want to hear.
I too in my retirement will try to do my little bit to try and halt the slide down the slippery slope.
And B_D, religion, Christianity or otherwise, is not the answer to the problem no matter how much you keep preaching.

Mr. Kevin you unfashionably reveal your inner thoughts and hope of fairer society.
Maybe Australia still has elements that make it a better place, particularly than more riven countries, some by us .
To day is the time of girding up, to defeating, in the terminology of the fashionable, the Islamo-Fascists (whoever they are not within the definition of Paxton The Anatomy of Fascism, still our treasurer uses it so it must mean something, a rallying cry like ‘get the ###’ perhaps).
Revelations of compromise and wonder have no part.
This is serious, the zealots of religion are being stirred to fight not debate and politicians benefit.
Terrorism by us is not terrorism we wear uniform and don’t bomb civilian targets that is why there are so many casualties Someone does a computation, using agreed methods published in peer reviewed journal and it is denied, some torture or in panic break the rules of war, exceptions, bad apples.
The different are terrorist, morally adrift..
Lies? Which ones? Iraq as shown in the Downing Street Memo, see Mark Danner the Way to Secret War and many others.
Purity? Fairness? Media events?
How big is child abuse and what is meant, just sexual, which is interesting and thus concerns so many? How many women involved? Is early training brand identification, abuse?
I am diverted!
Might is right profit is morality are to-days calls and whilst revelations such as yours are attractive they should only be aired in private. No one is interested in SIEV X, that is yesterday. We say who comes here!
To day is white chargers and God’s cause(any, they will fight), diverting from issues and so power prevails and crazies rule our world spouting moralistic nonsense.
In a world of shrinking resources we are being prepared.Leaders live on.

Australia is still evolving...meaning we all can affect where we end up... I for one want an Australia for my little girl- 6 years old, where she lives in an society of ordinary decent people where she has the right and opportunity to seek her happiness as an adult of her own choosing provided it does not disrupt the fundamental must to continue as 'ordinary decent people' society.

HIstory is spread with people forming societies and governments to govern them, and sub groups hungry for power and authority hijack the government for their own interest until the government no longer represents the people, 'animal farm society' develops where all people are equal but some are more equal- hence demand unequal rights and benefits', and we all know that it is a dead end, when the dust settles there is destruction of not only our lives but animals, plants and fish with the mother earth that sustains us... for the remaining to build another society of ordinary decent people, for most of us want when we open our door to go out.

If it is god, that is those who believe that when we die then something survives us that has to deal with its maker before its journey is complete, that helps us maintain our self of communal decency, so it is. To others, if it is just good will to all men so the good will is returned, so it is. But let the common driving force to create and maintain a society of ordinary decent people continue strong and vigilantly...

We have to be vigilant, for we know the unbalanced selfish that hide among us will always act in deceptive skill and force to take away the fruits of our hard work, and we should have the street smart skills set to detect and prevent such from taking hold...meaning we all have a duty to watch each other to ensure we act to maintain a common decent society and strong enough to act to diminish the power and authority of those whom join to try harming this...

Sam

Another unhappy "B" grader, who failed to make director, biting the hand that fed it, & still does with a nice pension.
Unfortunately this subspecies appear to have a lot of fellow travelers.

Leigh if you complacently accept the shocking things Australia is doing to other people without cause then you probably are living in a vacuum somewhere off planet.
I am a 6th or 7 th generation Australian who became aware of aborigines in 1967 when the referendum was held to make them people in their own country. Are you proud of that? Does it make you feel all rosy inside that until 1967 all aborigines in their own country were listed under the flora and fauna act?

I was treated pretty terribly by my parents who were also very unhappily married so I don't understand why rich, spoilt white brats like our Liberals, Nationals and ALP can bear the notion that black kids here are dying 20 years before my own grandchildren will. Or how they could legislate to lock up innocent babies and children behind razor wire in the desert for years on end.

How could they stand silently by while Shayan Badraie, the Bakhtiyari children, Michael Yousefi and thousands of other children were being tortured in Woomera?

My oldest grand-daughter was 10 when the TAMPA was turned away and she has felt sickened and bereft for all those years. My youngest grand-daughter is 6 and I don't want this Australia for her.

I don't want an Australia that will blow up Afghanistan and Iraq because the US says to, and I don't want an Australia that cheerleads while Israel bombs Lebanon out of existence and persecutes and tortures the Palestinian people on their own land.

Grow up Leigh, you bring shame on your children and grand children while you complacently sit on your racism.

Dear Rossco
how right you are. "Religions" are the inventions of men. What I refer to is the simple return to our Creator in humility and sorrow for our waywardness.

TONY... I want to retract my rather harsh imputation toward you of 'cheering' us on the slippery slope. I re-read your article and am quite touched by the honesty and accuracy of the description of these changes in outlook and integrity over time.

The revelations that things turned out not to be quite as squeakly clean as you thought regarding our involvment in various world arena's are no surprise to me. I learnt a longgg time ago that sin just gets more sophisticated with the persons status, but its still sin.

I totally identify with what you said, and can say "I'm hearing you" but sadly, you offer nothing but 'try harder' to make a difference.

Rossco, if a return to the standards given by God is 'not' the answer, can you please enlighten me what is ? Don't you notice a correlation between the time period Tony refers to and the abandonment of the faith of our fathers from the 60s onward ?

As we travel further down the secular road, we are swamped with 'sex sells' at every level of life. I strongly urge you to read just how bad it got for Israel toward the end of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and what King Josiah had to do to restore things. See the incredible 'sexualization' of the whole society.
Please read just this chapter if you don't mind.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=12&chapter=23&version=31

Good as Josiah was, he made one fatal foreign policy mistake, which cost him his life.

ROSSCO
Please indicate something we can sink our teeth into to redeem our failing society. There is not much to choose from mate. But at least give us a hint of where we are in need. (according to you :)
Humanism
Marxism
anyother_ism