Yeah...but, it's impossible to stand up and do the right thing if you can't debate your opposition, the Hipster Left don't believe in democracy or a fair go for all, their "logic" goes something like this:

Objection to Gay marriage is homophobic and discriminatory.
Homophobic discrimination is illegal therefore homophobic discrimination is wrong.
We know homophobic discrimination is wrong because we wrote the laws which prohibit it, so we're the experts on right and wrong!

It's quite instructive that the author's commentary on the "brave social experiment" that is Australia produces lines such as this one:

"As our man Russ says in The Gladiator: 'Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.'"

Unpacking this sentence, you find a New Zealand-born actor reciting lines that were written for him by an American playwright in an American movie. Yet somehow this qualifies it as Australian, simply because it is voiced by "our man Russ".

Sadly, almost everything about Australia Day is bogan.

Sam Kekovich, anyone?

Indeed Pericles,
Whose national day is the 26th of January? There is no such thing as an Australian Nation or an Australian people much less an "amazing race of people" as described by the ethnically challenged "patriot" Bob Katter. Who are the "January 26er's"? Will they please stand up?

There is no longer any one Aussie culture or national cohesiveness because of the division
caused by too many separate cultures, many of whom will not even embrace the Aussie flag,
the previous symbol of national unity.

They feel no loyalty to the Aussie flag at all.

They swear allegiance to become Australian but they fail
in their first easy test of allegiance by rejecting
the Australian flag.

If anybody wants to bring up the usual red herring
of the Aboriginal flag, then the same test applies,
why do they not show any allegiance to this flag either.

Too many cultures and too many flags don't make for national unity and one nation.
The whole thing is a farce and will blow up into civil war in a few generations.
The hostility is there, seething underneath a mask
of politeness.

Tolerant society,nonsense!

According to the author, an 'iconic Aussie' is an Aussie who doesn't support Gay marriage.
Well then, the apparent majority of Australians who either support Gay marriage or who don't care either way, must all be bad Aussies then!

I still don't see how Gay marriage will affect anyone else negatively in any way?

Cherful, what a depressing post. :(
Australia will descend into Civil War within a few generations?

So what would you suggest we do to prevent this then?
Should we be flogging all those citizens who don't fling themselves to the ground and praise The Lord for the Australian flag?

Australia seems to have managed living with multiculturalism for centuries now, and apart from sending all other non-Aboriginal people back to their ancestor's country of origin, I predict we have no other choice but to continue to make it work.

There is an Aussie culture, a real Aussie culture, but it's not in your face, it's not lauded with extravagant rituals or thrust upon anyone with wild or misty-eyed enthusiasm; it's subtle; it's in the spirit and purposefulness of the surf life-saver at your favourite beach, and the bush fire-fighter quietly or frenetically 'just doing his/her bit'; and in the crowd enthusiastically applauding a great performance irrespective of whose 'side' they represent, and in displaying real empathy with a losing or distressed competitor; it's in a 'fair go', in accepting people at face value irrespective of the way they look, speak or dress; it's in 'pitching-in' and helping out, and in a playful and mildly disrespectful sense of humour.

There's a recognition of multitudinous 'origins', overlay-ed by a primary and intense attachment to this land, its vastness and variability, its difference, and its enormous promise; and there's recognition and respect for all that past water-under-the-bridge, the history, the challenges and the sacrifices made to build this nation.

We see the continuity of this spirit in just about all of the kids born in this country, with many also carrying cultural values, practices and language from various overseas origins, but the finer elements of the Aussie spirit are truly contagious - maybe because they're not 'over the top' or overly-prescriptive. Multicultural we are, partly by virtue of origins, and increasingly by sharing our opportunities and taking a genuine interest in many of the finer attributes other cultures have to offer.

Sure, we're not perfect, and not homogeneous, but there is an underlying character unique to this culture, and it ain't half bad; and, our government's got very little to do with it.