//OTOH, vegetarians are to be actively encouraged to come, but one would lose migration-points for gambling, drinking...//

Count me out. A nation full of joyless wowsers is not a nation worth living in.

You sound like you've been listening too much to the religious right, Yuyutsu. Having fun is not sinful no matter how much some cranky old god-botherers like to anoint themselves as the Fun Police. I don't believe in Hell, but if I did I don't believe any sort of loving God would send his children there just for trying enjoy their lives.

//listening to aggressive so-called-music//

Like the drum circles and out-of-tune-acoustic-guitar playing favoured by hippies? Because that sort of shite constitutes a fairly aggressive assault ears. I certainly hope you're not referring to musical genres like heavy metal and punk, which are a good deal less aurally offensive than tuneless hippy 'music'.

//and lack of spiritual orientation.//

Oh. A theocracy then. Get bent Yuyutsu, not all of us embrace your touchy-feely New Age crap and we don't all want to live in a New Age theocracy.

Dear Pilgrim and Tony,

Everyone has a right to dream - but nobody has a right to impose their dreams on others.

What I wrote was in reply to Jay, so just as I have no right to dictate who may or may-not come to (and/or remain in) Australia, based on my own dreams, so he too has no right to do the same based on his.

Dear Alan,

Good on you for mentioning Sufism. Islam and even the Koran CAN be competently interpreted in spiritual and non-violent ways and the Sufi tradition does just that, may Allah's blessings be showered upon them.

I am wary about the term "GENUINE asylum seekers": it's a United-Nations concept and I don't give them an ounce of credit. Given that a person wants to come to Australia AND that they are harmless, we have no moral basis to prevent them from coming: their reasons for coming are not for me to scrutinise - only that they are harmless.

On the other hand, the fact that they come does not oblige me to do anything positive for them. I may help them of course if I want, out of the goodness of my heart, but I am not obliged to and in any case, I have no right to help them out of other people's pockets (such as the tax-payer).

The only thing that stands in opposition to morally-principled treatment of refugees/immigrants/asylum-seekers/whatever-you-like-to-call-them, is this stupid UN refugee-convention and the sooner we withdraw from it the better.

You provided some positive input on how to ascertain that a person who wants to come to Australia is indeed harmless. This is more of a technical question rather than a moral one and as I cannot claim to be an expert in that matter, I am open to suggestions.

Greetings all.

I wrote ‘Australians are not, in general, redneck racists hostile to refugees’

I was wrong, The vast majority of these comments prove it.

It is 'them' v's 'us' again - the cause of the world's problems since time immemorial... It is not this generation that will build a better world

Peter

PeterBo: It is 'them' v's 'us' again - the cause of the world's problems since time immemorial... It is not this generation that will build a better world.

It sure is, & "them" is dangerous. It is "them" v "us", not "us v "them." One only has to look at the European example to see that. Generations of Migrants & Refugees have been welcomed in Australia since WW2. None of these people have threatened the Australian people or it's Culture with violence. The Islamic invasion "them" has & is. There-in lies the difference.

PeterBo: ‘Australians are not, in general, redneck racists hostile to refugees’

No, you were right in the first place. Australians do have a right to defend ourselves against the tyranny of the Islamic World. That is not being red necked racist, that is being cautious & sensible.