Mr.P.Pig, merideth, lots of ridicule but what exactly are your problems with

"we need to foster an environment where individuals can flourish regardless of race or religion."

Mirko has not promised an easy road to that goal, rather suggested that we should work towards it.

Do you have a fundamental disagreement with the basic concept?
Is your concern that some races or religions hamper "flourishing" so that it will never happen?

I have some sympathy with the idea that some religious beliefs hamper individual and social development but interpret Mirko's article to mean that invividuals are free to flourish as much as they are willing to do so. If you don't think that is a worthy goal please explain why.

Some constructive comment rather than sneering derision might be useful. Please!

R0bert

R0bert:

"Mirko has not promised an easy road to that goal, rather suggested that we should work towards it."

Mirko managed to say very little of anything. This is not my fault.

"we need to foster an environment where individuals can flourish regardless of race or religion."

On the face of it there is nothing wrong with that statement, of course you would be well aware that it means absolutely nothing as is. I defy you to find one concrete action that is implied. This is the main criticism I am making. Presumably this interfaith/race dialogue has been going on for a while by now and the preparatory rhetorical flourishes have been made, we are about to start drafting the important bits by now, surely - the bits that actually mean something, right? Wrong. There is nothing beyond the intro. Otherwise you would be talking about the details instead. Lets face it, most people don't know what to do. That does not mean that anyone should win by default, simply because they have a spiel ready to go.

If someone comes across with lines like "scientific studies into human wellbeing" then it is appropriate to cast doubt on how rigourous the findings are likely to be. When people talk about flaky pseudo-science these are precisely the sort of noises they refer to. There are good reasons to be sceptical.

Root causes, you have encountered this elsewhere I take it. On the face of it a sensible approach surely. Only problem is they're invariably associated with rewarding the people that behave the worst, obviously they are the ones suffering from the greatest injustice and so if only we are more accommodating. Humans learn, the point is that the root causes argument, as generally implemented, probably teaches the wrong things.

Now to the actual solutions that are mentioned in the article. The last two paragraphs, which can be paraphrased as "if we all pull together and try". That is it, after all the groundwork that is all he has to say. How seriously should this article be taken.

Racially motivated rapes and sexual assault is a far more worrying trend then a "few" drunk youths in the streets.

Both are wrong but to silence any criticism on the racist attitudes of Arabs, christian or muslim or non religous, but to spread the word around the globe that white aussie are racists is beyong belief. What blows me away time again is that the extreme left do not see how racist they are by assigning different standards to different races. What, are Arabs so inferior they can't be charged with such crimes against humanity?. Are whites so superior they should be better behaved? I read it was called paternalistic racism. I think so.

I do believe racism is on the rise. And I blame the extreme left. No different to Pauline Hanson. Howard did a better job of getting rid of the extreme that the supposed supporter of suburbia, the Labor Party, have done. Fancy Latham prancing around with Bob Brown and Peter Garret dancing around singing silly tunes and big noting himself with extremely white celebrities from an extremely white industry. Like us battlers really need that to represent us.

The left will be on the back burner until it moves back into suburbia where it all happens, not in the cosy little "foodcourt style multicultural" english type suburbs nestled close to town and the leafy northern suburbs.

Many Australians detest that closed in stuffy lifestyle and will detest all those pushing for their cultural genocide. So yes racism will increase. Aboriginals were treated the same, anyone with birthright here will fight for thier way of life, same as history tells us now and may remind us again one day when it looks back at the damaging "political correct" years.

Mirko also appears to be saying, stop blaming arabs for what they are doing, as it's not the normal arabic approach. I may be wrong but could some one inform me as to what arabac nation is neither a basket case or so heavily controlled and suppressed, that the only thing that flourishes is fear and violence.

It is not our responsiblity to foster an environment to satisfy others coming to our country, it is up to those coming to understand and accept our ethics, laws, social expressions and customs.

Mirko says that arabs want peace and harmony just like us, but the example in arab countries and the fact that arabs continue living the same way here, only has one result. A repeat of what their own countries culture is like.

To have any chance of acceptance and harmony in a country, you must have everyone following the same cultural norms. Otherwise its the new comers that are discriminating and being racist towards their hosts.

Australian cultural norms, mostly let everyone be themselves responsibly, and don't hassle others. Changes to our cultural norms, occurr when we as a nation realise that they are a progressive addition to our lives and we gradually adopt them as we become comfortable with them.

When others come here with our help and support, telling us that their way is not only better but we should accept it. Yet the example of what they want to continue with, is the primary cause of their cultural problems, they say we are racist and biggoted.

What we have to realise is than we can expect nothing less from those that follow barbaric and violent cultural isms and there is no place for them here. If those cultural norms are so important to these people than the peace and harmony, that this country culturally expresses. Then they should be in a country that expresses the culture of their choice and not here.

It is morally repugnant that Lebanese gangs are allowed to get away with physically and mentally violating other Australian groups.

Pommies don't call themselves English Australians! Neither do Greek, Italian, Yugolsav, Ukraine, South American, Canadian - the list goes on.

So it's OK to belt up a couple of Life (yes life) Guards and just get a pat on the wrist. The badly behaved whites were taken to task for their bad behaviour - but not the Lebs.

"we need to foster an environment where individuals can flourish regardless of race or religion."

Why does Mirko think we haven't been doing just this for decades?

It is not our way to impose our religion on others.
It is not our way to impose restrictive morality upon others .
It is not our way to use racist violence against others.
It is not our way to excuse violent behaviour towards others.

Yet Mirko excuses just these things and support for them in the Muslim Lebanese Community in Sydney and thinks that might help 'foster an environment where individuals can flourish regardless of race or religion'.

How can that be achieved?