Mercurius, reality's defined by the extent of experience in life, not your years in a classroom. Those spending their lives in school, only see what they've been programmed to see. Yes, it's frustrating seeing what the elite “indoctrinated and programmed”, have done to education and their lack of understanding regarding this countries history. Their blinded by indoctrinated education, programmed religion and delusional elitism.

Post-modernism's, a failed attempt by the PC to belittle those seeing the damage the programmed elite have done to the country. You may be proud of your delusional status, in your post modernist non understanding. I'm one who thrives on the future and the technological and psychological changes involved with it. I have great pride in all those who've showed us the way.

When your bereft of experience except from a book, its understandable you may believe your superior and able to determine reality. But you fail to see your a clone of the failed PC brigade. I'd hazard a guess you also have deep religious determinations, so all you see is the mirror in your mind.

Without those who had the national pride to defended this country, whilst the educated elite and religious cowered in back ground, you wouldn't exist, or you'd be in a totalitarian state. Having pride in others accomplishments, is something to be proud of. Reality's a combination of all existence,.something you can't understand within the 4 walls you've spent your life in.

I don't admire the religious foundations of this country, their disgusting, but I still have great pride in what we were, before the rightwing religious elitist takeover.

Actually it's a good article, shows just where our education system is and the intellect of those in it. Personally, I believe teachers should be those who've lived and experienced life. They should be experienced in the subject, not spent their lives in a class room. I agree, pride in our national education system isn't warranted.

For someone studying language, you certainly have no understanding of the subject, nor its content or meanings

Miki...EXACTLY

I also take exception to the idea that we should take 'pride' in the achievements of our forebears, because such actions are universal, including within the ranks of our enemies.

Admiration is a much more appropriate emotion, and the concept of 'identify with and admire the good/ recoil from and repudiate the bad' is the only one which will in the end result in a balanced view of ourselves.

Uncritical "pride" is dangerous in the extreme. It also borders on 'racism'.. "Look at what WE did"..... Its the same old "Fastest gun in the west/Toughest boxer in the ring/best at anything today-ism that may result in kneejerk racist/Hyper nationalist reactions when that which 'we' have excelled at is surpassed by another not of the 'us' crowd.

Yes.. the left has in REALITY sought to undermine the whole of our cultural and social foundations, in order to bring in the utopian 'dictatorship of the proletariat' via the inevitable dialectic of economic and social history.

Trouble is, the proletariat turned out just as bad as the bourgoise it replaced. Or in Southpark language, after the 'masses' destroyed the evil corporate Wallmart spirit, the kwikimart soon BECAME the new Wallmart due to demand and expansion. "We" are the real problem.

Again, we are left with either the barren meaningless wasteland of nihilsim, or the self contradictory/naive sentimentality of humanism or..... (should I ? :) nah.. u all know by now.

Nevertheless, we do have a unique history, and national character. Its nice to know from whence it came. The connection between the themes of the "Man from Snowy River" and the victorious Australian LIght horse in Palestine is not coincidental.

The Bible has an interesting approach to this matter..History and what we should derive from it. Applying this approach, will serve us well as a nation.

HEBREWS 11

NOAH
7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark..

ABRAHAM.

8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went..

ISAAC
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future

JOSEPH
22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

MOSES and the ISRAELITES
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea[d] as on dry land

30By faith the walls of Jericho fell.

31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[e]

..and so on...

HEBREWS 12 The application of the knowledge of these lives...

[Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.]

CONCLUSION
Yes...History matters. The author of Hebrews did not leave Rahab out just because she was a prostitute. NO... he included her and we are blessed by her faith.
Just so, we look back and see all the warts of our forebears/founders as well as the good things, and learn from it all.

Alchemist. I'm atheist, always have been, always will be.

Also, I don't have a degree. I've worked for 12 years in business and I've never darkened a classroom door as a qualified teacher. I haven't spent any years in a classroom beyond what we're all forced to spend.

Read my article in the education section if you want my opinion of university degrees.

Alchemist, not a single one of your bewidered guesses about my personal circumstances so far has been correct. You really should quit while you're behind.

Bozzie, go and bother some P&C's if you're so disgusted with them. mickijo, go and write some articles praising the Flying Doctors if you want. I think what they do is admirable. But don't ask me to carry your bags for you.

Please, and this goes for anybody else on this forum, address any further comments towards the message instead of the messenger. This is not about me.

Gusi, not all wars are for the wrong purposes. The nationalism of young Australian men in the early 1940s did lead them to fight well in the defence of their country, and surely we should be glad that they did

Dear Mercurious

"I am an atheist and always will be"...?

That's quite a radical statement of closed mindedness mate.
Are you saying that no matter what information or testimony you are confronted with, you will stubbornly deny any possibility of God or His ministry among His creation ?

Even if in the name of Christ, a man on his death bed with Cancer is healed, will you then join with the Pharisees of Jesus day and say

16"This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath."
and
24A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner."

His response:

25 "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

I can personally add to that testimony, (from experience) that genuine healing from God in Christ is as quick and dramatic as it was for the blind man. It is an overwhelming, flooding, transforming, incredible experience.
The sad thing about some of us is that no matter how real, current, valid and dramatic and convincing Gods signs are to the open minded, there will be those who exclude the possibility as a matter of dogma.

The signs Jesus did, were not to advertise a God of convenience, who we can summon at our slightest need, to do our bidding. No, not at all, they were/are as John said in his Gospel account:

[30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.]

Merc...that life is available to the humbly repentant.......to the Jew first, and then to the gentile.