Darwin.

I. Don't. Hate. The. Deeds. I. Just. Don't. Admire. Some. Of. Them. Please. Read. The. Article.

Historians try to record what happened. It's a very complex and difficult task and it's open to endless revision and revisitation. But it's not a question of pride or shame or hate.

Meanwhile, there you go again with this curious idea that it is not for us to make comparisons between "people whose standards and laws are different/ quite opposite to the present generation".

That's quite an impressive statement of cultural and moral relativism. Is murder not murder regardless of when and by whom it was committed? Is genital mutilation not genital mutilation regardless of when and by whom it was committed?

You have a curiously flexible, postmodern approach to "standards", when it suits your argument...

Boaz.

I will take your comments as meant in jest.

I went to the hospital and asked them to test me to see if I had the gene for Judaism, but it came up negative.

Also, tested negative for Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Shinto, Jainism, AFL, Union, League and Soccer.

I'm clear.

Sorry to disappoint you.

(Anybody who has had their sense of humour surgically removed should probably ignore this post)

Dear Mercurious,
no... my post was not mean't in jest. Quite serious. But clearly most of my last one was based on the assumption of Jewish ancestry, which I clearly said was speculative. The only relevance might have been like with the Cohens and Levi's for example, who can trace their biological ancestors back to Aaron brother of Moses, who's tomb exists to this day in Petra, Jordan.
So, if you were Jewish 'biologically' it would be suprising that you would deny that which caused you to 'be' and G-D's place in it.

CALLING REDNECK.

'Pride', Admiration, Genes ..... Reddy will love this :)
From the Daily Telegraph this morning.

"New Zealand researcher Rod Lea and his colleagues have told an Australian genetics conference that Maori men have a "striking over-representation" of monoamine oxidase - dubbed the "warrior gene" - which they say is strongly associated with aggressive behaviour.

Dr Lea said his unpublished studies investigating rates of disease in Maori show they have the highest prevalence of this gene, found in many individuals but never linked to an ethnic group."

Personally, I find that the most likely explanation to the large and robust size of Maories and many Islanders is that the 'survival of the biggest/strongest' during inter-tribal wars led to the 'large' genes being passed on while those of smaller less athletic stature died out in combat.

Does this mean that Maori can take 'pride' in their genetic makeup in that it represents 'superior warrior ability' ? :)

It raises an interesting question, because it's not like our forebears who relied more on knowledge and modern weaponry to achieve success than physical prowess.

Just another angle.

Nationalism is often abused for unnecessary wars yet it is also used for necessary wars.

Such tribalism is part of nature. Believe it or not, humans are only animals who still hold onto many of its natural instincts. Only humans use bombs and such instead of claws, teeth and limbs.

As for pacifism, this is an excuse, a label to cover up their cowardice.

I admire Mercurius' sense of humour.

I take pride in my ability to ignore the dogmatic.

I don't take pride in being an Australian, I just think I am lucky to have been born here, therefore, I find it perplexing that people take pride in what is simply an accident of birth. I remain grateful I wasn't born a woman in many other countries where religion rules. I am grateful Australia remains secular.

I admire people who realise that Australia is unique and wish to protect its environment, its many and varied people and to speak out against oppression and dogma.I am grateful we still have freedom of speech (compared to many other countries).

I am grateful our PM can go for walks in public, even though I do not admire his politics.

Even though my father and my grandfathers fought in both WW1 and WW2, I cannot take pride in their bravery; I am not them, however I do admire them and am grateful for their love and commitment to their fellow Australians and to their families. Interesting to note that none would have anything to do with guns and would not have guns in their homes after their experiences in the Wars. I admire them for that.

While I believe that history needs to be be taught to our children, I remain sceptical when a politician involves him or herself in its teaching. After all a politican is by nature partisan, and history requires teaching in as detached and objective a manner as possible. Labels such as 'black armband' or 'patriotic' are used and misused and ultimately misunderstood. Just as pride and admiration are misused and misunderstood.

People are now mentioning,with disgust in many cases, 'the past thirty years', in talking of the history of Australia.
Because for the past thirty years, Australians past and present, have been represented as a bad bunch of racists,slavers and just about everything that is terrible in human history.
This by the leftists who infected the media, the universities and colleges. They would have been known in war time as fifth columnists or traitors and their venom still lingers particularly in educational fields.
For three decades we had expatriots like Greer who could see nothing right with their country of birth, there was this huge cultural cringe that leftists fed off and in doing so have caused an enormous amount of damage. I would like to see them lose their citizenship. They are not worthy of this land and are not worthy to be called Australian.