Alan
what it's about is...wait for it.... sit down.... take a Bex.... aah..ok... here it is:

DEMOCRACY in action!

It might come as a surprise, but MOST (in my view) Australians are sooooo peeed off with small numbers of fringe elements telling us all what we should think and do.

If the_left are not trying to destroy the concept of 'mum and dad' as legitimate words in our primary schools they are siding with enemies of Australia such as Hezbollah. Then they are telling us that
"We have no culture".

But ask them about the culture of 'migrants' and woooo yep.. they DEFinitely have one, and we need to RESPECT it... but hey... somehow, I think (and personal interviews have vefified this) many many MANY Aussies are begining to make a stand for 'AUSTRALIAN IDENTITY' where ones ethnicity is fading and ones love for this country AS AUSTRALIANs is growing.

Dorthea McKellar an ethnic Scott wrote:

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies -
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

She KNEW where she came from, it was part of her being...BUT..... she then went on to say:

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!

and there you have it... in a nutshell.. the emergence of a 'de-ethnicized' Australian Identity.

WE NEED ETHNIC CLEANSING in Australia.. how so you say ? Simple. We need to DE-emphasize cultural and ethnic difference, and RE-emphasize "Australian" identity.

I'm supposed to be from the 'Religious Right' if you believe some posters.. should I be calling for the compulsory acquisition of homes along waterways such as Gardners Creek Box Hill and Merri Creek and Darabin Creek and giving them to Aboriginal families who have verifiable traditional ties to the area ? I DO

Alan I'm surprised that your surprise that the Christian right only wants to line their pockets. They only wish to control rather then help.

How dare Christians have a say in Politics. I mean in a democracy it should only be those who are anti Christian who should influence policy isn't it? The un Christian left should be allowed to sprout and create policy but those who hold to the moral convictions should shut up and let those of no moral convictions to run amuck

Runner, I have no problem with Christians (or anyone else) expressing their views on public policy. What I do have a problem with is when they do so, and then claim immunity from critical scrutiny because their views are their own personal religious beliefs.

Runner,

to suggest that aetheists or agnostics (like myself) have no moral convictions is insulting and a demonstration of your ignorance. It is possible for us to care for our fellow human beings without having the fear of God struck into us.

No relgious group has a monopoly on morality, there are plenty of good Christian groups out there who help people. But I believe their is a shocking contradiction in the Christian fundamentalist lobby groups who concentrate on side issues like abortion and gays, instead of focusing on true moral dilemmas (refer to authors first paragraph).

David,

Your assumption that all the left hate Australia is a gross exaggeration. I embrace much Australian culture and reject some, the same goes for probably every other culture in the world.

Wheres the Alchemist? I can't wait to here his take on this. lol

Tonstant reader thwowed up ! When we discuss our Christian heritage, of course we won't forget early manifestations of this legacy, such as the Rev Samuel Marsden molesting female orphans, firmly entrenching Christian sexual harrassment of minors from the get-go; a tradition proudly followed with single-minded devotion right up to the present day. If only they could be weaned away from their major obsession with controlling peoples' genitals and reproductive systems, would they perchance focus on stopping war and violence ? or perhaps they might focus rather more on Aboriginal reconciliation and their history of past bullying and destruction of Aboriginal societies (though I admit there were a few exceptions to the general rule of appalling conduct in the missions). But I don't think the conference was about real history, just the usual attempt to further their patriarchal power.