Well said Ghassan,

A healthy society is created when we accept and affirm our similarities, not when we argue about what makes us different from each other.

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it's not open" - Frank Zappa

Same old bigots crawling around.

Runner speaks about illegal queue jumpers as if that was a real proposition at any time in the real world - those queue jumpers are now the very same people being made citizens of Australia you twit.

We locked up babies and called it border protection, we beat the children and called them vermin, we bashed the men and women and called them "Illegals" then had to admit they aren't.

We invaded and occupied two countries based on phoney information.

Leigh, you are one of the worst types of bigots - 3 rd generation bigot. First generation are the worst while the 7th gens. like me don't know any different.

WE all live on this island and not one of us is more important than anyone else.

Beside all that there is no such thing as a constitutional citizen, it is purely a voluntary process available to permanent resident migrants if they want to be citizens.

It did not help Vivian Alvarez one iota did it?

"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." (Malcolm Forbes"

More education required, methinks.

I can feel a creeping White Australianism in the air ...

I see no problem with what John Howard is asking of all potential immigrants.People like you are usually Ghassan are not the problem.If you don't believe that Sydney has a serious Lebanese crime,and ani-social problems,then you are being very selective about the realities you observe.Unless your community starts to admit to these problems and be pro-active in combating them, living in denial will only deepen the alienation that you community feels.

At a recent citizenship ceremony in Sydney of 750 people only 150 stayed for the national anthem.

All we ask is that people agree to some very basic tenants of the rule of Australian Law,respecting the rights of men and women,and being committed to Australia by holding down a job.

We are not asking you to give up your culture or your religion,just respect others beliefs.

If you think something is wrong with these requests,then you are in the wrong country.

Would Marrilyn Sheppard start usung some facts and logic to back up her assertions,as she have become very tiresome.

I know it's a cheap shot, but at least Dr Hage uses English correctly.

And who would blame anybody for not hanging around for the dirge that passes for our national anthem?

When i returned to Australia after 4 years in a Muslim country where i had come to hate and fear Islam, for good reasons, I went to an RSL club where i was surrounded by grossly fat, semi-literate, drunken oafs (of both sexes) whose only interests seem to be gambling, swearing, and behaving like morons I thought to myself, "Is this the way of life i want to help preserve?"
It isn't, but I'll still fight to stop the Muslim fanatics take over the world anyway because we at least have the freedom to be oafs and it is the freedom that is worth defending.
The Muslims I had known paraded their piety but they were corrupt, lieing hypocrites. This guy isn't what we have to worry about, it is the Muslim religion, 'the way of life', the umma, that is what you should be afraid of and be prepared to fight tooth and nail, because it is coming.