Euthanasia is one of many, many issues where huge majorities would like to see change. In a democracy legislation would keep up with the people it is supposed to serve.

We've been very unlucky to have a parliament full of extremists making evidence-free decisions on our behalf, but which don't represent our values. Rudd may be a Christian, but he's not an extremist. Hopefully we'll see some change.

Fundamentalist views have had centre stage which gives the impression that their ideas are mainstream. Regardless of how packed these circus/churches get on weekends, they are a small minority of the population.

Survey after survey shows that your average person is way more progressive than the laws or the people who represent us suggest. We are not America, so why are we being treated as if we are?

That's a bit harsh, Aime.

The world is a scary place. We share the world with billions of people with totally different attitudes to us; many countries are armed with weapons which could literally destroy the planet; technology is advancing at a breathtaking rate and we are deluged daily with information we have no time to process.

Under the circumstances, surely you can see the appeal of believing that it all boils down to a simple equation of good versus evil, and that when things are at their worst the creator of the universe will remove you and your frends to paradise while the dying unbelievers get to see that you were right and they were wrong.

We all know it's childish, but they deserve pity, not contempt.

When are the likes of Brian going to pull his head out of the sand and see that his religion (secular humanism) based on the evolution myth has failed our society miserably. Even the most irreligous parents are sending their kids to faith based schools because of flawed humanism that produces people with little to nil morals. It obviously irks him greatly that many if not most Americans have woken up to the fact that the continuous revisions in the science textbooks in regards to evolution has continued to showed what a flawed religion (sorry theory) it is. Brian think its okay for the politicians he likes to impose a death culture on our society (suicide, abortion, drugs, immorality) but I prefer politicians with a bit of moral fibre.

Runner, your comment verifies the truth of the article. You want to impose your values on everyone else, whether they agree with you or not. I can't impose euthanasia on you as it is voluntary, but you wish to impose a possibly undignified, painful death on me by removing my right to choose euthanasia. If, by your rules, suicide is a sin, it is my right to sin as I wish and cop the consequences. It is your right to ask me not to, but it is not your right to forbid me.
This is just one example of how the religious wish to impose their will on others. Just leave me alone to go to hell in my own way

“The sole reason that we have material existence is that the interplay of the physical laws remain absolutely inviolate. It is all the rules obeyed exactly - or it is nothing. This is the essence of reality. It is the holy tabernacle of physics.”

Can’t you see your problem here Brian and friends? Your statement above indicates that you hold to an absolutely materialistic, determinist position – that this is a rigidly clockwork universe – yet you want things to be somehow different to what they are!

If you are correct, you have not chosen your views and neither has John Howard or anyone else. Our beliefs and actions are simply the inevitable end-products of a mindless, uncaring, physical universe.

You can blather on as much as you like about things, but on your own terms there is no logical basis for thinking that will change anything. But of course if you are right you won’t be able to stop yourself blathering on or even becoming a Pentecostalist or whatever, because in a deterministic universe you and everyone else has no control over the apparent choices we make.

It is only if we are genuine free agents that anything makes any sense, but if we are free agents, that is the end of the clockwork universe and the door is also opened to the possibility (dare I say it?), of God.

Don’t like what I’ve said – well, don’t get mad at me because I can’t control what I say – but then you can’t control getting mad at me either.

Crazy!!

runner,

How has 'secular humanism' failed society? In the reasons parents send their children to private schools, the faith basis of the school would be but a small footnote. The fact that the public school system is grossly underfunded is probably the main reason and not the lack of religious teachings.

Science is about what we know, something which we are ever increasing and refining. Thus science textbooks need to change to reflect these changes. Scientific theories are based on observation and experimentation, so as we gather more evidence the theories can be refined to better match what we observe. It addresses the material world and doesn't attempt to explain spirituality or answer the question 'why?'. Science and secular humanism attempt to explain that which can be demonstrated to be common to us all, and leave the questions that can't be answered with evidence or rational argument to the individual's faith. It's about recognizing that even if what you believe is the real truth, that attempting to force those beliefs on others results in a decremental outcome for us all.

Religion, (using Christianity as a case study) takes a collection of ancient texts and blindly assumes them to be true. Only since there are so many obvious absurdities and contradictions they need to be 'interpreted', or sections outright ignored. Ultimately I'd like an answer to this questions: What fundamental underlying reason is there for people to believe in your religion over all the others in the world, not why your religion is 'better' but why your religion is 'true'?

The religious like to claim that the only reason that morals exist is because of religion, and that without these morals (and hence religion) that society will fail. However if it can be demonstrated that certain behaviors (ie morals) are necessary for the stability of society, then they will have the support of 'secular humanists'.