I am taking the rare chance to get in early on a thread before the inevitable and consistent war begins. I found this article so very disturbing that I actually began to weep for the loss of an entire ethos and culture that once was typified as Australian.

When my parents first emigrated to Australia I was six years old. Although British, their cosmopolitan life-experiences did not fit them for life in an England which they felt, back then, embodied narrow and judgemental attitudes. They became committed and enthusiastic Australians, loving the tolerance, egalitarianism, and laissez-faire attitudes of their Australia.

Although our travelling days were not over I was sent back to Australia to boarding schools where my somewhat precocious and definitely unconventional spirit - first all but crushed by one terrible experience - ultimately was nurtured, encouraged, and fondly tolerated by the Sisters at Stuartholme in Brisbane.

Wherever my parents or I landed up after that we took the Aussie spirit with us and in the darkest years of my life the only thing that kept me sane was the burning determination to escape and get back "home" again, where my own children could grow in freedom and tolerance.

But in this land where shrill and vehement intolerance shockingly misuses the mantle of Freedom of Expression, where fear and loathing divide our people, where neighbours are more likely to chuck rocks than chat over the back fence and where the kinds of thought crimes which typified pre-world war 2 Germany have begun to reign, it seems that Australia, our beloved sunburnt land, is lost. The heavy miasma of mistrust, antipathy, blame, doubt and hate, hang like a dark miasma over the land.

I hope all the sero immigration supporters read this article and begin thinking again about the inevitably anti-human consequences of their position. Immigration brings energy, initiative, fresh ideas and new perspectives to a society. The contribution of migrant groups to the prosperity and cohesiveness of Australia since the 1850s has been and continues to be enormously positive.

Always be wary of simple solutions to complex problems.

"The Reverend Fred Nile, **leader of the Christian Democratic Party**,(CDP) wants to redefine Muslim religion as a “religious-political ideology”"

Am I the only one to spot the irony?

I agree, though, that it is better for groups like this to be brought out into the open, instead of letting them fester on, unseen. Banning them or their leaders only generates undeserved sympathy.

Clownfish,

you're not,all religions are ideologies of one sort or another, except mine of course which, is true.

No problem. Let him come, we advocate freedom of speech in this country don't we. If we don't like what he says we can ignore it. I don't like what the climate deniers keep spewing out but but I tolerate their right to spew. (Although there should perhaps be a law against lying.)

Matheson asks: "where do they confront and challenge the distrust and hatred of the Australian Islamic community by the political and religious right."

Perhaps it would be better if Matheson asked the worldwide Muslim community about their hatred and violence against nonMuslims...

But no, he does not and will not. People like this man have double standards. The evil that Islam does means nothing. However, if anybody dare say anything against his pet groups, they are evil incarnate. Remember, Matheson is a member of the World Council of Churches, a group that has taken a position against condeming persecution of Christians in Islamic societies because they feel it is "counterproductive".

When accusing rightwingers that define Islam as a “religious-political ideology”, Matheson ignores that this same ideal is found on thousands of Muslim websites, which state that "Islam is a complete way of life," encompassing religion, culture and government.

Mr. Matheson, if you really want to end this problem, why don't you ask Muslims to stop the hate and violence? Ask them to repeal the apostasy laws. Ask them about the way they treat nonmuslims. Ask them to be honest about the hate in the Quran and violence their dear prophet did (if you dare read Islams own traditions). What, you wont do this? Oh, its all our fault? Only the "religious and political right" needs scrutiny, right?

Muslims and bigots like Matheson want you to believe Muslims are the new jews and any word against Islam is the new racism. In fact, Muslims are the new Nazis. They follow a man that attacked, murdered, plundered, tortured, lied, enslaved and yes, Matheson, he did beat his own wife -- at least that is what Islams own traditions say.

So, once again, here we have a man that asks nothing of Muslims. It is always you, your family and friends that are wrong. If you object to Islamic ideology and practices, you are evil. They are wonderful. If they murder and oppress, that is fine with Matheson. If you speak out against those things, you are vile.

Kactuz