Dear Yuyutsu,

Of course, you are right. The war is not with the Palestinian people, many of whom are merely victims caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, they may be treated as enemies.

Dear Foxy,

You are right also. I am wrong. As far as I know, there has never been any sort of a democratic process for the Palestinian people to choose Hamas for their representatives.

Dear ttbn,

I doubt that you would appreciate having any religion forced on you, but you apparently are ok with yours being forced on others. In the missionary compounds children were forced to adopt an alien religion with such nonsense as a virgin having a baby and people living on after they are dead. If people want to voluntarily accept such rubbish they may do so. However, forcing such garbage on the mind a child is criminal. Especially, since they already had a religion which doesn't alienate them from their people. Aboriginal children were exposed to other forms of child abuse in addition to the Christian nonsense. Many non-Aboriginal people are discarding that nonsense. The percentage of people with no religion reported in the census continues to increase. Our local Christian Reform Church near where I live sponsors the Genesis Project which denies evolution and maintains the earth is about 6,000 years. They also support those beasts of pray, the school chaplains. Go and drink at the font of ignorance.

At present the Israelis are fighting a war with the Palestinians. In war many wrong acts occur. We can look at that war and compare it with the war between the settlers and government of Australia and the Aborigines. Australia had a policy of removing children from their Aboriginal parents and forcing Christianity, an alien religion, on those children. Although Israel is not free from criticism, the government has not removed Muslim children from their parents and forced Judaism on them. Can Australia look back at what has been done and apologise for forcing an alien religion on Aboriginal children?
Posted by david f, Monday, 16 October 2023 2:18:26 PM

Answer- You could argue that Anglo-British Australian's taught Aboriginal Children Christianity so that they would have a common understanding with Anglo culture for common understanding to create peace. Aboriginal culture is very different from other world cultures (everything else in the world was alien) because Australia was so isolated- it couldn't remain isolated- therefore Anglo-British did Aboriginal culture a service- in a sense. Queen Victoria had a policy of preservation of native cultures during the 1800's.

Dear David,

Hamas emerged in 2006 in Gaza's elections against its
rival Yasser Arafat's Palestinian faction - the Fatah
Party. It has been in control of Gaza since. No elections
have been held there after and Hamas maintains political
control.

Many Palestinians are reluctant to condemn Hamas seeing
Israel as an occupier state over the Palestinian territories.
Israelis see Hamas as a terrorist organization - bent on
the destruction of Israel.

It's a horrid situation all round - and who knows when and
how it will all end.

Innocent people on both sides are caught up in this conflict.
I'm still praying that some leaders will be able to find a
solution on which both sides can agree - but at the moment
things do not look very hopeful.

David

Hamas won 44.5% of the votes, 72 seats, more than half in the 2006 election.

On the aboriginal/Christian topic you are just as ignorant, clearly following the Leftist script of bent historians.

I was sent to Sunday school, then church by my father. At the age of 16 I was allowed to make up my own mind, and I stopped attending church because I found it boring. I still do, and I have not "witnessed my faith" as the 'rules' say since. Organised religion is a crock, but I remain a Christian.

Not that much different from your "forced" Christianity in the case of aborigines, who had the same opportunity to exercise their own will as I did. But you, as a condescending Leftist, would probably think that aboriginal people couldn't do that, and needed to be saved by atheists like yourself.

Your description of Christianity as "nonsense" and "garbage" and the teaching of Christianity as "criminal" is a disgrace, even for you.

Your very long life has been wasted. You have wallowed in ignorance. And you know bugger all about anything.

CM

Hear! Hear!

I understood that David F is an immigrant who's Australian history is not a lived one, but reliant on Leftist story-telling.

To paraphrase Christ on the cross, forgive him because he is ignorant and doesn't know what he is on about.

Another comment I'd make is that the gap still exists, but I would at least give credit for the early settlers/missionaries for thinking education important. Maybe David was annoyed at Christianity being a moral authority, but is that worse than any other entity being a moral authority? The thing I most disliked about the yes campaign was their belief that they held the moral high ground. I can state on the basis of my life experience that anyone who assumes to have moral authority is a see you next Tuesday kind of person. I think that the principal of equality has a role in limiting the assumptions that you might make about others.

There was nothing like the coercion used to convert aboriginals to Christianity, as is being applied to the general population to give up our proper ICE cars, & our reliable coal fired power generation & change to fire prone expensive battery cars, & intermittent hugely expensive wind power.

How is this Forcible conversion justified? Oh yes, lies & a con job.