If cultural diversity and pluralism lead to dissatisfaction, why do governments support these ideas?

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/bush-folks-happier-than-city-slickers-20090128-7rtp.html

http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/719/diverse-political-communities

Shouldn't governments focus on setting up smaller townships where people are like-minded, rather than massive, diverse cities that people hate living in?

'If cultural diversity and pluralism lead to dissatisfaction, why do governments support these ideas?"

Who, apart from you BD, said that cultural diversity and pluralism lead to dissatisfaction?

Both the articles you've linked to here contain plenty of evidence that diversity works and that a majority of people prefer it.

The Australian study concludes that it's social disconnection that lowers the well-being index, not the fact of an area having a high numbers of new Australians, as you'd have us believe.

The author states, quite correctly, that 'this signals to government ... that more resources are clearly required ... in terms of social interventions, about bringing people of different cultures together."

This is the direct opposite to the preference you've drawn for segregated or 'like-minded' communities.

(This study BTW was carried out by a private health insurance fund, so not sure how representative it would actually be.)

In the American study, a greater percentage of people surveyed, in relation to each of the four areas of race, politics, religion and socio-economic status (59% - 65%), stated that they'd prefer to live with diversity rather than homogeneity.

In reality though, as the study points out, America is becoming increasingly segregated. But who would ever look to America as a shining example of a cohesive and happy society anyway?

BD, we all know you'd like nothing more than to create your own little christian (and muslim-free) enclave, but neither of these links support your narrow view of the world. Or are you actually trying to initiate an open and balanced discusion?

Bronwyn - while this is obviously a troll I don't think that the erstwhile BD is behind it. The spelling and punctuation are too good, and there's an absence of shouting and gratuitous quotations from religious texts.

It's just another TRUTHNOW78 troll, and I predict that's the last we'll see of its author on this thread.

No more oxygen from me, either.

Dear Bronwyn and CJ,

So you think that BD is back?

Check out - Houellebecq...
The controversial writer "Michel Houellebecq"
was on trial for incitement to religious and
racial hatred, he was accused by Islamic organisations.
The following website might be of interest:

http://www.adelaideinstitute.org/Dissenters/houellebecq.htm
"The Religion Report."

CJ

Thanks for that. Now, I'm totally confused!

It was the following post of yours, on the 'Aboriginal Nation State' thread, that lead me at the time to believe that TRUTHNOW78 and BD were one and the same.

"Another troll from TRUTHNOW78, and look who's risen most readily to the bait. What's the bet that's the last we hear from the thread originator - until the next one? Boazypork - still using your sock puppet to flout your suspension, I see."

But I obviously misread that. I agree, the two styles, if not the hysterical content, are indeed different, which is something I should have checked for and picked up on myself.

I'm starting to see your point though about 'sock-puppets', second accounts, multiple IDs, etc, etc. At first I thought you were being a tad obsessive, but I'm really finding them annoying and off-putting too now.

I'll definitely leave the detective work to you though from now on! :)

Foxy

Now, I think you're being a little too opaque for the likes of me too!

I can't see the name Houellebecq linked to either of the articles in question on this thread, so I'm assuming you're referring to the poster who's turned up recently, and established an early habit of carping from the sidelines at you, CJ, myself and others. Another detective in our midst, Foxy! I'm impressed. :)

Yes, Islamophobia is alive and well, very much here on OLO, and too on the Internet more generally. An anti-Muslim email, based on the Denmark situation according to Islamophobes, Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard, as far back as 2001, is still doing the rounds. I had a friend contact me just the other day who was taken in by its ostensibly reasonable tone, and thought it was current news and that there might be something to it.

How many more of these things are out there doing the rounds, over and over and catching new people all the time? I've got a Vietnam vet friend, with very different politics to myself, who frequently passes on emails perpetuating these same old myths, fears and hatreds. As you can imagine, he's been put straight many times, but I'm afraid it falls on deaf ears!

TRUTHNOW78

'if cultural diversity and pluralism lead to dissatisfaction, why do governments support these ideas?'

The loudest voices seem to get heard. Just like the screams of the Greens has contributed greatly to the bushfire tragedy, the same voices get heard when it comes to immigration. Anyone opposing people with different value systems immigrating here are labeled racist and sidelined. When racial riots start these same people are not to be seen. Their only answer is that the racist Australians treatment of them has caused this problem.

Governments support these ideas not because they are good for anyone but they want acceptance from decadent organisations such as the UN. This is where a lot of the crap comes from.

Dear runner,

" Thus Jesus would speak of a new
commandment, "that you love one another as I have
loved you."

Whatever happened to this basic tenet of Christianity?
Nowhere did Christ speak of excluding those who spoke
a different language, or were from a different cultural
background. He did not specify to love only the
"White Anglo-Saxon Protestants!" (WASPS).

Christ has no boundaries, and His love cannot be
limited by the blindness or egotism of frightened men,
right?

Practice what Christ teaches, and perhaps one day you'll be
able to say to Him, "I have tried to be a decent human being!"

Hi Bronwyn.

<< At first I thought you were being a tad obsessive, but I'm really finding them annoying and off-putting too now. >>

Actually, I find them amusing more than anything. It's quite fun pointing out the duplicity (and hence inherent dishonesty) of the frootloops who tend to use them to get more bandwidth for their crackpot ideas.

<< I'll definitely leave the detective work to you though from now on! :) >>

Yes, they tend to get quite nasty when exposed, as you may have noticed ;)

Bronwyn,

“Yes, Islamophobia is alive and well, very much here on OLO, and too on the Internet more generally. An anti-Muslim email, based on the Denmark situation according to Islamophobes, Daniel Pipes and Lars Hedegaard, as far back as 2001, is still doing the rounds. I had a friend contact me just the other day who was taken in by its ostensibly reasonable tone, and thought it was current news and that there might be something to it. “

As if to prove your point a friend of mine sent me an email with 5 juicy stories commencing with:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1141267/Saudi-judge-sentences-pregnant-gang-rape-victim-100-lashes-committing-adultery.html

Naturally the email was addressed to multiple recipients and the obvious intent of the viral email is to incite Islamophobia.

I came back because the same friend sent me another such email today with a bunch of stories obviously gathered for Islamophobic purposes. This thread doesn't seem to be moving but I'm here so I'll post this anyway. I didn't even bother to count them this time but probably about the same number. The lead link was:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25056815-1243,00.html

mjpb

Thanks for posting and helping raise awareness about the extent of this problem.

Yes, George Bush, John Howard et al have a lot to answer for. One can only wonder just how many of these closet bigots they've helped create, all out there behind their computers cowardly waging their phony so-called 'war on terror', stirring up fear and and besmirching the character of all Muslims in the process.

We do need to work together to combat the influence of this misinformation. Where there's a link for comments, we need to point out the bigotry and register our disgust, no matter how repetitive it might become. We have to get the message out there that this rubbish is not truth-based, but is deliberate and dangerously divisive propaganda. Likewise, a letter to the editor or emailing the editorial staff are other worthwhile options.

Where there's a name given as some sort of authority or expert figure, as there was in the Denmark email I referred to earlier, a google search can often clearly expose these people for the true Islamophobes they are. That information can then be fed back to help put the offending piece into its proper perspective.

In that particular case, when I googled the two names together, I was lucky enough to turn up a compelling rebuttal written by a Danish government authority at the time, which I then passed onto my friend to forward to the sender of the offending email. The letter was dated which is how I knew the email was eight years old, which was another useful piece of damning information!

Good on you, mjpb, for picking this up. Hopefully, others do too, and can chip in with some more ideas on how we can all work together to combat this garbage, and the fear and misinformation it's generating within the community.

Dear Bronwyn and mjpb,

Thanks to both of you.

I fully agree we have to work together to
expose bigotry where ever it exists.

However it's voices of reason such as yours
that provide a much needed balance.

Well, it's been a week now and as I predicted we haven't heard another peep from this thread's troll originator.

Mind you, I daresay TRUTHNOW78 must be a little disappointed at the lack of responses to the flame bait.

Maybe other OLO users are finally waking up to this particular troll?

Thanks for your posts guys - very revealing,

I'm not against other races coming to Australia. But it's time to organise the continent into better communities where members of these communities feel a sense of ownership over what the society believes, celebrates and values. What's the point of a Muslim having a public holiday on Christmas Day? Why should atheist's pay for World Youth Day? And why should Christians pay for the Gay Mardi Gras?

All elements seem to becoming more extreme in their beliefs (the flag is more popular and hated than ever before), So why not go our seperate ways?