Dear Al,

Did you quote any religious verse?

Look at your posting history.

cont'd...

And referring posters to websites
that contain biblical refernces
also counts, old chum!

Dear Al,

Thank you for the compliment (I believe I am astounding).
I read your link because you asked me so politely - in measured tones.
And, no, I prefer not to live dangerously - it is bad for my digestion.
The world will always abound with beliefs and tenets that one or another of us find unacceptable. Our individual reactions usually depend on how threatened we feel

Paul,

It's a pity your Catholic schools taught that non-Catholics couldn't be saved, especially as, in 1964, the Pope released Lumen Gentium - a document that suggested that there were paths to salvation outside the Church. What you experienced was some sort of selective Catholicism: teach 'em what we want and ignore the rest. Sadly, many Catholic schools still do that. Luckily, many don't.

Wiki: >>During the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Australia was a sectarian society divided between Catholics — predominantly but not exclusively of Irish background — on the one hand and Protestants of British heritage on the other.<<

Just a reminder that we Aussies have a long history of taking sides that divide society. When I was a kid I can remember my father berating the tv when Bob Santamaria had his weekly broadcast. Bob was a staunch Catholic and had strong socialist leanings. My father was Protestant and hated socialists. When my father was growing up and through most of his life he used the term Catholic like a Nazi uses the term Jew..."he's catholic as well" kinda thing. Depending on your Christian doctrine you would be advantaged or disadvanted, it was real and affected people at a subsistence level for all of our nations existence. We were more intolerant of other Christian denominations than we were of the Mohammadans, who we simply dismissed as heathens.

The Christian contribution to Australia’s migration policy is to let Muslims in to set up their communities in peace and build their places of worship with the freedom to practice their own cultural legacy........That is the greatest gift the Christians could give to the Muslims........because we know there would be a one in a zillion chance of it happening in a Muslim country.

Interesting post, sonofgloin. I'm too young to remember such things, but my teachers at school used to tell me of a fierce rivalry - or at least a simmering suspicion - between Catholic and Protestant shoppers in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. The Catholics went to TC Beirne's, while the Protestants went to McWhirter's. Seems silly and trivial, but it's the way we were. And you're right - I'm sure neither would have minded half as much if their business went the way of a Muslim or a 'Chinaman' - as long as those 'nasty Protestants' (or Micks) got their money.