What is God?

It's a little annoying at the beginning, but if you make it to the end it is really worth it.

10 terrorist targets that are better than Parliament House

Our politicians are worried about their workplace being a potential target for a terrorist attack so they have beefed up security to make themselves feel better and our citizens safer, or at least the few thousand that work and visit each day can feel a little more safer than they otherwise would have going through the layers of security that already existed before the #TerrorHysteria invaded.

As much as many of us would enjoy seeing the demise of a few upon Capital Hill, we actually like our billion dollar flagpole and some of the people we elected to sit under it. So, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I offer the dummies guide to 10 better targets for prospective terrorists to leave their mark on Australia.

Graphic sourced from www.smh.com.au

10. AFL/NRL clubs or stadiums
You can't get much more Australian than sport, and you won't get more Australians enlisting in the defence force to fight against your fundamentalism than if you target their beloved national religion. It's also one of the few places you can be assured of getting tens of thousands of innocent people in one location as well as live media coverage of your attack sponsored by alcohol, gambling, interest charging banks or burgers with crispy bacon. But be careful of which team you target; an attack on Collingwood might get you more thanks than vitriol, especially if you take out Eddie McGuire in the process.

9. Australian Christian Lobby

As its name implies this is a lobby group comprised mainly of conservative, fundamentalist pseudo-Christian fanatics. It has been often argued that they may be one of the most, if not the most, influential lobby group in Canberra. They regularly garner the attention of politicians from both sides of the House to speak at their functions and conferences, where issues like abortion, sexuality, marriage and the sanctity of the 'family' unit is never up for negotiation. Please, take them. We don't like them either.

8. The Tall Poppies

Basically we would like those on our rich list to be taken down a peg or two:

Rupert Murdoch - he still thinks he is Australian and is able to influence our politics even though he technically doesn't get a vote.

Gina Reinhart - amongst other things she is renowned for the fourth worst poetry in the universe, unless you believe the rumours that she is actually a Vogon, in which case she rises to third place.

Andrew Forrest - seems to mean well, but can't keep his pesky nose out of Gina's anal gland and seems to have an unbelievable simplistic solution to every social and welfare issue known to humanity. 

7. Catch the Fire Ministries

As one of the most deplorable and bigoted 'Christians' in Australia, particularly focusing his hate speech towards Islam and homosexuality, Pastor Danny Nalliah is deserving of a fatwa, a jihad, a crusade or an untimely death from venereal ebola. He is the founder and President of an evangelical pseudo-Christian church, leader of the Rise Up Australia party, self-proclaimed healer and resurrector of the dead and a moronic young earth creationist amongst many more failings as a modern hominid. Danny recently celebrated his 50th birthday by thanking his mother for not aborting him. If only we could go back in time and convince her otherwise.

6. Adolf Hitler

Speaking of time travel, instead of being a terrorist you could use your boundless energy, endless resources and merciless martyrdom to perfect time travel and go back to the 1930s to kill Hitler, thereby preventing world war 2 and the Holocaust. This would allow the Jews to remain in Europe, Israel would never be established, the Middle East would never have been unfairly conquered and divided and Islam could remain a peaceful religion without all that nasty baggage. 

5. Australian Family Association

Founded by fundamentalist Catholics, notably the infamous B.A. Santamaria, as the National Civic Council, the core premise of its existence is similar to the ACL in attempting to 'promote the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society'. Unmarried cohabitation, children out of wedlock, single parents, non-heterosexual relationships and access to IVF or adoption by anyone other than a married couple is offensive to them. Their most vociferous spokespeople have previously warned the public of the secret agenda to turn your boys gay, your girls into prostitutes and to legalise pedophilia and bestiality.

4.Australian Defence League

A nationalist and xenophobic rabble that was once anti-Semitic but found an easier and more popular target in Islam. Apart from racist and Islamophobic rants across the Internet, particularly through its social media accounts, the organisation has come under recent scrutiny after the revelation that members of the Royal Australian Navy involved in the divisive 'Operation Sovereign Borders' are also members of the ADL. 

Because of the apparent lack of a single hierarchy or formal structure of this movement it is a difficult target, but one whose annihilation would receive resounding secular and cross-party applause around the nation.

3. Political arsehats

Pauline Hanson, Cory Bernardi, Jacqui Lambie, Mark Latham and Christopher Pyne to begin with, but we could easily list a hundred more. Yes, they are only morons and hardly anyone takes them seriously, but that potentially makes them very dangerous, especially if they were to team up like a nightmarish pack of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

2. Shock Jocks

Andrew Bolt: Convicted perpetrator of hate-speech, self-affirming bigot, general egomaniac and rabid conservative douchebag.

Kyle Sandilands: Moron. Enough said.

Alan Jones: a rabid conservative and, unfortunately, popularly divisive celebrity talkback radio host with a mouth like a 17th century syphillitic tavern wench with Tourette's. He tops this list because of his unmatched ability to excite the masses and potentially incite violence and atrocities against innocent people.  His demise can not come too soon, particularly if it is caused by being put in 'a chaff bag and thrown into the sea' as he once suggested be done with former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

1. Yourself

Seriously, if you want to make a public statement using martyrdom to promote your cause then just blow yourself up in a wide open space with no one else around. I am happy to post your message on YouTube and ensure that you are remembered as a complete douchebag along with everyone else on this list. Please accept that as a small token of my appreciation for making this world a better place by your absence.

A New World Religion Backed by the United Nations

This article was subsequently published at Online Opinion 
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12002


The world is going barking mad with religiosity! While many of us feel that we have known this for a long time, it has always been difficult to find substantial evidence that wasn't countered by arguments of religious vilification.

However, I’m not talking about Islamic suicide bombers, Protestants vs Catholics in Ireland, the abhorrent members of Westboro Baptist Church, ‘pro-life’ radicals bombing abortion clinics, or any of the other examples of minority groups being less than good examples of the faiths they follow.

Instead, I would like to open your eyes to a new pervasive religion that is steadily growing and insidiously lurking in your community. If successful it will have a terrifying impact on the existence of life as we know it.

Regardless of your political views, spiritual beliefs, faith or lack thereof, please bear with me for a moment while I tell you a short story. Even if it sounds a bit familiar, please persevere.

This story is set on a unique world; a smallish blue-green environment with abundant vegetation and teeming with wondrous life forms on land, air and water. In this world, there is a sentient humanoid species who believe that their world has an undefinable, immeasurable and yet omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent energy force that interacts with all life forms.

This force gives them life, nourishes, teaches and provides them with all that is needed to live well and, as if they were its own children, they call this force "Mother".

They recognise that Mother is an indivisible community of diverse and interdependent beings with whom they share a common destiny and to whom they must relate in ways that benefit Mother.

However, their world is confronted by an evil that is attempting to dominate and exploit Mother and other beings. This evil is causing severe destruction, degradation and disruption of the life-sustaining communities, processes and balances of Mother which now threatens the wellbeing and existence of many beings.

They are conscious that this destruction is also harmful to their own inner wellbeing and is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother is sacred. These clans are acutely conscious of the critical importance and urgency of taking decisive, collective action to prevent the evil enemy causing impacts on Mother that threaten the wellbeing and survival of all species.

Sound familiar? No, it isn't the plot from James Cameron's blockbuster, Avatar - but the resemblance is not a mere coincidence. While Avatar has been justifiably compared to the historical and current issues of our own world, it now seems that the lines between fantasy and reality have blurred even further.

Apart from a few tweaks for syntax, everything above in italics is a direct quote from the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, which was passed in Bolivia on 22 April 2010 at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth and has since made its way to the plenary floor (here and here) of the United Nations.

'Mother Earth' has been transformed from a metaphoric and mythical euphemism into pseudo-scientific woo! You have not entered the Twilight Zone; you are not watching a CGI enhanced movie; this is reality and the world is about to enshrine the beliefs of a new-age religion (or a revival of ancient mysticism) into legal rights on par with those of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now, before you retort with “it's all about protecting the environment” or label me a shill for capitalism and corporate world domination, let me correct you. For the record, I am a staunch environmentalist. I believe in, and promote the protection of landscapes, habitats and species. I readily acknowledge that human activity is essentially bad for this world and that we need to curb our greed and consumerism. You will hear no argument from me on those facts.

But, that is NOT the point of this rant. What I object to is the use of pantheistic and Gaia inspired language that, if adopted on an international level in a legal treaty, will have the effect of making "Mother Earth" the new deity of a green-religion forced onto all of Earth's citizens.

No, I am not being overly dramatic. Read the details for yourself so that you can fully comprehend the implications. It is littered with religious undertones and metaphors that have enormous legal repercussions on every human being:

"we must establish systems for governing human behavior that recognize the inalienable rights of Mother Earth and of all beings that are part of her" and

"the fundamental freedoms and rights of Mother Earth and of all beings should be protected by the rule of law, and that the corresponding duties of human beings to respect and defend these rights and freedoms should be enforced by law"

Such statements, when taken to their natural conclusion, imply that you and I cannot even dig a hole in the ground or kill a cockroach for fear of prosecution under some future law. Even cleaning your house might become illegal because of the bacterial colonies that you would destroy in the process!

This is not merely a feel-good unifying statement of our inarguable environmental responsibility as custodians of the Earth. It is a deliberately transformational credo that redefines our very existence and our relationship with all life on this planet.

All of this poppycock has stemmed from the rising groundswell of support for an environmental movement that has ceased to function as a sensible social and political force. It is now, undeniably, a zealous quasi-religious cult that wishes to impose a narrow-minded and anti-scientific view that all life is part of one universal ‘energy force’, which we are now obliged to pay homage to, for all that 'she' has done for us.

This is nothing short of irrational pandering to the fantasies of earth-worshipping, crystal-healing, indigo children. Human beings are now eagerly lining up to be the sacrificial lambs at the altar of Gaia.

This type of international politicking and pseudo law-making will do very little to improve our relationship with the environment or save many species from extinction, but it will make some people feel good as they run naked through the forest with blue birds on their shoulders and rabbits bounding at their feet singing some Disney inspired anthem. Except that the forest is likely to become a restricted area - after all, animals and plants will have a right to exist without any human interference.

This is not an isolated event to be ignored or passed off as the random act of a fringe third world nation. This has been decades in the planning and follows the inclusion of Rights for Nature into the Ecuadorian Constitution in 2008 and the United Nations' proclamation of April 22 as International Mother Earth Day, distinct from Earth Day on March 22 each year.

The UN's own website for Mother Earth Day states:

In 2009, at its Eighth Session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues requested special rapporteurs to prepare a Study on the need to recognize and respect the rights of Mother Earth. At its Ninth Session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will discuss the findings of the study, as well as works toward establishing a Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth.

Please note that the United Nations did not act out of mere tokenism. This is a predetermined action to meet a predefined goal and it is sanctioned and supported by the member nations of the UN. Conspiracy theories aside, there is a real agenda in play and it is supported by:

Agenda 21: an initiative of the United Nations that seeks to create a world bound by the principles of sustainable development; and

Codex Alimentarius the UN global strategy to manipulate and control agriculture, food and supplements devised in 1963 and guided by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) with the support of 184 member nations.

All of this is pointing to a future where your current life and lifestyle is marked for demolition as unreasonable restrictions are inevitably placed on the energy you consume, the food you eat, the materials you buy and even the places you are allowed to visit.

The reality for the 7 billion human inhabitants of Earth is that something needs to change; to continue on a destructive path is certainly unsustainable. On that we can agree.

But the answer is not to anthropomorphise the environment, to give rise to a crass spirituality or empower the most weirdly radical movement of the modern era. Nor is it to throw the human race into an era of reliance upon heavily regulated food production by profit-driven corporations reminiscent of the science fiction classic, Soylent Green.

The answer lies in education and self-regulation of our own consumerism. We may not be doing enough in a timely manner, but we are making changes, slowly and surely.

Faith in our ability to succeed on that pathway is far more palatable than faith in Gaia and the religiosity that surely follows.

  

God Smites Victoria

Back in 2004 I established the Theocracy Alert early warning system. Over the last 4 years it has fallen by the way due to a lack of verifiable threats to our freedom from religion.

However, with the recent comments by Pastor Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries (close association with Hillsong Church) I'm thinking of reinstating the Alert. This is just disgraceful!

Abortion Laws to Blame for Bushfires?
"He said these bushfires have come as a result of the incendiary abortion laws which decimate life in the womb."

Censorship or Backdown?

[update 2: The Age have reinstated the article ... no explanations]

My previous post about the "Forest Fire Jihad" warning needs an update. The Age has removed the article from its site. WHY? Because of all the publicity it has received in the last 24 hours, or because it was asked by the Government, and an embarrassed Attorney-General, Robert McClelland?

[update 1: It is possible that The Age just decided to cash in by charging $2.20 access for everyone who wanted to read it, however no other Australian news sources are reporting what the rest of the world have regurgitated in the last 24 hours. Why so silent?

A Daily Mail report (UK) states: Police say they have seen no indication that the Victorian blazes were a 'forest jihad', launched by a group of Islamic extremists using fire as a form of terror against Western communities - despite South Australian Premier Mike Rann labelling the perpetrators as 'terrorists'.]

Fortunately there are other sources and I link them below as well as copy the article for posterity.

Islam group urges forest fire jihad
by Josh Gordon for The Age
September 7, 2008

AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror.

US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands".

The website, posted by a group called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network, argues in Arabic that lighting fires is an effective form of terrorism justified in Islamic law under the "eye for an eye" doctrine.

The posting — which instructs jihadis to remember "forest jihad" in summer months — says fires cause economic damage and pollution, tie up security agencies and can take months to extinguish so that "this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time".

"Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organisation were to claim responsibility for the forest fires," the website says. "You can hardly begin to imagine the level of fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia and in Australia."

With the nation heading into another hot, dry summer, Australian intelligence agencies are treating the possibility that bushfires could be used as a weapon of terrorism as a serious concern.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws.

"Any information that suggests a threat to Australia's interests is investigated by relevant agencies as appropriate," Mr McClelland said.

Adam Dolnik, director of research at the University of Wollongong's Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, said that bushfires (unlike suicide bombing) were generally not considered a glorious type of attack by jihadis, in keeping with a recent decline in the sophistication of terrorist operations.

"With attacks like bushfires, yes, it would be easy. It would be very damaging and we do see a decreasing sophistication as a part of terrorist attacks," Dr Dolnik said.

"In recent years, there have been quite a few attacks averted and it has become more and more difficult for groups to do something effective."

Dr Dolnik said he had observed an increase in traffic on jihadi websites calling for a simplification of terrorist attacks because the more complex operations had been failing. But starting bushfires was still often regarded as less effective than other operations because governments could easily deny terrorism as the cause.

The internet posting by the little-known group claimed the idea of forest fires had been attributed to imprisoned Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab Al-Suri. It said Al-Suri had urged terrorists to use sulphuric acid and petrol to start forest fires.

Check out all the links through Google here.

Other Sources:
Jihad Watch
Western Institute for Study of the Environment News
Clipmarks
Canada Free Press
Hillary's Village

Firebugs are Terrorists

Thanks to @Jinjirrie for the heads up (a Retweet from @mparent77772) on this tabloid-inspired report in The Age last September:

Islam group urges forest fire jihad
[update - The Age has archived this article see follow up post ]

I'm not so much interested in whether this was a plausible threat or not - it really doesn't matter. What I did find interesting was this:

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the Federal Government remained "vigilant against such threats", warning that anyone caught lighting a fire as a weapon of terror would feel the wrath of anti-terror laws.

Go on Mr McClelland ... someone has done it - now, what did you say you were going to do? And will it still apply if they are Caucasian and Christian?

The journey of life

Human existence is such that we are forever seeking that which we do not have. This desire for a more decadent lifestyle is defined as materialism and capitalism and it is the fuel that drives our economy, pollutes our lives and is destroying the environment in which we coexist with more than 6 billion people and a billion other species.

This competitive race for greater wealth, or perceived ownership value, leaves us with a continual yearning for more. We can, therefore, never be truly happy following that spiral pathway of unfulfilled satisfaction.

It is not until we give up all such desire, to focus only on what we are and what we have within our being, that we will find true happiness. And it comes freely, at no cost to anyone, but with great benefit to ourselves and to the greater world around us.

This doesn't mean that we need to give up on our material life, our possessions or career; it means that by finding and focussing on the inner peace we will become less reliant on drawing happiness from the physical world.

As an Agnostic I'm not religious in the slightest, but a Jewish philosopher once claimed that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven".

The truth from that analogy is that the journey to physical wealth can cloud all that which offers real happiness in the journey of life.

Gaza Ceasefire?

Any ceasefire, truce or treaty between Israel and Palestine will be short-lived unless it includes:
a) the complete withdrawal of Israel AND
b) the establishment of a separate Palestinian nation AND
c) the public acknowledgement of an end to the Zionist agenda.

I do not believe that all these three things are possible. At the best we may see A and B, but never C. It is likely that we will only temporarily see A.

"True peace is not merely the absence of conflict: it is the presence of justice." Martin Luther King Jr

War across the Middle East is inevitable

The Angry Arab News Service commences a blog entry titled "Unintended Consequences" by writing:

"have just returned from the Middle East and witnessed how Israel's assault on Gaza is radicalizing mainstream Muslim opinion. Shown endlessly on Arab and Muslim television stations, the massive killing of civilians is fueling rage against Israel and its superpower patron, the United States, among mainstream and moderate voices who previously believed in co-existence with the Jewish state."
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/01/unintended-consequences.html

I couldn't post a comment on the blog, so instead my reply is here:

No - not unintended.

It was quite predictable and part of the masterplan - full scale war across the middle east is not only inevitable, it has been carefully orchestrated.

It is no different to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that started the Vietnam War. It is no different to the Reichstag fire that allowed Hitler to seize power. It is no different to the US government's complicity in 9/11 that allowed it to enter Afghanistan and no different to the fake WMDs that led to the invasion of Iraq.

So many successive governments cannot be that stupid and unlucky - even when "led" by the likes of President Bush.

There is no coincidence - only the illusion of coincidence (no apologies for The Matrix quote).

The New World Order continues to make its moves on our chessboard. It will only cease when we start acting like Kings, Queens and Knights instead of Pawns.

Gaza on Twitter

Here's what the Twittersphere is saying about Gaza:

Coming Soon - broadcasting live to your desktop

What Lies Beyond the Activism?

Featured in The West Australian, Saturday 4 October 2008 pg14. This is the unedited version - italicised areas differ from the printed version.

Taking the opposing view of a high profile group, such as Pride WA, is always fraught with danger. And if, as the devil's advocate, you happen to be an out (and proud) activist for human rights, questioning the validity of Mardi Gras' poorer and impotent WA cousin is likely to inspire a gay fatwa.

Religion and ice-breaker aside, this debate is about whether the Pride Parade still offers any significant purpose in a modern society that has largely redeemed itself of a torrid, but relatively short-lived, history of fear and hatred towards non-heterosexual citizens.

During the last few decades of activism, lobbying, community consultation and legislative debate, Pride was one of a handful of necessary tools used to highlight the cause of homosexuals (bisexuals and trans-folk were forgotten for many years) and sway public opinion. To this end the successive committees achieved their purpose and the battle was won.

Today, just a few years after the first parade in 1990, we have sexual and gender equality exceeding other states and beyond what most countries could hope to achieve in a similar time frame.

Even the current Premier, who vehemently opposed the 2002 legislation that transformed our state, is unwilling to water down this advancement. What is done is done; we now move forward as a progressive and respectful society.

This year Pride has donned the tag-line of "re-invention". And it is timely that it do so, just as a teenager must eventually lose the unruliness and loutish nature of its youthful exuberance in favour of a more cultured, mature and civil interaction with a diverse society.

The question for Pride, once famed for attracting a six figure audience to witness political parody, is what lies beyond the activism?

Sydney's internationally famous Mardi Gras has grown up from its protest roots to become a unique tourist drawcard that injects millions of dollars into the economy. Perth, due to its isolation and population, is incapable of achieving the same.

The Parade is waning, the after-party has retired to a nightclub, and Northbridge Fairday attendance has dropped significantly. Homophobic crimes are no more concerning than racial or religious inspired ones and the majority of our GLBT youth enjoy the company of their straight friends across venues without question.

Pride is in the sunset of its years. It deserves our respect and thanks, not our lifeline.

Zeitgeist: Religion is Bull

The Red Pill

Watch this movie!

ZeitGeist

See the light!

Thanks to my very good friend Adam for these two gems this week:

A fundamentalist preacher was taking a walk one day and happened upon a young girl who was playing with something in a cardboard box. When he got closer he could see that in the box was a litter of newborn kittens.
"What kind of kittens are those?" asked the preacher.
"Why, they're Christian kittens," replied the little girl.
The preacher walked on, pleased to see that the little girl had Jesus foremost in her heart.

A week later, the preacher was walking down the same street and saw the little girl again playing with the kittens.
"And how are your little Christian kittens doing today?" asked the man of God.
"Oh, they aren't Christian kittens, they're Atheist kittens," replied the girl.
"But...but... I thought you said last week that they were Christian kittens," sputtered the flabbergasted preacher.
"Oh, they were. But now their eyes are open."

Positively new blog description

The previous month has been a time of change for me ... a bit like an enormous spring clean - out with old and in with new. I start my new position with another recruitment firm on Monday, my domestic situation has taken an interesting, but positive, turn and my immediate family deciding to relocate to Brisbane in coming months.

I have had this week in between jobs to ponder a number of large and minor issues, one of which has been this blog. It had occurred to me that the previous description of this blog was rather negative and defensive. It stated simply what I was against, rather than what I stood for.

This blog represents the voice of an Aussie from the libertarian left who is committed to fighting conservatism, nationalism, economic rationalism, fascism and religious fanaticism. If you disagree with my perspective, please state your case and have a rational debate. I don't care much for people using religious texts in an attempt to prove their argument. Try using reason and logic instead!

So, out with the old and in with the positively new ...

This blog represents the voice of a left leaning Aussie who is committed to liberal democratic socialism, with a strong emphasis on pluralism throughout all facets of society - economic, cultural, political, demographic etc. I am particularly valiant when it comes to issues of rights, justice, and freedom from religion.

Walk the walk ... like an Egyptian

Speaking of conspiracies ...

What's the chance that the USA is behind the massive constitutional changes underway in Egypt?

Human rights group Amnesty International has called the changes the greatest erosion of human rights in 26 years

Meanwhile, the USA has only expressed "some concerns" about some of the amendments.

The 34 ammendments will provide, amongst other things, a permanent invocation of emergency laws that have been in place since the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981, technically ending the longest "emergency" in history. The changes will also:

• give police wider powers of arrest and surveillance.
• ban all religious-based political activity and parties
• remove judicial supervision of elections
• change the previously socialist state into one based on "freedom of economic action"
• give the president powers to refer terrorists to any judicial authority - including military tribunals, which are not subject to appeal
• allow authorities to override articles protecting individual freedoms and privacy

Anyone arguing against these changes are, of course unpatriotic and unAmerican ... I mean unEgyptian!

Australia Deliberated ... and, what now?

I've been asked why I haven't reported further on the recent deliberative poll in Canberra.

It isn't because of laziness, although I am a major procrastinator at times. And it isn't because of any disinterest in the topic or a dwindling motivation to see the issues resolved.

My silence has primarily been due to a critical lack of direction or sense of conclusion. I left Canberra feeling at a loss and with some disappointment in how the proceedings were brought to a swift and insalubrious end.

"Fill out a survey, here's a cheque for $100, buses will leave at the appointed times and thank you ... now go and have lunch and listen to Bob Hawke sing Waltzing Matilda"

Ummm! But, excuse me ... What should we do now?

We had several dozen groups of people from all over the nation, brought together as strangers, all leaving with a sense that more needed to be done. Our work wasn't complete. We couldn't just send everyone away without some conclusion, some closure, some sense of a future direction. Yet, that's exactly what happened.

Most of us want to help break down these barriers; to keep the media accountable for their biased reporting; to educate others and facilitate harmony and interaction and pursue the goal of a truly multicultural society where no-one was abused for their beliefs or threatened by the beliefs of others.

Come in, spinner!

Alas, this weekend was not about developing solutions. It had very little to do with Islam in Australian society, and it certainly had nothing to achieve except to promote a system of political polling and facilitating some behavioural research.

It has taken me all this time to admit to myself the futility of this process in facilitating change on a large scale. Certainly, there were many individuals who were inspired to be better people; to take the message of unity back to their local communities, their families, workplaces and schools. But very little can be accomplished on a broader scale when the participants were swiftly dispersed without so much as a brief discussion on taking "the next step".

Perhaps I misled myself into thinking that a forum such as this would be a catalyst for change. No-one promised me that the weekend would provide answers, yet I went fully expecting to be part of the grand solution. Nobody suggested that this was an exercise in negotiation or diplomacy, but still my expectations were high for an outcome of significant proportions.

Three weeks after this extraordinary weekend, I am left sullen and void of satisfaction. It was a great holiday and an awesome opportunity to visit Canberra. It was also a wonderful way to meet some colourful characters and interesting individuals, partake of some excellent education and stimulating discourse. However, it was merely a talk fest amidst a series of research projects - nothing more!

Of course, there is a lot that I can do (and will do) as an individual, but I really feel that without some groundswell of support from the wider community, there will be little to achieve in pushing this barrow.

C'est la vie!

Attitude, stupid!

So, I was telling my folks about my weekend in Canberra and my Father asks "Are they going to run one for New Zealanders in Australia?"

... Ummm, No Dad ....

"What about Pakistanis in Australia?"

... Ahhh - nooo (waiting for it) ...

"Well, why are they running one for fucking Muslims?"

*sigh*

Because of exactly that kind of attitude, Dad!

Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia

This coming weekend will see me join 350 other Australians from around the country in old Parliament House, Canberra for a another epic forum under the banner of "Australia Deliberates". This will be the third such event to be held on a national basis, following on from the success of the republic and reconciliation issues.

I've given up my planned party weekend in Sydney (Mardi Gras and the amazing Toybox Luna Park *sob sob*) to attend this event and am very excited to be a participant.

I really don't know what to expect, but I'm under no illusions that I will be confronted by ignorance and arrogance, fundamentalist views, religious indoctrination, fear, and a range of emotions and reactions to some mighty important issues that will be discussed this weekend.

I'm also keeping an open mind - I don't think that I'm immune from having my views challenged, my perceptions altered or my opinion changed for the greater good.

More reports at the end of the week, or check out www.ida.org.au for details of the event.