Government approves Santos Barossa pipeline and sea dumping

The Australia Institute Media Release   Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Department has approved a…

If The Jackboots Actually Fit …

By Jane Salmon   If The Jackboots Actually Fit … Why Does Labor Keep…

Distinctions Without Difference: The Security Council on Gaza…

The UN Security Council presents one of the great contradictions of power…

How the supermarkets lost their way in Oz

By Callen Sorensen Karklis   Many Australians are heard saying that they’re feeling the…

Purgatorial Torments: Assange and the UK High Court

What is it about British justice that has a certain rankness to…

Why A Punch In The Face May Be…

Now I'm not one who believes in violence as a solution to…

Does God condone genocide?

By Bert Hetebry Stan Grant points out in his book The Queen is…

As Yemen enters tenth year of war, militarisation…

Oxfam Australia Media Release   As Yemen enters its tenth year of war, its…

«
»
Facebook

George Christensen, standing between our children and a thousand years of darkness

On the 16th of May, Scott Morrison announced that the Abbott Government will invest over $22 million in assisting humanitarian entrants and other vulnerable migrants under 25 participate in education and make successful transitions to work.

“We cannot afford vulnerable youth to disengage from society. Disengagement poses broader risks to social cohesion, especially when young people are concentrated in particular geographic areas in our major cities. Some of them are vulnerable targets for extremist predators in their communities seeking to proselytise, indoctrinate and radicalise,” Minister Morrison said.

“Racism, discrimination and events overseas can create an ‘us and them’ mentality for these young, marginalised, vulnerable people.

“There is no excuse for young people making the choices that put them on the deadly road to Damascus. At the same time, we can act to ensure they make the right choices to be in study and work and create a positive future for themselves in Australia, which is their home.

“We need to stop the journey to radicalisation before it even begins.

“We achieve this by getting these vulnerable young people into jobs and education and into the mainstream of our community. Our package of measures is aimed at helping achieving this outcome.

“We want to support young Australians in vulnerable communities who want to make the right decisions about their future,” Minister Morrison said.

So I am wondering how that fits in with the speech given by the odious George Christensen at the Reclaim Australia rally on Sunday.  Perhaps Philip Ruddock, the prime minister’s special envoy for citizenship and community engagement, might be interested in commenting.

Take it away George . . .

“My friends. I am proud to be a voice for North Queensland today. We all have a voice: Notwithstanding our choice to use it or not. Notwithstanding the best efforts of those who would render us silent. We have a voice – not a voice of hatred, violence, and extremism – but a voice of warning, defiance, and of hope. Our voice does not go unchallenged but that is the beauty and appeal of the free and open democratic society our voice speaks out to defend.

Long before he became President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was a voice for the American people. At a Republican convention in 1964, he said: “There’s no argument over the choice between peace and war, but there’s only one guaranteed way you can have peace — and you can have it in the next second — surrender.”

Our voice says: “We will not surrender.” We will not sit idly by and watch the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle that we love and that is envied around the world be surrendered and handed over to those who hate us for who we are and what we stand for.

When Ronald Reagan spoke those words, he warned against the threat of Soviet Russia and those words apply equally now to the threat of Islamic extremism and its complicit defenders. Reagan said: “Every lesson of history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement” and yet that is the political and social environment that confronts us today – appeasement.

When I accepted the invitation to be a voice here today, I was disappointed (but not entirely surprised) by a tidal wave of hyperventilation and confected outrage on social media, in the mainstream media, and from capital city commentators.  Labor’s Shadow Minister for Immigration, Richard Marles said today’s rally was synonymous with racism.

Our State Labor Member for Mackay described my comments in accepting your invitation to speak as appalling, shameful, ignorant, and hateful. In doing so, she has reflected on you and your fellow like-minded citizens. A petition urged the Prime minister to prevent me from even attending today. The apologists of the left, the do-gooders, and the politically correct crowd said I should not address you because you were a crowd of: racists, bigots, Islamophobes, extremists, white supremicists, skinheads, and Nazis.

But I look out at the crowd and that’s not what I see. I see Mums and Dads who love their country – the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle. I see everyday hard-working families who want their kids to enjoy the same freedoms that were enjoyed by the generations that came before them.

Some of the freedoms Australians hold most dear are freedom of speech and freedom of religion. In this country, I am proud of the fact that someone who has a particular belief can hold that view without fear of intimidation. They can practice their faith – whether they are Christian, Buddhist, or Muslim – at a church, a temple, or a mosque – without fear of intimidation. And the full force of the law can, and should, come down on anyone who does try to intimidate them.

Likewise, we have a freedom to criticise. While it is not my cup of tea to criticise religions, I see that people criticise Christianity every day without fear of retribution, violence, or being called a Christophobe or a racist.

In fact, we have seen many examples in the past year alone of Christians being slaughtered for no reason other than the fact that they are Christian. But in this country, that should not be tolerated.

In this country, we also enjoy the right to peaceful assembly. We all have the right to be here today, protesting in a peaceful way against the dangers of radical Islam and the culture of appeasement that allows radical extremism to fester. That culture of appeasement to radical Islam dictated that I should not speak here today for fear of giving you credibility – as if your voice would otherwise have no value.

The right to peaceful assembly, the right to freedom of speech, the right to freedom of religion, the right to feel proud of our nation. These are rights worthy of defending and they are rights about which we need to be eternally vigilant.

Last month marked the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta – the charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede on the 15th of June 1215. The sentiments of that document underpin the free and democratic western societies that have delivered the most modern, free, and most appealing societies in the world. But we, as beneficiaries of that society must be ever-vigilant against threats – both internal and external to our freedom and democracy.

We must not ignore the fact that there is another world view. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend there is not an alternate world view that is opposed to democracy and freedom. And we must not confuse that ideology with religion.

Islamism is a political system whereby everything that happens must fit under the laws of radical Islam. It is not just people in Iraq, Lebanon, or Syria that subscribe to this world view. This is no longer something that is ‘over there’; it’s not a threat that only exists on foreign shores; it’s a threat that is within our midst as well. There are those within our shores who sympathise and even support and actively recruit for Islamic State. These people have declared war on Western civilisations and we would be foolishly naïve to think we are not at war.

The spread of repressive ideologies under our very noses right here in our own country has already begun.

I refer to the slow spread of a Sharia-style dispensation of justice which is quietly executed in Australian mosques on a daily basis. It’s a form of ‘justice’ that perpetuates the oppression and abuse of women and yet we don’t dare speak of it because we will be instantly attacked as “racists”. It’s sad to see that those who wish to take a stand against the tyranny of Islamic extremism, the ideals of Islamism, are accused of being racist, bigoted or intolerant.

Yesterday, the leader of the Rent-A-Protestor crowd of Flinders University students, James Vigas was quoted by the ABC as saying people attending Reclaim Australia in Adelaide: “Don’t like Muslims, they don’t like refugees, they don’t like gay and lesbian people, they don’t like trade unionists, they don’t like women.”

This comes from someone defending extremists who want to kill non-Muslims, throw gay people off tall buildings, and deny women the most basic of human rights. Reclaim Australia is about none of those things and, in fact, opposes exactly those things. Rather ironically, all the traits these so-called “anti-racism” protestors complain about lie at the very heart of the extremists they protect – the very traits Reclaim Australia is rallying against.

Certainly, as with any movement, there are fringe dwellers who seek to pervert the intentions of others, such as the Neo-Nazi skinheads that turned up in rallies in capital cities. Neo-Nazi skinheads are fellow travellers of the extreme Islamic movement because they share so many of the same hate-filled values. Nazi ideology, like Islamism (Political Islam), offers no right to freedom of speech, no right to association, hatred of the Jewish people and a hatred of democracy in general.

It is extremism of any kind that we must guard against. It is ordinary folk, like those of us here today, who must speak up.

It is we who must not give in to the bullying and the intimidation and speak without fear to our friends and family about our freedoms, our culture, our lifestyle, and the threat radical extremism brings to those freedoms.

We must refuse to abandon thousands of years of civilisation for the sake of political correctness.

I would like to conclude by returning to Ronald Reagan’s historic speech and applying it to the defence of Western Civilisation.

He said: “We’ll preserve for our children this – the last best hope of man on earth – or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”

The choice is ours. The voice is ours. Thank you for allowing me to share in your voice today.”

 

43 comments

Login here Register here
  1. Bilal

    I remember a similar speech.
    Substitute “Jews” for “Muslims”

    My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before in the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice…. And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people…. When I go out in the morning and see these men standing in their queues and look into their pinched faces, then I believe I would be no Christian, but a very devil if I felt no pity for them, if I did not, as did our Lord two thousand years ago, turn against those by whom to-day this poor people is plundered and exploited.
    -Adolf Hitler, in his speech in Munich on 12 April 1922

  2. Mark Needham

    Yeah was a good speech, Hey!
    Mark Needham

  3. Kaye Lee

    It was the speech of an ignorant populist fearmonger who thinks anything that happens anywhere in the world should be blamed on Australian Muslims.

  4. Rossleigh

    Well, they won’t get round George!

  5. Kaye Lee

    The sugar plum fairy will keep us safe from the “alternate world view”. I for one am horrified that people in other countries aren’t just like us.

  6. Kaye Lee

    The thing that truly gobsmacks me is Christensen’s supposed fight against discrimination. I wonder how he feels about the Catholic church that makes nuns wear veils and won’t let them become priests, that dictates to women about their own bodies. What about marriage equality George?

    George and those like him have trouble differentiating between religious and cultural practices. He would probably not know that female genital mutilation is condemned in Saudi Arabia, the centre of the Islamic world, yet in Egypt perhaps 97 percent of girls suffer genital mutilation, including the Christian Copts, as is the case in many African countries.

    We have laws in Australia that protect women. What we need is education – not vigilantes.

  7. stephentardrew

    An ignorant uneducated immoral thug with no sense of decency.

    Pure unadulterated religious theocratic Christian superiority while denigrating the religious rights of others.

    An idiot and developmentally delayed fool.

  8. Ann

    .” We will not sit idly by and watch the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle that we love and that is envied around the world be surrendered and handed over to those who hate us for who we are and what we stand for.
    What does he think is fabulous Lying Party has done to this country. He needs to step back from the foghorn and take a serious look. I know that my country has definitely changed in the last 2 years and not for the better.

  9. Mark Needham

    Nuns can do as they wish. If they wish to not be Nuns, then that is OK.
    There are “rules” for all sorts of societys. The ALP has rules.
    I am not a “racist, bigot, Islamophobe, extremist, white supremicist, skinhead, nor a Nazi.
    Mark Needham

  10. i have a nugget of pure green

    George ate all the pies.

  11. Mark Needham

    Ann.
    I also, will not sit idly by.
    George Christensen, hasn’t made any reference to “”fabulous Lying Party has done to this country. “”
    Where, what, is it in the above speech, that offends some posters.?
    Mark Needham

  12. Kaye Lee

    Mark, do you seriously think that 2% of the population is going to stage a coup and make us all adhere to Sharia law? Do you seriously think that if someone wanted to follow a fundamentalist view of Islam that they would choose Australia to live in? When George says “Certainly, as with any movement, there are fringe dwellers who seek to pervert the intentions of others, such as the Neo-Nazi skinheads that turned up in rallies in capital cities” does he not realise that the few troubled teenagers who have gone to fight with IS are also fringe dwellers who seek to pervert the message of Islam?

    newmatilda did a translation of George’s speech that might help you understand why people might find it offensive.

    We Read George Christensen's Reclaim Speech, So You Didn't Have To

  13. Sir ScotchMistery

    One of life’s simple pleasures includes referring to this chubby little tool, in less than polite terms, who hasn’t ever had a proper job, who manages to get re-erected each election because most from North Queensland are too lazy to run for office.

    Since we use a lot of huge words here, it’s unlikely he or any of his associates will ever make an appearance, simply because a search for “cairns, white, big tits” on Google will not come up with the AIMN.

    And seriously, Mark Needy, you are

    So, is everyone having a good day?

  14. Mark Needham

    Can’t get matilda at the moment. I’ll try again to-morrow.
    If I was a Fundamentalist Muslim, why wouldn’t I come to Australia.? Seems to a good place to me. I mean, chances of NOT being killed by a terrorist is a bit better than being in Syria at the moment.
    What is the message of Islam?
    matilda, signin, register. To-morrow.
    Mark Needham

  15. Kaye Lee

    Fundamentalists usually don’t like Western culture Mark. George wants to warn us that there is an “alternate world view” out there. Well of course there is…many in fact. Not everyone wants to live like us surprisingly enough. A fundamentalist might find it difficult here without ever paying interest. I would imagine they would find much of our culture offensive, though there are many definitions of fundamentalist so I should not generalise. Often teenagers appear offensive to older generations but it doesn’t mean we can’t co-exist. I believe the people who choose to live here do so for the same reasons as all of us – to provide a good life for their families in a safe and peaceful environment.

  16. 5ime0n

    I find myself objecting to the suggestion in George Christensen’s speech that:

    ”We must refuse to abandon thousands of years of civilization for the sake of political correctness.”

    I feel that this suggests a type of traditionalism, when studies of human culture and civilization demonstrate the diversity which has propelled our species consistently forward. In many ways we have changed and adapted, biologically, culturally, philosophically, sociologically and legally, to name a few.

    So we MUST abandon any aspect of civilization that does not work, including those things we are afraid to change i.e. laws, religions, institutions, culture. Provided we are replacing the flawed parts with the option most likely to improve our future and the future of the Earth we live on.

    Seems logical to me.

  17. Kaye Lee

    Social evolution does not sit well with the party who thinks marriage has done very well for thousands of years just as it is thank you very much. I love the way they talk about Judeo-Christian heritage until it comes to marriage equality at which time we use Asian countries where homosexuality is illegal as our role models. Yes George, I’m looking at you….again.

  18. diannaart

    The second I hear the phrase “Judeo-Christian heritage” – my B/S alarm screams.

    Judeo-Christian heritage – is a deliberate term to deny the diversity of humanity over many millennia – Judeo-Christian heritage has only been around for 3000 or so years – depending on whether the “Judeo” part of the equation is happy to be lumped in with the “Christian”.

    At least we now know that Abbott truly does align himself with the extreme edge of Christianity, the far-right hate of all who do not fit the “Judeo-Christian heritage”.

  19. crypt0

    I can understand why the odd fundamentalist might wish to return/come to Australia …
    Informed sources tell me that the Australian social security system, despite the damage being done to it by the current govt., is still rather better than what applies in Syria, and any number of other countries in the M.E.
    As for George, I think stephentardrew covered it quite succintly.

  20. Lee

    Double standards much, George?

  21. keerti

    I’m all for alternative world views, like ones where the government governs truly for the people.

  22. Mark Needham

    matilda, obviously meant as ‘satire’.

    The translation, satire could be taken as being offensive.

    The speech, in all honesty, is not offensive.
    Mark Needham

  23. Ann

    Keep plugging away Mark

  24. Sir ScotchMistery

    There are some people who make a mark in here and we are pleased to see them, and happy that they stay. Others come and make a mark as well, but in only a few short posts, we realise we don’t actually need ’em.

    George Christensen’s empty vessel may be a good example of that.

  25. Kyran

    The parody, in my observation, is inescapable and unavoidable. For anyone with the time, check out Reagan’s Wiki, then re-read corkhead’s speech. I found it funny!
    As a venture into journalism, I tried to establish the number of ‘true faith ostrilian believers’ and those protesting against their belief’s. My guess is 1 to 3 (ironically, a conservative estimate). The MSM were there in force, to report a confrontation. I have been unable to locate reasonable reporting of how many RWNJ’s were there and how many of those nasty lefties turned up. I only mention this because, as best as I can tell, the poster boy (big poster with little boy), Gorgy, is a journalist by qualification.
    Sort of sums up the mutually beneficial society of alleged reporters and alleged politicians.
    In looking at various sites, I couldn’t help but notice. Reagan, a second rate actor, became the Governor of California, having changed from Democrat to Republican. This other guy, Arny, was also a second rate actor and was elected as a Republican Governor of California, whilst married to a Kennedy.
    I’m off to do some homework. My recollection is that California is one of the larger economies in the world, and that Arny introduced an ETS scheme. There may be a story here. A conflagration of second rate reporters, celebrities and politicians.
    And other things, that are really worth looking at.
    Thank you, Ms Lee. Take care

  26. Mark Needham

    A world of hope and compassion is a dream, that will never become reality. Locking our possessions, houses, cars and the like because the fact is there are people who will steal.
    Even trying to have a sensible conversation here, is not possible without some snide comment.
    As there are people with differing views, opinions, religions, morals and the like surely we can be a little more “pleasant” in our replies.
    I am a retired electrician, trying to obtain some nuts ‘n bolts as to why some views here differ from mine. During my lifetime I have never excelled at life, 60 to 80% marks for school exams. Which indicates that I am wrong about half of the time.
    My trade qualifications were obtained with a goodly amount of effort and conflict.
    I know, that I am not perfect and wrong in many things that I do and say. I am not a wordsmith and have a hard time typing my questions and beliefs, trying desperately to not be offensive.
    Asking a few civil questions, surely should not raise the ire of Australians.
    If I have said something offensive, then, “I apologise”.
    Should someone honestly wish to partake of a sensible conversation, then I am up for it.
    So, my question was, “What in the above speech, can be taken as offensive.?”
    Mark Needham

  27. Lee

    Mark, who are Reclaiming Australia – people whose ancestors stole this land from the indigenous people – actually reclaiming Australia from? The only people who come to my home trying to convert me to their religion are Christians. The only politicians trying to force me to live according to their religious beliefs are Christians. Where are these radicalised Muslims who are in control of Australia? I meet Muslims nearly every day and I’ve yet to meet one who has tried to make me do anything.

  28. Mark Needham

    ‘morning Lee.,
    Yes you are right on that subject of ‘reclaiming” regarding the indigenous people.

    Politicians are not trying to “force” anyone to be Christian. Me, I am am not a Theist, and my Theist mates, are still mates. We generally don’t say too much about it, I don’t give a rats, and they couldn’t care less either way.

    Never met a Muslim, nodded me head in ‘G’day’ maybe once or twice, (not many around here, that I know of) and have never had their religion preached ‘to me’ directly, or been personally threatened in any way by them. The Burkah, is a little (little) threatening, the Hijab, I like it, it forces your eyes to the face, the friendly part of our bodies., and being a man, I love women.

    Maybe Sir ScotchMistery, can throw me a sentence/paragraph from the above speech, that is “offensive, disgusting, hateful or vile”.
    Naturally, Sir ScotchMistery, I am dying to return the compliments you have extended, bull I shall try and refrain. I would hope that you are a good and decent person, as we would all like to be.

    What in particular, what words and sentence in the above speech, can be taken as offensive,? that is my question.
    Cheers,
    Mark Needham

  29. Kaye Lee

    Mark,

    The whole premise that Muslims are bad is offensive. The name of the group “Reclaim Australia” implies that someone has hijacked our country. It isn’t Australian Muslims that have done that – it is the puppets of the global corporations.

    “We will not sit idly by and watch the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle that we love and that is envied around the world be surrendered and handed over to those who hate us for who we are and what we stand for.”

    What a load of hyperbolic hysterical fear-mongering. Have Muslims changed YOUR life in any way? Are they likely to?

    “In fact, we have seen many examples in the past year alone of Christians being slaughtered for no reason other than the fact that they are Christian. But in this country, that should not be tolerated.”

    And that’s the whole point. Slaughtering Christians is NOT tolerated in this country. George does not understand the difference between culture and religion. When Christian Copts in Egypt subject their daughters to genital mutilation is that because they are Christians or because they live in a culture that accepts the practice? It is ridiculous to ascribe what happens in countries with very different laws and cultural practices to people who live in Australia.

    “That culture of appeasement to radical Islam dictated that I should not speak here today for fear of giving you credibility”

    What crap! No-one condones what a group of bloodthirsty teenagers whipped up into a frenzy by those who would use them for their own purposes are doing. The reason I objected to George making such a speech is that Australian Muslims should not be tarred with the IS brush as George is trying to do. He has also made a huge fuss about halal certification for food. What rubbish. If a business can increase their market by such accreditation, that is a commercial decision, not some attack on Australia’s way of life. No-one is forced to eat halal food any more than they are forced to eat gluten free food. It is a choice, not some subversive terrorist plot.

    “We must not ignore the fact that there is another world view.”

    Oh for Pete’s sake, of course there are – many in fact. Surely George doesn’t think we should all share HIS views of the world?

    “I refer to the slow spread of a Sharia-style dispensation of justice which is quietly executed in Australian mosques on a daily basis. It’s a form of ‘justice’ that perpetuates the oppression and abuse of women and yet we don’t dare speak of it because we will be instantly attacked as “racists”.”

    FFS we are NOT under sharia law and never will be. This is the most heinous of scare campaigns. Many religions have ideas with which I disagree. It is up to those who practice those religions as to whether they agree or not with certain practices, but in THIS country, we have laws against “oppression and abuse”. We have laws that protect women. The Muslim women I come across do not seem oppressed or unhappy. No doubt, there would be some who are victims of domestic violence just as there are in the non-Muslim community. Statistics would show that you are in far more danger being a footballer’s partner than a Muslim’s, you are in more danger from Catholic priests than Imam’s.

    I know there are a few deluded souls who support IS. There are far more deluded souls who support bikie gangs or white supremacists. There even seem to be a lot of people who support Tony Abbott – they scare me more as he is doing far more to attack our freedom and way of life than any Muslim is.

  30. Lee

    Mark, I didn’t say politicians are forcing us to be Christians, I said they are forcing us to live according to their religious beliefs. The Christians are currently denying gay people the right to marry, even though the majority of Australians support same sex marriage. Over the years, the Christian politicians have opposed legislation and speak out against issues which do not comply with their beliefs in a mythical being, rather than address a problem that does have an adverse effect on real, living people. Such issues include availability of contraception, abortion and mifepristone. If these people don’t want to marry someone of the same sex, use contraception or have an abortion, then don’t it. But stop telling the rest of us that we have to live according to their religious beliefs.

  31. Kaye Lee

    Not to mention spending a quarter of a billion dollars on untrained school chaplains in secular schools while specifically denying access to non-religious alternatives such as trained counsellors or ethics classes.

  32. Mark Needham

    Kaye, Thanks.
    *Bad Muslims, Bad Christians, basically we are all bad. But I take your point, badder than normal.! Not sure that I could take it up though.
    *Sit idly by…there have been no “terrorist attacks” in the western world…! Yes, there have.
    *are they likely to?… that is what George is saying, not while he is standing. ( I mean, we haven’t attacked Muslims, have we and yet they also fight among themselves)
    * that culture…danish cartoons, et al.
    *halal…. we are forced, by choice or not.
    *sharia law… there is no legality to this in Australia. So why is it valid to Muslims among themselves?
    * women… would you take a Muslim man for a husband?
    * fear Tony Abbott… not what this is about. Another story all together.( and I am not fussed about him either, by the way)

    Lee, Yeah, not a real fan of the Myth Believers, either. At least we can comment and rile against them without fear. I could do that in front of my local catholic Church, on Sunday morning, if I had a mind to.?
    How do you think I would go, comment and rile against Muslims, outside a Mosque, Friday afternoon about FMG and the rights of women.?

    Now, I am declaring myself. But please do not take these words as ‘Attack” but merely “Comment”.
    I am more with you, in more respects than you would believe.
    Cheers,
    Mark Needham
    PS. Chaplains in schools, like a Fox in a Chicken Coop, Hey!

  33. Kaye Lee

    “*Sit idly by…there have been no “terrorist attacks” in the western world…! Yes, there have.”

    Yes there have….not here though. The worst I can think of was the Hilton bombing but in those days night club owners were fire-bombing each other’s places just as panel beaters/tow truck drivers and tattoo parlours are now.

    “yet they also fight among themselves”

    They have been fighting in the middle east for thousands of years. As you say, the worst victims of IS are other Muslims. The history and causes are too many to list but blaming Australians for what happens in the Middle East is far-fetched (unless you count our invading them several times and enforcing sanctions). They, or their ancestors, left that turmoil and strife to find peace and a better way of life for their families.

    “*halal…. we are forced, by choice or not.”

    Is someone feeding you against your will? Do you insist there be pork and alcohol in every food product you eat? Is it the label you find offensive and if so, why?

    “So why is it valid to Muslims among themselves?”

    Some Muslims choose to follow Sharia. There is NO Sharia law in Australia. Muslims living in non-Muslim countries are bound by the laws of that country. If they choose to avoid alcohol and “immodest” clothing, that is their choice. If Catholics choose to avoid contraception and abortions and to not eat meat on Fridays in Lent, that is their choice also. No-one in Australia can be compelled to follow these practices.

    “* women… would you take a Muslim man for a husband?”

    What a silly question. Do you think all Muslim men are exactly the same? I wouldn’t marry any man who was deeply religious in any faith.

  34. Lee

    “At least we can comment and rile against them without fear. I could do that in front of my local catholic Church, on Sunday morning, if I had a mind to.?
    How do you think I would go, comment and rile against Muslims, outside a Mosque, Friday afternoon about FMG and the rights of women.?”

    I’ve been in many discussions with Christians who claim that Christianity is not violent and Christians haven’t killed anyone for over 1000 years. When I point out the Holocaust, IRA bombings, the Bosnia genocide, etc, every single one of them has become quite angry and has remained in denial. Challenge Catholics about covering up kiddy fiddling, or the abuses committed by nuns (including their beloved Mother Teresa) and many of them go ballistic.

    I work with a very lovely, gentle, respectful Muslim woman. She doesn’t cover her head in public and she is happily married to a Hindu man. Their respective families are close and supportive. She hasn’t been punished by her family for marrying outside of her faith. Contrary to popular belief, many Muslims are not extremists. They’re ordinary people who believe in a different god to most Australians.

  35. mars08

    Minor correction Lee… they believe in the SAME god to most Australians…

  36. Kaye Lee

    “Having a war about religion is like having a fight over who’s got the best imaginary friend”

    Quote by Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation

  37. Lee

    “Minor correction Lee… they believe in the SAME god to most Australians…”

    Ha ha ha.. yeah..point taken! 😉

  38. Sir ScotchMistery

    I would point out Kaye that the Hilton bombing is generally accepted as the work of the AFP.

  39. Mark Needham

    Kaye ‘n Lee, just logged in, but have lost a wing on me reading glasses.
    Bugger.
    Will talk tomorrow, thanks for your replies.
    Cheers,
    Mark Needham

  40. Mark Needham

    So after all, the ,
    “insist there be pork and alcohol in every food product “,
    ” billion dollars on untrained school chaplains”,
    “Having a war about religion “,
    “abortion and mifepristone. If these people don’t “,
    ” huge fuss about halal “,
    “I feel that this suggests a type of traditionalism”,
    “An idiot and developmentally delayed fool.”,

    That this, is the best everyone could come up with as an answer to my question.“What in the above speech, can be taken as offensive.?”.
    Even Sir ScotchMistery, insightful delicate and luminosity has bedazzled me. ( You are a BA finish in a blacksmith shop, sport, ‘n just as effective and useful)
    There is no hate or offence in the speech, some stuff you may not agree with, but, Offence, is very hard to dig out. You lot certainly couldn’t find any!

  41. Lee

    Why are they actually protesting?

    George said “Our voice says: “We will not surrender.” We will not sit idly by and watch the Australian culture and the Australian lifestyle that we love and that is envied around the world be surrendered and handed over to those who hate us for who we are and what we stand for.”

    The only people threatening our lifestyle are our politicians and the violent dickheads in Reclaim Australia. Is George protesting against the actions of his own party? Our lifestyle as a nation is not under threat by Muslims.

    Peaceful Muslims are being targeted with violence by people who identify with the values of Reclaim Australia. I watched an interview with Kim Vuga recently. The woman has a few roos loose in the top paddock and appears to have a problem with all Muslims. Several of Reclaim Australia’s followers are grouping all Muslims in one basket and the evidence is all over social media. If George is not opposed to peace loving Muslims, why is he even associating with this mob?

  42. Mark Needham

    They are protesting because they can., Lee. They do not have to be right or wrong. We have the right to allow them to demonstrate, the law has the responsibilities of enforcing legal “wrights ‘n rongs”.
    Cheers,
    Mark Needham.

  43. Lee

    Just don’t expect to be taken seriously, or worse, viewed as a trouble maker, when no such threat exists. It would be nice if they focused on real problems instead of creating more by inciting hatred and violence.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 2 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here

Return to home page