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Religious freedom for the not-so lucky country

As a broad generalisation, most prejudice and misinformation is based on ignorance of the facts or, worse, a stubborn refusal to accept them.

We know only a fraction of the facts underlying the creation of the universe and all that exists within it. Scientific research is a slow and laborious process of establishing a hypothesis, testing it, repeating the testing process until it becomes evident that the statistical probability that it is correct enables it to be established – for the time being – as fact. Without that evidence, the hypothesis is rejected.

If new evidence appears later and puts doubt on the accepted truth, then the whole process is repeated to either confirm or reject the existing ‘truth’; and, if necessary, update it.

The Roman Catholic Church accepted, on Biblical evidence, that the sun went round the Earth, and when Copernicus and Galileo had the audacity to challenge that belief, they were punished by the Church.

In those days it was accepted that the books of the Holy Bible were sacred truths and to question them was to blaspheme and risk excommunication or worse.

We now know that the Old Testament is essentially the history of the Jews – the first monotheistic peoples, so far as we know. The Arabs were also monotheistic and they revered their prophet, Muhammed, who acknowledged Jesus Christ as a major prophet, but believed that people should follow his own teachings, which are recorded in the Qur’an.

The first 5 books of the Old Testament also, as the Torah, form the start of the Jewish Tanakh.

It is infinitely sad that the Jews, the Islamists and the Christians, who share a foundation in their faiths and all of whom, effectively, look to the same god, cannot find peace with each other.

Because the ministers and priests of the Christian churches, the Rabbis of the Jewish faith and the imams and mullahs of Islam, became the source of knowledge for the common people, scientists over the centuries have fought and are still fighting – an uphill battle to overcome ignorance.

I have just browsed through some of the following work – ‘A Pastoral Response to the Homosexuality in the Church’ by Rev. Matt Glover, Lilydale Baptist Church, October 2010 – who prefaces the work with the statement:

“The following was written as part of my theological studies and in response to the pain and suffering I have seen in my journey with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) community.

All the stories told are taken from current literature, however I hope to continue and expand my research in 2011, with new examples and real life stories, taken from people that I have met.

If you or somebody you know would like to tell your story, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Matt Glover matt@lb.org.au

I think I can safely state that the attitude of the Christian church, the Jewish community and those of the Islamic faith – in fact all who follow a religion with its roots in the distant past – in relying on their ancient records as ‘truth’ is leading them into ignorance as well as prejudice and denying truth as it is now revealed.

I personally do not give a damn if Israel Folau and his followers disapprove of an adult for being homosexual, if that adult has had time to come to terms with his sexuality. But when a pre-teen or teenager is being vilified, teased and tormented at school, while he is slowly realising that he is not attracted to girls, to be told, by his football hero that he is a sinner and will go to hell unless he repents, is an invitation to consider suicide.

In my opinion, whether Folau’s employer suffers financial loss or not, Folau’s actions are immoral and unacceptable, because his ignorance of the truth about sexuality – ignored by those whose directions for moral behaviour in the Bible are being accepted in denial of modern scientific evidence – is damaging a vulnerable human being.

The very fact that the Coalition government can relate this to financial loss by the employer, reinforces the fact that, despite frequent references to their religious affiliations, finance trumps morality every time!

There are many priorities demanding attention from governments in today’s world.

First and foremost is the rapidly approaching deadline for initiating effective action to ensure global warming does not reduce the world to an unlivable furnace. (I hope you will all be out protesting government inaction on Friday 20 December!)

In no particular order after that come:

  • rapidly growing inequality – which the Coalition admits its policies are exacerbating by holding back wage rises and raising NewStart;
  • proper treatment of refugees, in the knowledge that we are likely to be inundated by refugees from those countries which are literally being inundated as a result of global warming;
  • creating jobs for those currently employed in the fossils fuel industries, developing country-wide recycling systems;
  • humanising the service provisions by Centrelink and NDIS;
  • improving health service access in rural and remote regions and last, but far from least;
  • recognising that people with limited or no means MUST be treated with compassion NOT contempt!

To seek to prioritise protection for immoral religious bodies – have we already forgotten the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to the Sexual Abuse of Children? – is absolutely gobsmacking and tells us more about the moral fibre – or lack thereof – of our politicians than almost anything else could!

The Lucky Country is dying.

The Land of the Fair Go has vanished into the morass of entitled politicians looking after their best mates while the rest of us go off to buggery!

WHY ARE WE NOT OUT ON THE STREETS PROTESTING?

 

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5 comments

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  1. king1394

    Climate strike 20th September

  2. David Bruce

    It may come as a surprise to some to find out there are technologies and secrets which the masses are not privy to. My own field of aviation technology still has technologies and secrets we normally associate with science fiction. As previous examples, the U2 spy plane, the F117 Nighthawk, the SR71 and Aurora vehicles were kept under wraps for 5-12 years while fully operational. Quantum technologies, directed energy weapons (including HAARP) and other toys developed and deployed, in secret, by DARPA are mind numbing. At times it appears we are living in parallel universes.

    Some of you may have heard the Peter Beter tapes or read the transcripts from the 1980’s. Synthetic humans anyone?

    The Lockheed skunk works director Ben Rich admitted that they had the technology to send ET home, many years ago.The Boeing Phantom Works have similar capabilities and both organizations hand over their toys to NASA, when they are replaced by newer technologies. NASA then do the science and commercialize the technology if relevant.

    Then we have the “stonefish” mine which can be used to target specific ships. I stumbled upon this when I was helping my daughter with an assignment on the barrier reef bleaching.

    These “black projects” are funded in mysterious ways (think of the trillions unaccounted for by the Pentagon).

    The point of all this is to ask a simple question. Is it possible we already have the means to avoid the worst of climate change?

  3. Benjamin

    Giving religious organisations “Religious Freedom”, would be like giving them diplomatic immunity.

  4. Jennifer Demas

    RosemaryJ36, in the words of Aristotle “A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subject are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him believing that he has the gods on his side” ever since Adam was caught short on smartness (knowledge) by the Misses it was to deflect to the mythical apple then, blame, shame, smear, divide with laden with prejudices (against the RU486, marriage equality, RC into institutional child sex abuse etc,) it was visceral then the pious recruitment drive fear. And fear, to borrow from Henry V111, fear begets obedience to the pious and the rest is not just history there’s still much, so much more division, prejudices, deflection, blame, shame laden with fear to come as the social fabric unravels and the public caves to the pious.

  5. Artemis

    David Bruce, I agree with you. The skunk works have technology far more advanced than anything we hear about.

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