Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

In other words, nope, you won't see a Jesus-son-of-God billboard in Iran.. The Iranians don't think he is.  However, Christianity has been aware of Jesus' Islamic status for a very long time.

We are really struggling for good leaders when we end up with the likes of Abbott and Gillard as our only choice of Prime Minister, too much bullshit from these two. As many of us do not attend church regularly where are we getting our leadership? We certainly do need a bullshit detector!

Taking a firm stand on one’s position with regards to their religious beliefs has, for the past generation or so, been an area where political attacks are generally considered to be a no go zone. This is a good thing. Australia has developed into a tolerant society, where people’s beliefs are respected. Why then should atheism be any different?

"When global leaders of any religious persuasion are delusional to the point where they believe they are doing "God’s Work", what hope is there for humanity when these fanatics have their fingers on the nuclear triggers?"- Keith Warren

Then ... then ... does anyone really care about these issues of contrasting and unprovable faiths until they face the reality of old age and its infirmities? Until they find themselves waiting, waiting for death, but not allowed to die yet - by God, the medical/surgical professions, and the priesthood?

There are many good human beings amongst us; human beings like my Dad and The Flying Dragon Ghost who did good and were motivated by the right stuff. There are also many people who have contributed to Webdiary who are decent and understanding human beings – passionate. These are the people we need, people who will play the game in the interests of all; or even better – not play games at all. On that note it’s now time to withdraw from this little game and disappear into the ether ...

As a ghost of China’s living past lay in fading silence I could see my Pumpkin had reconnected with someone she loved and a country they both cared for. It was wonderful to see Pumpkin get her wish and meet her special Ghost who in spite of everything stood the fiery test of virtues held true. He was a good Ghost, a humble Ghost who worked as one of the team and did good things for the people he loved.

Mona welcomed us both with nie hao/s and hugs then escorted us towards the back room as the girls chattered in crescendo. I wondered why the girls where getting excited but then I got distracted – by now the room was humming harder. I tried to do cartwheels across the floor – but I can’t do cartwheels – so I hopped up and down on one leg.

On an earlier stay at the abode of Mona I attempted in vain to explain to her the English term “harmony”. I had to resort to song (which is bloody obvious when you think about it) and began singing Frère Jacques – she immediately laughed and then spontaneously harmonised in Mandarin.

So there are some questions that may be interesting to discuss. The longevity one, what next for Iran, and doubtless several more that others can raise. In the meantime, yesterday, as most Webdiarists will be aware, Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei delivered an address at the University of Tehran’s Friday prayers. The following is a summary from the Guardian.

On a more serious note allow me to return to my childhood and share something that is now indelibly tattooed in my brain; something that had almost faded away. Nothing profound, nothing really important to me personally but it is, and was to millions of human beings, Geoff included. It’s a ghost, harmless to me personally but a ghost of the nasty kind that does mean something to many. One degree of separation.

Let’s go back to the where the ghost tale began (for me); in that hotel room in old Shanghai. Pumpkin wanted to tell me a story, a special story about a Ghost known only to a few. As such, in the wee hours of a balmy Shanghai night Pumpkin told me the tale of the Magical Flying Dragon Ghost.

I decided to go and have it out with Mr M and waddled off in the general direction of the mausoleum. But all of a sudden I got a bloody great big chill down me back and my feathers stood on end. It was hard to be sure whether it is the poor dead dear lying in that somewhat solemn and stately design or the cop car just behind me.

Who are you? Where did you come from? What experiences have you brought to this country? What are you doing? How are you being treated by the Aussies? This was before we ‘wogs’ and ‘blackfellows’ became Aussies ourselves. That is what we talked about.

Come dear friends, let me take you by the hand, and lead you through the streets of Zhong Guo; a dialectical magical mystery tour into the dungeons and dragons deep in the heart of the Middle Kingdom reaching all the way back to the Tang Dynasty. Enjoy a few postcards as truth turns into fantasy, while fantasy turns into truth; if only in a small way.

A very important message from the Middle Kingdom ... and keep watching this space.

There is nothing like the prospect of a radical life change to concentrate the mind on things that really mater. So I want to identify, if I can, the most important thing that we discover in life. At least, it is the most important thing that I have discovered. I will share it with you, like a precious jewel, fit for this occasion. I refer to love. Love for one another. Love for our community. Love for others everywhere in the world. Love transcends even scholarship, cleverness and university degrees. It is greater than pride and wealth. It endures when worldly vanities fade.

Tolstoy argues that no class of man has the right to punish or sit in judgement upon another, and, from out of the crucible of complexity which he has painstakingly built his story, gives a conclusion almost point-by-point worthy of a lesser evangelist.

Can faith pull us back from the brink? Award-winning documentary maker and former Dominican Friar Mark Dowd takes a challenging and somewhat humorous approach to the urgent issue of our time. He asks if carbon use is the new sex, i.e. a ‘sin’ in today’s world.

It is said that you can only reach the end of the Camino de Santiago, one of the world‘s most famous pilgrimages, if you have a good reason to do so. Tobias Rosen, a German student, set out for the long way to Santiago de Compostela to find something he lost.

Nothing happened. Did the pope have better security protection than George W. Bush? Or the Chaser was afraid of religion? Julian’s answer in the public lecture showed the other side of the program’s logic. It is an international event; it’s religion; the police got preparation this time; and it would have been more or less the same plot if we did it again.

Sadly, much broader community discussion is less nuanced, and seems intent on convincing us that any increase in manifest religiosity and/or political activism among Muslims must be dangerous.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald's handy illustration on road closures for today, the Papal flotilla will sail across the Opera House forecourt, and then the motorcade will drive down the centre of the bay into Circular Quay. Should be worth watching them try ...

So, by all means go out and be annoying but don’t be inconvenient or obstructive or threaten anyone. The decision is, in my opinion, apellable but we’ll probably never get to that because of the time constraints. Nevertheless, would you put it past this NSW Government to pass a new Regulation tonight?

From here I can see St Mary’s and there are tents all over Hyde Park – looks a little like the Peasants Crusade. Now you might think I don’t know much about the Crusades but they are in the habit of reading Runciman out loud in this household.

There are some things which we are simply at a loss to explain. We may be well advised to look beyond attempts to explain and understand, and instead try to appreciate the mystery itself. The world is full of such mysteries.

Somehow, the Rat Singer just knew it was going to be hell or some rhyming equivalent: mell, smell, something like that. Yet he had decided that there should be a kiddies’ day for all the little kiddies so that they could get in touch with their inner priest...

“An authorised person may direct a person within a World Youth Day declared area to cease engaging in conduct that … causes annoyance or inconvenience [my emphasis] to participants in a World Youth Day event...”

"One opinion, yes, Dalai Lama as a troublemaker. So, after he gone, he pass away, the thing's automatically solved. That's one opinion. Another opinion is better while that troublemaker remains there, you can deal." -the Dalai Lama

In ethics it is too often argued that humans are intrinsically evil and so the only firm foundation for morality is a higher force such as God. In international relations it is too often argued that humans are so in love with their religious, national, tribal and other secondary identities that there can never be a trans-human system of political justice. Both these positions involve denying respect for our human potential and deferring it; to a nominally higher force in the case of religion and ethics, and to a secondary identity in the case of international politics.