Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry. (Kevin Rudd)

Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor of the Heaven decided to invite the Animals for a party. The first to arrive was, you guess it, the ambitious and resourceful Rat ...  Another video essay from PF Journey.

There is a gulf in Australian society between Muslim and non-Muslim, fuelled by fear and ignorance but, more significantly, by arrogance, says Aly, a lecturer in politics at Monash University.

This is a lullaby from the emerald island of Taiwan, beautifully sung by an American Chinese singer Vienna Teng. It is beautifully soothing, haunting, drifting by the Green Island.

"The right to freedom of religion necessarily includes the ability to change one’s religion or, as Lionel Murphy often reminded me, the right to throw off religion – freedom from religion.  The international community has thus recognised that religious freedom is a universal feature of human existence that inheres in the inquisitive, reflective, essentially moral character of every human being, everywhere." High Court Justice Michael Kirby

Family First has given the green light to the LDP's deadly policies to legalise 'soft' drugs and late term abortion, which shows Senator Fielding cannot be trusted to represent everyday families, and proves that his claims to be pro-family are an absolute joke.

Hello. Does being a Christian determine how you vote? Yep, but it depends on which Christian values you prioritise.

“Ok, this is going to be controversial. No, it isn’t, just an old guy blowing off some egotistical steam”. This is part of the internal conversation that I started when Margo asked whether I wanted to present what I regarded as a private/business project as a Webdiary piece. What follows is the story of Roger Fedyk's musical journey and his recent recording of an album of contemporary Christian music.

Following Levin’s story is like listening to a brilliant but eccentric genius talk to themselves. You have to pay attention, as she mixes insights with throwaway one-liners in equal measure. This is a serious book that often asks you not to take it too seriously.

Since joining with Christians Against ALL Terrorism I've gotten a picture of how deeply Christians are discriminated against and put down by people I'll describe here as secular lefties. In the past twelve years I've found, in purely practical terms, that communities of faith are much more likely to provide people who'll act against injustice than are communities of secular lefties.  Certainly our support from some Christian communities has been such as to nurture, sustain and develop our project, while secular political groups including the Labor, Green and Democrats parties have been at best hesitant and partial.  

The Law Council of Australia today issued its considered position on the new terror laws in the light of their effect in practice. Here is its press release. Webdiary has campaigned for many years on the necessity of stopping the government, any government, from having the sole right to breach our democratic rights. The citizens in a democracy are supposed to live under the Rule of Law, not of men, and that offers the fundamental protection of citizens against arbitrary action by a government is the only real protection any of us have against governments taking away our freedoms to suit their political agenda.

Hello.  I've been off line for five days traveling with a friend from the South visiting her friends and mine and chilling out. Thank you, thank you to Fiona, Richard and David for keeping comments ticking along. I hope everyone is content at how Webdiary is traveling but if not, let me know in the comments box.

Dawkins' book, The God Delusion, says: "If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down". On the face of it, a deeply unlikely ambition, and not one that is borne out by the quality of the writing. Along the way, however, it does raise some important questions about the nature of morality, and the relationship of morality to religion.

" Welby’s death raises two questions, which need to be distinguished. One is whether a person has a right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. The other is whether voluntary euthanasia is ethically defensible. ": Peter Singer

"For a few hundred years, when science and mathematics were enjoying a period of great invention, one region of the world stood out. Masters of these disciplines were revered there, medicine advanced quickly, and the average person was curious about how nature worked. Not surprisingly, this region was globally respected. In the other half of the known planet, scientists were punished, even killed. Mathematics was outlawed as irreligious and alien, and was later made subservient to religion.": H T Goranson

"What is it about a bit of cloth that has archbishops, senators and prime ministers getting their knickers in a twist?": Melody Kemp

"History does not end, and it is forever full of surprises. Francis Fukuyama’s End of History and Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations appeared within a mere three years of each other in the 1990’s, and a decade later the return of religion to politics is visible for all to see – and for many to suffer.": Ralf Dahrendorf

"Most of us remember the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks with photographic clarity. We remember our horror at the footage of the plane slamming into the World Trade Tower, and banal details such as where we were and who was with us when we first heard the news. Muslim Australians remember all this, but they also remember something else: they were suddenly treated very differently.": David Curry

"s.116 of the Australian Constitution Act enshrines the principle of freedom of religion in to Australian society. To effect any regulation of religious symbols or dress in Australian schools would require a referendum. Referendums are costly and time-consuming and should not be attempted unless there is a reasonable prospect of success and if it is for an issue with substantial contemporary relevance. I will proceed to argue that this is such an issue.": Solomon Wakeling

"That grand force of theological irrelevance and political violence called al-Qaida are obviously getting desperate. Their pope Usama bin Ladin is probably still living it up (if you could call it that) in a cave. And thanks to Sheik Phillip bin Ruddock, Rev Usama can’t even receive those secret communiqués from his alleged Aussie understudy Jihad Jack anymore." Irfan Yusuf

"Christianity in its many forms, Hindu and Muslim faiths, and traditional religions or beliefs, are of enormous influence in the Pacific, and anybody seeking to really understand the Region who ignores or neglects the very strong religious currents Out There is making a category (fatal) error. One of those currents concerns the impacts of contemporary fundamentalist or pentecostal, often US-origin or influenced, globalizing, often direct satellite broadcast delivered, 'religious' operations.": Dr Mark Hayes

"Students across the nation – Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Baha’i – have announced a united national prayer chain for peace in response to the growing and increasingly serious nature of the middle-east conflicts. The student groups call on all Australians to pray together in unity for peace in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon and Israel, that we may encounter one another in harmony, having deep concern for the victims of violence, and for all those who suffer. We hope that all may be inspired by the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship." Media Release from The Australasian Union of Jewish Students, The Muslim Students Association of Australia, The Australian Catholic Students Association and the National Baha’i Youth Committee.

A Statement on the Middle East by Canberra’s Church leaders

"I have a very serious question for all you Margostanis out there. What is it about Aussie clerics that causes so much bunkum to emerge from their mouths?" Irfan Yusuf

"Easter is about Christ, a great man who saw the inherent worth of all human beings. Even tax collectors and sex workers and lepers, those whom the rest of society wrote off. Christ always made time for the saints of his time. If we want to be Christ-like, we should make time for the saints of our era." Irfan Yusuf

"Fear is probably the first human emotion that we experience and sadly, for some, if not many, it is also the last. And while Fear has always been a part of the human condition, there are times when it becomes most of what we are instead of a  very small part of what we can be." Roslyn Ross

"Back in the eighteenth century Kant had said no, but asserted that there were “clear indications that the way is now being opened for men to proceed freely in this direction [toward enlightenment] and that the obstacles to general enlightenment--to their release from their self-imposed immaturity - are gradually diminishing.” The standing obstacles may have been diminishing, but we are creatures handy at constructing new ones. In taking up Kant's call to "Sapere Aude!" (Dare to know!) you could think we would have done a better job with Socrates' suggestion that we heed that precept inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple at Delphi - gnothi seauton (know thyself)." Craig Rowley

"The calls for unity around Australian values following the Cronulla riots highlighted, once again, an uncomfortable reality: no one seems quite sure what are Australian values. And this provides a strong clue to where we should look for answers to much of the social unrest we are experiencing today." George Matafonov

"Islamic theology is characterised by pluralism. Further, the exposure of sharia to other legal traditions has led to quite substantial changes in understanding of key legal concepts. Indeed, the existence of substantial Muslim minorities living in greater religious liberty in Western liberal democracies than in Muslim-majority states has led many Islamic scholars to argue that non-Muslim states are more Islamic than Muslim ones." Irfan Yusuf

"OK, all you Margostanis out there, listen up! I haven’t had time to work on a continuation of Sharia for Complete Bankers, but I am working on it. In the meantime, here are my allegedly halal thoughts on some issues making the press. Enjoy!" Irfan Yusuf