Has multiculturalism failed?

Message / Question

What do you think of Cory Bernardi? Is global warming caused by humans? Should burqas be banned in public? Is Islam itself the problem, not muslims? Has multiculturalism failed? Does fundamentalist Islam try to change our laws and values? Is the Safe Schools Program "indoctrinating" minors?

Response:

That’s a LONG question!

I certainly don’t know Senator Cori Bernhardi personally, however from what I have seen of him in the media, he appears to hold strong traditionally conservative views on most issues and does not seem reticent about speaking his mind on social and moral issues that become the subject of public debate. From that perspective, I have great respect for him and find myself generally in agreement with his public views.

Regarding global warming. No-one could seriously contend that humanity has had no negative impact on the environment, so insofar as the damaged environment contributes to global warming, man clearly is a contributor. Having said that however, I would suggest that normal natural events (e.g. a volcanic eruption) would have an even greater impact and, as I understand it, gasses produced by certain animals may also contribute more than man to the problem. There still appears to be some well qualified scientists who dispute the perceived problem of global warming, in that it does appear that global warming may actually be a cyclic phenomenon to which human contribution has relatively little impact.

Re burqas. I would argue that no person’s face should be covered in certain public places such as banks. Certainly it seems somewhat oppressive to insist that women wear a specific type of clothing, however it is not against the law of the land so, with the exception of facial covering, people are free in Australia to dress as they wish (mind you, I did hear that the burqas are better at Hungry Jacks, but I haven’t checked it out myself!).

Now, re your question on Islam. I can claim no expertise in the Koran, however from a casual and incomplete reading of it, the religion that it espouses does appear to promote violence against those who oppose it. Islam is claimed by some to be a religion of peace, but that peace does seem limited to those who live under its law. Clearly there are many Moslems whose interpretation of the Koran allows them to live in a community in which they, as Moslems, live at peace with those in the community of other beliefs / religions. For such people, I suggest that they find in the Koran, the one called Isa (son of Miriam) and carefully consider that which He taught and seek not only to know His teaching, but to actually get to know Him! For better or worse, Australia is a multicultural nation that was established on Christian principles and I consider it inappropriate to allow a small section of our nation to seek to insist that our traditional laws and values should be changed to reflect those of their particular religious views.

Finally, you ask about the “Safe-Schools” programme. I see the programme as particularly unsafe. When we want children to read material that contains language that is considered too “inappropriate” to be read in the Parliament (as it was when a petition on this programme was presented to parliament, containing quotes from the programme that were ruled as unacceptable language for the Parliament) , we really need to think about what we are feeding our kids’ minds. Bullying is absolutely inappropriate and children should be taught not to bully others, but there are surely better ways to do this than to use material that promotes all forms of sexual and moral conduct that may be totally at odds with the standards and values of the parents of those children and be totally out of step with the community as a whole. I consider it as a form of indoctrination and promotion of the moral and political agenda of a small section of the community that has been introduced by subterfuge in the guise of an anti bullying programme. If I still had kids at school and this material was being presented to them, I would have no option but to remove them from the school and either place them in a non-government school or "home school" them.