Why I'd move to Australia

[ominously]

Prime Minister John Howard - Australia

America Needs A Leader Like This!

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia ..." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

I know ahead of time there will be dissent and opposition, but that's the point right? Don't even know how old this is but someone just sent it to me and I nodded my head all the way through - and before someone calls me anything, I have less white Canadian and American friends than I do that have immigrated from other countries - in fact, one of them told me to find this story. He followed it up by saying "and this is why everyone left in the first place - too much arguing and isolating our culture. Who cares - I love all my brothers the same, Muslim, Christian and Jew. My God doesn't mind it either."

There is something fundamentally right with that statement I think people need to understand.

wolves?

[ominously]

And yes, I am aware of the history of Australia and all the notions surrounding countries winning their lands through war and such - doesn't change my opinion or the facts one bit

[Peter]

I'm believe John Howard made these statements last year; I recall hearing them and I agree with them 100% and more. Whether Americans like him or not we do have a leader of the caliber of Mr. Howard who, unfortunately, has opposition from a once noble party which now practices the Stalinist-type politics of character assasination causing him to lose the wind from his sails for a while. The other party has simply become inept and seems incapable of defending, or supporting, the president. The more recent actions and inactions of Inhabitants of the Beltway have left this country in a very sad state of affairs in the name of personal power and job security.

A country can only survive intact if there is national unity, not ethnic diversity. This is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA not the United Nations of America. Ethnic "diversity" has been known to be the cause of civil wars, the country formally known as Yugoslavia being a prime example of this in recent years. Assimilation into the very character of a country, especially this one, has always been the key to success. Learning the language, history, and culture was always the foremost thing to do in the process of settling in. There is nothing wrong with a group of people keeping their ethnic traditions as this is an honorable thing to do. But to force these traditions and it's archaic laws on others by force is a grievous violation of the natural laws of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Any ethnic group that cannot adapt to it's new coutry should adhere to this sound advice from Mr.Howard -

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others."

I doubt that these words will ever be repeated in any form from the White House or from either house of Congress anytime soon as no one in Washington seems to have the testicular fortitude to do so at this point in history. Perhaps someday soon we will have a leader that will.

[that_girl]

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

In the context of this article, isn't this saying that your beliefs will never be as good as ours? Australia sure doesn't sound very accepting to me. It sounds more like our way or the highway.

We are all HUMANS. Someday, in the not so near future, there will be no such thing as race or "culture" in the traditional sense. We need to figure out how to live with each other as we are. It's not about "how this country was founded" Who cares? None of us were there to see it. It's history. We need to keep up with the times and our generation is about figuring out how to live in peace and harmony with others who are different than us.

We need to move forward with our thinking about the HUMAN RACE. No two people have the same beliefs I don't care what culture you come from. No person is 'better' than another. Please don't tell me we need another civil war to figure that one out.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

This is so contridictory, I don't even know where to start. This article is telling me that if I want to move to Australia, then I better plan on becomming all that is Australian. That just makes no sense.

Maybe I'm just a hippie living in the wrong generation. Maybe world peace will never happen. At least I know now not to move to Australia.

Why can't we all just get along? lol

[SarahW]

I am by no means an expert in any of these things being discussed, but I find it rather interesting, so I'm going to inject my thinly-educated guesses about this:

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

My interpretation of this comment is not that it is hypocritical... It's a rejection of walking on eggshells and tippy-toeing around other people's cultures to keep from offending. To me, it seems, we in the United States are bending backwards more and more to cultural diversity.. which is great, but in a sick and twisted way, the "culturally diverse" are taking advantage... I live in Iowa and I am starting to see channels on my TV that are spoken entirely in the spanish language... This is not mexico or spain, this is America and we speak english, so why is my TV set speaking spanish to me? I used to work in a restaraunt where everyone spoke english, but why was there spanish written underneath all the english on all the equipment and instructions on the walls?

Now I'm not picking on spanish/mexican people, I'm just recalling specific things I've seen. I never understood why people are able to come into our country and somehow we are forced to learn their language so that we can communicate with them.. shouldn't it be the other way around? I have a cousin in texas who was forced to take 3 years of spanish language and had to have a mild mastery of the language before graduating from high school. .. why? texas is part of the united states. We speak english here. Since when did it become a necessity to force our kids to speak another language to communicate with foreigners in our country?

I think Australia has a good thing going for it.. They've put their foot down to protect what makes them Australian, and I think that's noble and fair. If I had my way about it, I'd be leaving the US for Canada or Australia asap, because I'm getting tired of feeling ashamed to be an american. I can't get my head around the massive amounts of corruption and confusion that goes on here. Australians seem to know what it is they want, and I say good for them. too bad I'm not there.

[that_girl]

Here's how I look at this whole issue of "we were here first, America is our country"

Well, we weren't here first. We TOOK IT AWAY from the Native Americans. I think people forget this. This makes us hypocrites in my opinion for giving others who come here to find A BETTER LIFE such a hard time. We came here to find a better life, right? Why are we denying others the same opportunity?

I will admit that I do get annoyed when people don't speak English. Wisconsin is a heavy Hmong area, so I've run into this often. But then I think to myself, these people are just trying to survive. America is a better place for them. Hopefully they will become educated, learn English, and become citizens. That's all we can ask for.

I just think that we realize that we weren't here first and we were in their boat once too.

[ominously]

The funny part is you are both agreeing and disagreeing with what he said in your words. As you put it, we are all HUMANS and as such, regardless of where you are or came from, that's all we are. What Mr. Howard is trying to explain to them rather bluntly, is that in Australia there are laws, rules and traditions that have always been there - they are not going to change them to suit your preference or desires (ie schooling in other languages, additional services in your native cultures preference). He is in no way advocating they give up their culture, but rather that they do not move there and force people not only to accept and tolerate, but make allowances and change the Australian way of life out of fear of offending people.