Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Our great Judeo-Christian tradition

By Irfan Yusuf - posted Wednesday, 30 May 2007


My own family lived in South Asia and then North America for about 18 months during the mid-1970’s. I returned to a state school in Mr Howard’s electorate in 1977, the only kid in the class who managed to combine brown skin with a strange name and a New Jersey accent. I was frequently teased and bullied.

Then one day walking home, I noticed the bullies were picking on a boy from a different school. Strangely, this boy had blond hair, blue eyes and white skin. I wondered why he was being bullied by his own kind. The bullies provided a brief explanation: “He goes to Holy Spirit School!”

I went home and informed my mother of this discovery. She responded by befriending all the Catholics in the street. It was her way of showing solidarity with other oppressed peoples!

Advertisement

With such a rich history of sectarianism, it’s little wonder the Catholic religion is excluded from our “Judeo-Christian” heritage. And as Laura Tingle told the ABC Compass program on April Fools Day: “The polling I think on both sides of politics is showing that particularly in NSW and particularly in the outer metropolitan seats in Sydney anti Islamic feeling is now really white hot. And there’s therefore a big dilemma for both sides of politics about the extent to which they exploit that.”

Sectarian feelings are being exploited by both politicians and clergy, including by clergy of faiths excluded from the list. Cardinal Pell can challenge Muslims as much as he likes, but the Howard Government has clearly suggested that Catholicism and the “Judeo-Christian heritage” are mutually exclusive categories.

And try telling Australian non-Christians that their values aren’t the same as Australian values. I’d love to see Peter Costello telling a group of turban-wearing National Party-voting bi-lingual banana farmers from the New South Wales Central Coast town of Woolgoolga that Guru Nanak’s monotheistic message has no relevance to Australian values.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean spiritual values are irrelevant. After all, 160 years before the First Fleet arrived, Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós came across an island he presumed to be the “Great South Land”, naming it La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo (Land of the Holy Spirit).

Then again, what would a Portuguese Catholic know about Australian values!

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

112 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Irfan Yusuf is a New South Wales-based lawyer with a practice focusing on workplace relations and commercial dispute resolution. Irfan is also a regular media commentator on a variety of social, political, human rights, media and cultural issues. Irfan Yusuf's book, Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamo-Fascist, was published in May 2009 by Allen & Unwin.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Irfan Yusuf

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Irfan Yusuf
Article Tools
Comment 112 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy