Jeff's blues go beyond the pail

How long can Jeff Kennett's position with Beyond Blue remain tenable given the outright abuse of public money he has managed to maintain over recent years. Claims that the board travel business class don' cause much of a surprise given that a number are ex-senior politicians or senior mental heath experts. However, the politicians would be entitled to government travel and the medicos should surely be able to count their involvement as part of their negotiated workload and this beggars the question: "why is the travel bill so high?"

The recent resignation of the CEO Dawn O'Neil, a well respected advocate in the disability sector after only eight months has to be an indicator of tensions that exist within the organisation. The fact that Jeff can't seem to keep his foot out of his mouth for any length of time. As well as his total lack of concern for the potential damage his statements do to the mental health of those in groups that Beyond Blue is supposed to support under it's charter mean that there has to come a time when the rest of the board and it's major funder, the government must draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough.

At least you would hope so. Yet the silence is deafening. Canberra either isn't paying attention or is too caught up in causing the mental distress of those seeking asylum in Australia to notice the gaffes of an ex-liberal premier who is known for his stuff ups. The other concern is that the rest of the board is either so enamoured by Jeff or too afraid of him to take the action required. However, the Beyond Blue brand is undermined by each subsequent press meeting that the Chair holds.

One of the biggest problems I have had for some time is the lack of consumer representation on this board and within the organisation as a whole. Kennett's own testimony was certainly a representation of the pressures that are brought to bear upon our political masters. However, there is no reference to the ordinary man in the street; and Jeff is no Everyman.

The other sector not represented properly on this auspicious board is the GLBTI sector that has one of the highest rates of depression and suicide for any sector of the population. Instead the chair, Kennett, never misses a beat in putting down the aspirations of GLBTI youth in particular; his most recent gaffe referring to the unproven and solicited 'research' regarding children and the effect of different parenting models. Kennett chose to use the research to bleat his belief that "Chilldren are best brought up in a family with a Mother and a Father." unfortunately for him the report actually doesn't support this assertion. Mind you it should be remembered that the research was instigated by the ACL.

It is interesting to note that the vast collection of independent research actually suggests that the important environment for a child is both supportive and loving and doesn't have any concern with the make-up of the parent household at all.

Why is Jeff still in this role? He was supposed to resign at the end of last year; it certainly can't be by public acclaim. Having been the chair of a national disability body; the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations from 2008 to 2010 I was very wary of the need to ensure that the organisation had proper succession planning in place. I am very aware that many of those who stay in chair roles and depart without an effective handover are usually doing it for the 'prestige' rather than for the sake of the organisation; perhaps this is Kennett's reasoning. The question is who has he chosen to be his successor?
Surely the Beyond Blue board cannot view Kennett as an asset. We believe that Ms. O'Neil doesn't.

Jeff's latest entrée into the pokies debate demonstrate that he either hasn't got a clue about conflict of interests, he's downright stupid, or he's just believes that the rules that govern the rest of us don't apply to him. As the chair of an Aussie rules football club with a large number of revenue raising pokies in their stable his comments on the proposed legislation to help curb problem gambling; both a major affect and a cause of depression in this country; it is not unreasonable for the rest of us to believe that his role with Beyond Blue would cause him to show support for any measure that would help to relieve depression; or shut up.

Instead, Kennett's wisdom suggested that he should wade into the debate to support his footy club and it's fleecing of it's members rather than the need to look at a different business model that would reduce their dependence on the pokies revenue.

With this most recent foray Kennett has demonstrated no concern for the rest of us. The issue is not about marginalised GLBTI people it concerns the mums and dads of Australia and one can only hope that the clarion cry is for his removal. He has definitely gone beyond the pail.

How low can we go?

The past few weeks in Australian politics has been one of the most disturbing I can remember. In the 38 years I've lived in this country.

The refugee debate sank to it's lowest point since Paul Keating introduced mandatory detention back in the early 90's. The purpose of that strategy was to ensure that people who arrived on our shores as refugees, no matter what way they did so, would be detained until their appeal for asylum could be processed.

During the Howard years it was turned into a form of punishment for daring to request help for a better life from those who arrived on our shores by boat from Indonesia. The most disgusting policy of all was the excising of Australian territories and islands. From the mainland to attempt to prevent "Those people" from reaching mainland Australia.

It eventually developed into a policy of off-shore processing with people arriving by boat being declared "illegal immigrants and queue jumpers" when those making these claims knew the fact is that it is not illegal to seek asylum and there is no queue; they demonised these people as potential terrorists and fed the post 9/11 fear by pandering to a national undercurrent of racism and xenophobia that has no place in the world of 21st century Australia; a country made up of immigrants and refugees from all parts of the globe.

This appalling mindset was even given voice in the Australian parliament by an ignorant red-neck redhead who used her maiden speech to decry the Asian invasion and the ungrateful aborigines who were only interested in a handout; it smelt of McCarthyism at best. She has since graced the KKK hall of fame and is a pin-up for the neo-Nazi movement

The fact that the prime minister of the day did nothing to denounce such unacceptable garbage became a modern example of Dr Martin Luther-King jr's proclamation that "evil things happen when good people do nothing." the fact that those who courted her support in the senate would not speak against her has become an example of some of the dirtiest politics in this nation.

The long term detention of families with children in on-shore detention centres and eventually in centres built on Christmas island and Nauru has left a legacy of broken people suffering with mental illness; dehumanised, treated as criminals by the very people they sought asylum and sanction from.

The clean broom of the Labor government which took office in 2007 made short shrift of righting many of the hate-filled policies of the Howard years by releasing asylum seekers from detention and providing a more humane approach to refugees. The rhetoric appeared to change for a while.

Over the past 12 months the current government has been "in a race to the bottom" in an attempt to shore up the very policies that they decried whilst in opposition. They have sought to pander to the lowest common denominator being driven by polling that is both biased and unbalanced; as Sir Humphrey Appleby would like to remind us "you can make a poll provide you with whatever result you want. It's just a matter of how you ask the questions."

In recent weeks however, the government has sunk to a new low in this contentious debate attempting to shore a policy of off-shore processing that has been demonstrated to be illegal according to the laws of the nation and the international conventions to which this country is a signatory. They have sought to demonstrate a level of political muscle that has taken a step so far to the right that they have left the consummate hypocrite, Tony Abbott in their dust; trying to do a run around the law to appease the bigoted minority who will never be satisfied with the facts as much as they are with their opinions.

Or, this minority is presented what they will think by the opinions they are fed by the self-serving shock jocks in this country like Alan Jones, or the swill presented as news by the Liberal party broadsheet, "The Australian" and the other newspapers in the News Ltd and Consolidated press stables as well as the commercial television stations who treat the parliament like one more episode of "Big Brother" or some other form of 'reality' TV where you get to vote someone off the island each night of the week.

This appalling attempt to disregard the human rights of these people was even further undermined by the well known bigot from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) their CEO Jim Wallace who when passed the question on the ABC show Q&A on Monday night voiced one of the most despicable things I've heard him say about other human beings.

His response was that: "most of these people arriving by boat have had the money to pay these people smugglers and when they get here they are successful because they are  entrepreneurial. We should be stopping the boats to ensure we get those who are the most needy."

This was his great opportunity to demonstrate his so frequently flaunted 'Christian' credentials; to say that these people are entitled to seek refuge in this and other countries around the world. they are entitled to seek a better life for their children and their families because they see the opportunity available in countries like ours. Instead he chose to slam the door closed in the face of those in need because these people have the ability to come here and opportunity to develop businesses that not only provide for their families but for other Australians as well; not burgeoning the state; the accusation levelled most frequently at these human beings. Instead, he made the word 'entrepreneur' a dirty word.

How quickly we forget the war ravaged Jews who fed Europe at the end of WWII. How many of them took everything they owned and sold what they had to be able to get passage to places like Australia and the USA. They came in their thousands; huddled on ships we didn't turn them away. Is it because these people are not European but from the Middle-East and war torn countries in Africa? Is it because they are in many cases Muslim?

The old red-herring of "they don't integrate with the rest of society." they want to hold onto their values that don't fit with ours. Is despicable when you consider the ghettos of English immigrants in this country like Rockingham in WA and the Jewish enclaves of Melbourne, or the Italians and Greeks who have been in Australia for 30 - 40 years but still don't have enough English to get by because they chose not to learn it.

Let me reiterate that it is not illegal to seek asylum. It is not illegal to be a refugee. There is no imaginary queue out there in Asia for these people to join to be able to find a safe and easier way to get to this country. There are no Australian embassies for these people to go to where they come from. They take whatever option is available for them to come to this country. We should be rewarding their ingenuity instead of treating them as criminals.

Most importantly let me pull back the curtain to reveal the wizard's trick; the slight of hand that gets you distracted from what is really going on. There are somewhere in the vicinity of 50,000 people in this country who have arrived by plane and overstayed their visas; funnily enough they are not being rounded up and put into detention. Instead the few hundred that have taken their lives into their own hands and placed their. Very survival into the hands of people smugglers who send them to sea crowded and huddled in craft that are poorly designed for the journey they face. They are singled out by the media who drive the despicable feeding frenzy which is the excuse for asylum seeker debate in this country.


If the government truly want to break the people smuggling then let them provide sufficient efficient processing of claims from refugees at the point where they set sail. put processing of people in Indonesia and Malaysia. Then if there are still boats (which would be very few and far between) process them on the mainland. The joke about turning boats around is a macabre one because it puts these people at even greater risk. It is time for this process to dive into a more humane direction; Australia needs to reclaim its humanity.

Otherwise time will mark this as a dark period in the history of this nation. Let the light now shine.

         

To the Bill Muehlenburg's and Jim Wallace's of this world; your hatred and bigotry in the name of God is taking God’s name in Vain.

Bill Muehlenburg, a committed Baptist has decided that his personal ministry for Christ is the greatest hatred and derision of GLBTI people that he can administer.  He caches his latest publication; a diatribe of vitriol and misdirection with the premise that any dissension from his basic premise is an attack from his invented GLBTI Mafia; the man has a vivid imagination.

Sadly, his science is both skewed and misinterpreted. I’m being very kind here; the reality is that he perverts the findings of the research that he quotes in such a manner that those who did the research are appalled at the misrepresentation of their findings; who wish to distance themselves from his conclusions.

Jim Wallace has a similar bent for cherry picking, not only from scripture, but from accredited scientists to attempt to support his vile agenda.

The Exclusionism that both these men have the audacity to perpetrate in their pronouncements is not only vile but have the effect of dividing and excluding those members of the Christian community who are GLBTI.

They have the audacity to proclaim that being Gay and Christian is not possible and yet in my personal experience, as well as the experience of a number of productive Christians I know they are both welcome and useable by the mighty God of the universe.

They presume to take the role of God in this issue; and for that I feel great sorrow. Not so much for these two men, rather for those who rely on what these men have said and taught. They have brought the Gospel of Christ (the Good News of Jesus Christ) into disrepute suggesting that no one can be saved unless they get their life together first.

However, salvation by Grace suggests that the salvation is not so much the result of our own actions but rather from the work of Christ and our acceptance of that sacrifice for which we could never repay.

GLBTI people are not looking for ‘Special’ rights. We have been denied basic human rights for so long that our struggle to get to equal standing is interpreted as a desire for ‘special’ rights. However, the reality is that we are actually entitled to them; but have to fight for recognition at every step of the way.

There is not a single argument that Bill and Jim can put up that actually justify their hatred; their derision; their bigotry and Homophobia (yes Jim and Bill, Homophobia) in relation to the GLBTI pursuit of Marriage Equality in Australia.

Their Hatred is not acceptable in a civil society. GLBTI people are not wishing to change religious marriage. But, the kind of exchange proffered by these men and their disciples is sufficient to incite violence and suicide. But, they will never accept that these are the inevitable consequences of their pronouncements.

The God of Grace is Greater than the Hatred these men espouse.

Anthony Venn-Brown: Problems & Concerns in the Anti Gay Marriage Camp

Anthony Venn-Brown: Problems & Concerns in the Anti Gay Marriage Camp

Anthony's commentary on the 2011 annual hatefest held in parliament house Canberra is both insightful and kind compared to some of the language I have seen used to refer to the vitriol spewed forth from the official speakers at the event this year.

The Mad Katter, Barnabyisms  and rampant homophobia were the fare of the affair.

AFA and ACL scored own goals once again thanks to the extremist attitudes spewed from their proponents.

Jim Wallace can I ask you to please invite Ms. Rebecca Hagelin to speak every year. She defines your argument so well. We really want people to hear her speak all over the country.


Love and Kisses

Stephen Smith, please support Marriage Equality

I am a Christian and I am Gay. I have spent a large portion of my life studying scripture and almost as much of that time experiencing a sense of condemnation and self hatred thanks to the homophobia and Judgemental teachings of blinkered single version bible bigots who followed discriminatory teaching about other human beings simply because their seminary promoted that teaching, or they didn't bother to do some serious research for themselves; they followed an ideology ignorant of science and dismissive of any learning that questioned their prejudice.

I spent years taking part in reparative therapy programmes like Exodus and their like. All of them were based on a lie that human sexuality is a choice and that all I had to learn was the way to make straight choices. They told me that I could be straight if I had enough faith; that my thoughts and feelings would change. But they lied.

I discovered over the 10 years i took part in these programmes that even the people who claimed to have been successful maintained a struggle with thoughts and desires for those of the same sex. Their thought processes had not changed; in fact they had simply learned to lie to themselves; I know there are many who have suicided and committed acts of self-harm as a result of such programmes around the world.

I eventually learned to accept myself and embrace my feelings when I learned that medicine had found that sexuality was something innate; a part of myself as integral as my hair  and skin colour. I had to wait until I was 31 to come to a place where I could be true to myself; the first step I believe God requires of every one of us in coming to him.

Even then I had to deal with my own internalised homophobia and at times felt unworthy to be able to even turn to God in my times of need. I found that I sought solace in more and more sexual encounters only to find the result was a deeper sense of emptiness.  Eventually I was diagnosed with HIV disease and even then in my distress felt that I was not welcome in the church unless I got my act together first; something I found both inhumane and now believe to be seriously un-Godly and definitely Un-Christian.

I was extremely lucky that even in what I believed to be my damaged; diseased state I found a wonderful man in Damian. Our friendship grew and 12 months later we were engaged and 2 years after we met we were legally married in Toronto City Hall, Ontario Canada. Just before leaving we had a service of commitment, conducted by an Anglican Priest, before 100 of our friends and Family. For our relatives and our friends the symbols and order of service was not very dissimilar to any other wedding they would have attended for heterosexual friends or family. They all understood the significance of the day and supported the declaration of our love for one another; as well as the type of commitment we were declaring before them.

Almost Ten years since we first met and Eight years since we were legally married we are more committed to one another than those years ago. Strangely, we have never met anyone who has condemned us for our relationship. Rather, we have had total strangers walk up to us to congratulate us on our relationship; to congratulate us for our commitment to one another. The greatest challenge we have encountered has been from petty, small-minded politicians, pandering to a minority of people calling themselves Christians; such as those heading up the ACL and the Fatherhood foundation.

Thirteen years after coming to a place of self acceptance later I finally found other GLBTI Christians who, like myself, believe that they are as God made them to be; that there is no person who could ever be good enough to deserve the love of God. That the key to the whole Christian relationship is that we are all there by God’s Grace; that the only one who has the right to judge any one of us is God and that the act of judgement by anyone but God is the measure that God will use to Judge them.

I have since been able to return to church, confident of God’s love for me. I attend Riverview Church in Perth, Western Australia; this is the church that I used to attend many years ago. It is also the church that originally ran the Bible college I attended in the 1980s; Rhema Bible Training Centre; I may have begun my studies there, but that is only where my hunger for God’s word started.

I am a well-respected member of the community. I volunteer as a Systemic Disability Advocate on a national level. I am the Deputy Chair of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations AFDO (I recently retired from the position of Chair which I held for 3 years.) I was appointed to the National Health and Medical Research Council’s   AHEC, the Australian Health Ethics Committee 2 years ago. I am a member of the    board of governors of the Australian Council of Social Services, ACOSS; as well as representing People with Disabilities to Centrelink, FACSIA and the Australian Electoral Commission.  However, none of these things are as fulfilling as my relationship with God.

I am a fully qualified and experienced High school English teacher. I was chased from my career by unadulterated homophobia and underwent a constructed dismissal from my final posting in 2001 on the suspicion; not on any factual knowledge, of my newly diagnosed HIV status; a suspicion based upon an unacceptable level of homophobia in the 21^st century.

Since reading “what’s so Amazing about Grace” by Philip Yancey; “Love is an Orientation” by Paul Marin and a whole swathe of books which deal with the evidence of what the Bible actually says and does not say about homosexuality I have been able to grow in confidence of the Love God has for me and for my GLBTI Christian brothers and sisters who have been abused and maligned by those in the church who demanded they change before they would be welcome in God’s family.

I have not been blindly led by the opinions of others but have studied as I am required to do; as a member of the Body of Christ. I do not just take what a pastor or teacher says without question. Instead, I challenge opinion and position using the tools of context and history to understand what the scriptures really have to say to us in the 21^st Century. I agree that the bible is a God inspired group of texts that were written by men who felt compelled to have these words written down for the guidance those members of the church to come.

It is interesting to note that the book that is referred to as the Bible, or the Canon of scripture, is a particular selection of all of the writings of the early church. They were selected by the Church of Rome by men who held the prejudices believing that the world was flat and was the centre of the universe, that human slavery was acceptable and that same sex orientation was (and as they even say today) intrinsically evil. This is not strange from an organisation that ordered the crusades as well as the Auto de Fetes of the French inquisition; even worse than the Spanish inquisition.

The great moral challenge for the Church in this century is not an attack by GLBTI people. Rather, it is the hurdle that the fundamentally challenged face in understanding and accepting that their hatred and violent verbal, psychological and even in some cases physical remonstrations against people of same sex orientation are equal to the dilemma faced by the issue of human slavery toward the end of the 19^th and the first half of the 20^th centuries.

When those of the more fundamentalist arms of the organisation calling itself ‘the church’ come to realise that God will not be limited to their small & narrow minded view of Christ and Christianity then we will see a church more interested in meeting the needs of the hungry, the poor the sick and the homeless; instead of focussing on what two people who love one another do, or do not do, in the privacy of their own bedrooms.

We, as Christians need to remember that all of us fall short of declaring ourselves righteous, because we could never do enough to earn the Love Christ demonstrated on the Cross. His gift of the ability to go before God was and is so great, none of us will ever deserve it.

“Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and are falling short of the honour and glory, which God bestows and receives. [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favour and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

Romans 3:22-24 (AMP)

So, does the fact that the right of GLBTI people to marry the person they love producing the kind of stable relationships that their critics continually condemn them for NOT having make their ‘Christian’ critics afraid that they will have nothing to use to attack them with?

Or, are they just more concerned with ensuring that their self-confessed homophobic reasons to deny legal state based marriage gives them the ability to distract themselves from looking at their own shortcomings; providing them with the opportunity to stand before God and say “thank you God for not making me like them”?

Either way, their justification for denying state recognised marriage from same sex oriented people is nothing less than facetious; a form of social elitism unacceptable in the Church, the true body of Christ, or society in the 21^st century.

Amazing Grace: Where would I be without it?

Suicide is not a popular topic. However, I've been there too often to ignore its place n my life and journey.

I have tried to end my life on more than one occasion in my youth because I couldn't resolve my sexuality with the Christian life that I desired to live. I wanted to be the best Christian I could be and yet at every step I seemed to be moving further from the desired goal. My sexuality did not measure up to the person I believed I was supposed to be; the person I believed I was meant to be and desire to be.

I was called a pervert before I knew what being a pervert was; and I use the term with some reservation; I'm sure that the anti-homoxual group will want to exploit such a confession. I was singled out by my peers without knowing why and I suffered horrendous persecution and bullying for something I had no control over. 

My sexuality was developing without my input or sanction; yet it was drawing me down a path of personal understanding that did not fit with the expectations of either my parents or my peers. It also created a strong sense of guilt in my relationship with God and provided much material for the Confessional growing up Catholic.

By the time I had come to a place of self acceptance I was in my mid-thirties; in fact I didn't 'Come Out' until I was 31; there are so many things that I feel a sense of regret for. Yet, I also realise that I have learned so much from the period of torture, bullying sexual abuse and abasement that I am now a stronger person; even if I still fall.

When I was teaching in the Wongan Hills in WA i had originally wanted to spend weekends in town and become established. However, as a result of the lack of privacy; because of shared accommodation I found the need to retreat to the city each weekend to maintain my sanity. 

As conditions deteriorated in the School, I found that I would have to fight with myself not to crash my car into a tree somewhere along the Great Northern Highway as I returned to the town. This scared me as I had not considered suicide since my teen years.

Suicide has not been a part of my thought processes for a very long time. I have been in dire situations where I have been more terrified of what would happen if lost control and I couldn't stop myself. But the actual desire to end my life and the pain that the anguish brings is truly a stranger to me now.

The years between being in Ministry; losing that role through betrayal feeling distant from God  and eventually realising the wonder of God's Immutable Grace was a period of 'feeling' alone lost and separated from God's Love. 

It was interesting to discover, only last year, that God's Grace is sufficient for me; personally. Thank you Phillip Yancey and thank you to the lovely lady on the flight from Melbourne to Perth who recommended Phillip's book.

I still have a strong desire to fulfil God's call to ministry; but I don't know what direction that will take. I always enjoy preaching and teaching. I especially enjoy singing. But, does my style fit into the current model of church? I can only hope so.

My Response to Bill Muhlenburg's Post regarding COMPASS on Sunday 10 July

Bill's original post can be found here, as well as a very sad commentary from other followers.

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/07/11/the-abc-should-be-put-out-of-its-misery


Bill,

Please Brother! You talk about homosexuality being rammed down your throat by the ABC. What you're really griping about is that there is someone trying to pull this argument into some sort of balance.
There is no 'real' argument you can push other than the religious agenda in relation to the push for equal civil marriage recognition. There is no call to impose, or demand that Churches be forced to perform ceremonies they don't believe in.

Marriage is not a static thing, it is also not a religious state any longer. There are ceremonies conducted by religious organisations and institutions but, it is the state that confers marriage in our day and age. If you want to try turning back the clock then you have a similar job to that of King Canute.  The history of marriage and to whom it has been available is and has always been in an amazing state of flux. At one stage in both the history of this country, as well as around the world the poorer classes did not marry, they "jumped the broom" with a leader in their community and they were regarded as being in a "Common Law Marriage."

In point of fact unless you were wealthy you didn't get married in a church because it was an extravagance. You could buy the materials to build a home with what it would cost you.

The definition of marriage changed dramatically in the 19th Century in the Victorian Era. that is the period when it became 'fashionable' to get married in church.

In the 1960's Interracial marriage was frowned upon and it was often declared that it would signal the end of society as we knew it; the sky didn't fall then.

Marriage took a further modification when women were given the franchise and informed that they were no longer the property of the husband, but had equal standing and rights in the marriage covenant.

Then towards the end of last century  and more broadly in this century marriage was expanded to include those of the same gender. The marriages conducted in other countries of those in same sex relationships are regarded as equal to those of their heterosexual counterparts. The fact that the Australian Marriage Act was modified to exclude the recognition of those validly and legally conducted marriages does not mean that the definition of marriage hasn't already changed. The lack of legal recognition of those marriages does not un-marry them.

How about considering the position from the other side of the table; with all of the Heterosexist programming that is forced down all of our throats to push that agenda. This is not a subject where the church has the right to force a religious agenda down other people's throats either.

Australia is not a theocracy. It is a Democracy. Democracy does not mean that the majority rule and damn everyone else; it requires that the majority ensure that those in the minority have their needs met as well; something that many forget when they spout about Australia being a democracy.

I am a Christian. I am also a Homosexual man. Neither are mutually exclusive unless you happen to take the scriptures completely out of context, or simply ignore the concept of context altogether. I believe Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. I follow the tenets of the word of God and am very aware of what the bible does and actually doesn't say about homosexuality. I could elaborate further but you might like to get in contact with Rob Buckingham at Bayside Church in Melbourne and ask him about the "Clobber Passages" that 'christians' (purposely all in lower case.) use to constantly condemn Gays and Lesbians.

Australia is a Secular country whether you like it or not. Nowhere in the scriptures did Christ or the apostles say go out and change the world's political systems, 'Forcing' your way of life upon the population.

Instead the great commission was to go out and make disciples of all nationalities (to the ends of the earth.) Instead, the word of God has been perverted by many church leaders and by many of those who blindly follow the pastor and never challenge what they are taught. There is also the FACT that much like the belief that the world was once flat; science has recognised the intrinsic nature of human sexuality; something you choose to ignore.

God gave humans brains to use them not to simply follow unquestioning. Try asking how we came about the hatred and intolerance that many in the church spew forth with such vigour? If the answer comes back that "It's always been that way! Or, that's what I was taught at the seminary! Or, that's what my church teaches! Then that is nothing more than parroting. That is not pleasing to God; that's 'sounding brass'.

Some of us forget that is is not our job to point out the sin in the lives of those who do not know Christ, that is the Job of the Holy Spirit. One thing that truly grieves the spirit of God is when we, as the body of Christ start standing in judgement over those around us; how many hearts can you actually see into?

It's time for the church to realise that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. ALL, that includes the sanctimonious; the Neo-pharrisees; all those who look at other people and forget that ALL of us need the Grace that God has to offer; Freely; without condition.

"They shall know you by your love"; not your hatred; not your constant harping. The command calls for us to be the light not another source of hatred, bile and darkness.

Bill, and others on this list we have a real opportunity. We can continue to condemn and criticise and point out the sins of those around us; remember the Pharisee who prayed in the temple "thank you God for not making me like him" (referring to the poor man beside him.) Instead the poor man's prayer was "Thank you God for loving one such as me, a sinner."

Since when did we get the right to think that we have had enough of the Grace of God? John's first epistle points out that "if any man say he is without sin then God does not live in him." We all fall short of the glory of God in this life, that's why the Grace of God provides for the Forgiveness of sins for those who fall" (the next point in the same chapter.

As we take up the yolk of Christ in this world, then it involves loving those YOU deem unlovable; the smelly homeless person who sits on the bus beside you. The Single mother who is on heroin and finds it hard to cope with her child and the physical agony that her addiction causes her every day until she gets her next fit. And God also requires you to LOVE the homosexual; including the extravegant ones on the Mardi Gras floats that are mocking the church.

Consider the possibility that the mocking may be the symptom of the bile and hatred that those people have encountered from those who have nothing better to do than judge them and pass sentence on them bashing them with the Bible; instead of Loving them with the Word of God and healing the hurt. Bridging the Gap. Remember many have used the scriptures as a justification for physical and psychological violence against the GLBTI community.

It is not their role to make the first move church; It's ours! We have been sent into the world to reveal Christ to them and as long as we act like the Pharisees and not like Jesus, well perhaps we need to get on our knees and ask for God's Grace and Favour in our time of need so that we can be the blessing we are meant to be and not the curse.

There is no phrase more offensive to non-believers as "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin." it is often used against Gay and Lesbian people. It is offensive and has the stench of Hell to it because it comes from Pride and One-up-man-ship; it exalts the one saying it to a position of superiority over the victim.

God Loved EVERY Sinner, Loves EVERY Sinner and Will Love EVERY Sinner; for all eternity. The Blood of Jesus is sufficient for everyone. It is sufficient for me and you believe it is sufficient for you. If so, then why is it not sufficient for ALL homosexuals?

Christ did not say, and nor did any of the Apostles say "Get your life in order before you can come to me." Instead, we have been told to Proclaim the Good News of Christ to the World. Sometimes we forget that if we're only proclaiming to those who turn up on Sunday we're "Preaching to the Converted."

Please! My Gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters deserve a better church than that. Have you ever thought that it might be the 'Religiosity' they're rejecting instead of rejecting Christ? From what I've heard and experienced Christ is usually missing from those encounters.

Dalai Lama attracts all walks of life

This is the most reasonable precis of what the Dalai Lama had to share on Sunday 19 June 2011 that I have read in the media. Well Done Katherine

Katherine Fleming

The key to inner peace and a harmonious world is to foster compassion for others, particularly in a world where corruption and the pursuit of wealth are so prevalent.

That was the Dalai Lama’s message to 14,500 people at Burswood Dome yesterday. It was the final leg and the biggest crowd of his Australian speaking tour.

In a wide-ranging speech, punctuate regularly by his trademark giggle, the 75-year-old Buddhist monk also lamented that global efforts to tackle climate change were being stymied by nation’s refusal to make short-term sacrifices for the long-term benefit of the global community.

The broadness of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s appeal was clear from the crowds streaming into the venue. There were hipsters in jeans, families with children, Buddhist monks wrapped in robes and older couples.

Central to the theme, the Dalai Lama said, was that religion was not the only path to happiness. But the happiness that comes from material possessions and “sensory” joys such as good food, beautiful music and sex would only be short-term.

“Whether we accept religion or not is individual,” he said. “If you have no interest in religion, no problem, but you should not neglect that inner value of compassion and sense of others’ wellbeing because it brings inner power and inner strength.

“It reduces fear and insecurity, which bring anger and frustration and many destructive emotions. Compassion and warm-heartedness is their antidote.”

Asked about celebrations after the death of Osama bin Laden, he responded that he opposed the death penalty.

“Give them life imprisonment and give them our forgiveness,” he said. “We must forgive the sinner but oppose their sin.”

The Dalai Lama leaves Australia today.

The West Australian pg.7 Print Edition Only, Monday 20 June 2011.

What's all the fuss about?

There's a lot of polling and politicking going on, not only here in Australia but around the world, regarding the subject of 'Gay Marriage', or 'Same-Sex Marriage' the reality is that what is really being called for is 'Marriage Equality'. Not special acknowledgement but actual acknowledgement of the validity of our relationships.

Sadly, the strongest voices against such equality are the very same that decry the promiscuity, hedonism and instability of relationships outside their vanilla mould. However, modern statistics and the media choices of the larger population would demonstrate that such moral turpitude is not the franchise of the GLBTI community.

The idea that Gay and Lesbian people would want to settle, establish long-term committed relationships should be celebrated rather than rejected. Instead they are greeted with disdain and mockery that belittles the level of commitment that those wishing to enter such relationships have demonstrated. In reality, GLBTI people who wish to marry have a greater level of commitment to the institution than their heterosexual counterparts because they have had to fully consider the implications of what they are entering into.

In point of fact the marriage industry is a booming success with numerous repeat clients who seem unable to get it right the first time. In western society the commoditization of marriage is and has always been the device through which power, property and status has been achieved. This is also evident in the feeding frenzy, which is the tabloid media and its infatuation with celebrity and political marriage, divorce and re-marriage. 

The anti-equality crowd seems to be stuck in the idea that God instituted marriage 6000 years ago and it hasn’t changed since. However, Marriage, as a social construct has evolved and changed dramatically over the centuries according to the social and financial pressures placed upon it.

Until the 20^th century, in western society, marriage involved the transaction of property, lands, and in particular the ownership of the females owned by the master of the house. In point of fact very few people who didn’t have money until the Victorian age got married but they relied upon the convention of “Common Law Marriage” or what would be regarded as de’facto marriage in modern parlance.

In Australia of 2011 the position that the definition of marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life is an artificial construct that neglects the ‘FACT’ that the social construct of marriage in the 21^st Century has already changed; that the social construct of marriage internationally includes marriages between people of the same sexual orientation. It is, in fact, a burying of one’s head in the sand.

Marriage in 2011 internationally includes those marriages celebrated in places like Canada, Spain and the Netherlands. However, countries around the world that do not recognise marriages that have been celebrated in such jurisdictions are both burying their heads in the sand and neglecting their responsibilities under the Hague “Convention of the 14 March 1978 on the celebration and recognition of the validity of marriage”. Article 9.

The concept of the separation of Church and state, as a social convention, is central to what is regarded as a secular society. Countries like Australia are not Theocracies and so should not bind religious conventions to the rest of society. Given that the current Prime Minister is a confirmed Atheist and in a De’facto relationship there is no legitimate justification for supporting the John Howard definition of Marriage which was shoved down the corporate Australian throat 13 August 2004.

Many Gay and Lesbian couples have been married and remain married with a stronger level of commitment than most of their heterosexual counterparts. Yet, in Australia, they are still not recognised; instead they are shunned. What’s all the fuss about?