Comments on: who cares anyway?

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

The lies and obfuscations are the core of the issue. No Aussie likes to be lied to and worse, hate being the victim of a conman’s lie. With the baser emotions, one cannot afford to become too cerebral, especially with the marginals. Slap it on thick, serve it up hot, fresh & under their noses and they might take notice. Get long-winded and thoughtful and you’ve already lost.

By: bryan

bryan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Man, I love it when you folks talk Aussie Politics. I have no idea what all these terms mean, so it’s somewhat exotic, as over against hearing another round of vietnam arguments over here.

By: phil

phil — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bryan, you gave me my morning chuckle Calling signposts exotic - hehe - I bet Dan takes that as a compliment.

By: Homer Paxton

Homer Paxton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Can I suggest we aproach this in a different perspective.
If john howard is the christian he says he is what should he do?

Public repentance like King David,
A need for someone to be a prayer partner, a need for someone to be a Nathan ie tell him what God says but above all a need to recognise his first duty is to God not to all Australians, not to the Liberal party.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Maybe Howard’s biggest “lie” is his emphasis on “family values”. As reported recently in the SMH the Liberal Party does not list the status of party members that are divorced or separated, and certainly not those with same sex partners.

His recent support of Ross Cameron in the Parramatta seat seemed too sympathetic. This tolerance for deceit at the home level indicates perhaps that he is tolerant of deceit at the public level.

I wish I was important enough to be asked to join the gang of 43 who asked publicly for truth in government. Voting is just not enough, I need to say why I voted the way I did, but that is not allowed on the ballot paper.

By: dan

dan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Isn’t that the point of the conservative political “family values” conversation? The goal is not to clean up your own backyard, but to point the finger at all the bad people who are doing it wrong.

By: Homer Paxton

Homer Paxton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

No Dan, it is to point to standards that most of us fail to satisfy.

Ross should have repented earlier but repent he certainly has.
He may turn out to be a better person for this.

We all fall short that is the point. A sinful person by defintion can’t be a better than a sinful person.

By: dan

dan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

My issue is not the sinful/sinless agenda, that is another question altogether. What I don’t like is the politicisation of the family, of moral values and those aspects of the campaign (which I understood jim to be referring to).

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I think Dan is right, saying that these thoughts are not about sin, remembering that we can’t throw the first stone. Sin is a concept that varies with personal conscience, beliefs and expectations of family and the wider community. Some sins are lawful and some are not. For instance it is unlawful for a company director to mislead the shareholders or the stock market, while a member of parliament may be censured for misleading parliament. A election promise need not be honoured and there is no obvious penalty.

Strangely enough the PM has announced that the theme for this election will be “trust”. We are expected to trust them on the basis of what we are told. This becomes meaningless if their past is clouded with deceit, both public and private. By deceit,I mean not just lies, but the evasion of truth and attempts to prevent the truth being known. Sometimes this consists of selective release of items from a longer and comprehensive report, which is not a lie, but it is deceit.

Perhaps the PM has picked up the “trust” thing while in the USA, from their motto “in God we trust”. A good motto for myself.

By: Homer Paxton

Homer Paxton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

We were told by Jesus to forgive people an unlimited number of times if they repent.

Thus I have no problem with Mr howard continuing to support Ross Cameron.

I see no problem with a political party seeking to uphold family values re the bible.

People don’t seem to understand that the Labour Party in the UK was started by Methodists with a particulalry biblical view of the world.

In Australia it was a similar story with a few evangelical anglicans thrown in.

such a shame that the ALP has become the party for atheists!