Australian archbishop condemns policies of fear and insularity
-11/10/06
Hitting out a
Australian archbishop condemns policies of fear and insularity
-11/10/06
Hitting out against aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric and one-sided foreign policy, the Anglican Archbishop of Perth has described as ìa waste of timeî the Federal Government’s call for migrants to sign agreements on Australian values.
In a wide-ranging speech, Archbishop Roger Herft said that alarmist claims by the right-wing One Nation political partyís former leader, Pauline Hanson, ten years ago, had now become mainstream ñ to the detriment of social justice and reasoned argument.
In a move which parallels Christian concerns about the actions of the UK government, Archbishop Herft urged the authorities and the community to move away from a “mean world fuelled by fear”.
In an address to 500 ministers and parishioners at a Synod in Mirrabooka, the Anglican church leader condemned government policies, including offshore processing of boat people and its support for the detention of Australian citizen David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay.
He continued: “We process boat people in the Pacific, having played territorial gymnastics with our borders. We refuse to see difference of culture, language or creed as deserving of respect or understanding. Our media, law-enforcement agencies and politicians make an art of negative profiling.”
Archbishop Herft said that asking migrants to sign agreements which called for respect of the Australian character was unworkable, especially given present attitudes to the country’s indigenous people and migrants.
“The excitement generated by a proposal for migrants and tourists to sign documents calling on them to respect the ‘Australian character’ will be a waste of time if we do not have that sense of identity that is grounded in the respect of difference,” he added.
The Australian Government’s unwillingness to stand up to the US internationally on issues like Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the environment was another of the Archbishopís grave concerns, said the Perth Sunday Times.
He explained: “In foreign policy, we are devoid of any independent viewpoint. We deport citizens with a mental illness who happen to have a foreign accent and we do nothing for our own [being] held without trial in detention centres managed by our friends, the USA.”
Archbishop Herft added that it was “ironic and unedifying” that the Anglican communion was preoccupied with sex (the blessing of same-sex couples, lesbian and gay church leaders and the ordination of women) when there were other more significant events which needed the attention of gospel people.
With thanks to Doug Hynd
Australian archbishop condemns policies of fear and insularity
-11/10/06
Hitting out against aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric and one-sided foreign policy, the Anglican Archbishop of Perth has described as ìa waste of timeî the Federal Government’s call for migrants to sign agreements on Australian values.
In a wide-ranging speech, Archbishop Roger Herft said that alarmist claims by the right-wing One Nation political partyís former leader, Pauline Hanson, ten years ago, had now become mainstream ñ to the detriment of social justice and reasoned argument.
In a move which parallels Christian concerns about the actions of the UK government, Archbishop Herft urged the authorities and the community to move away from a “mean world fuelled by fear”.
In an address to 500 ministers and parishioners at a Synod in Mirrabooka, the Anglican church leader condemned government policies, including offshore processing of boat people and its support for the detention of Australian citizen David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay.
He continued: “We process boat people in the Pacific, having played territorial gymnastics with our borders. We refuse to see difference of culture, language or creed as deserving of respect or understanding. Our media, law-enforcement agencies and politicians make an art of negative profiling.”
Archbishop Herft said that asking migrants to sign agreements which called for respect of the Australian character was unworkable, especially given present attitudes to the country’s indigenous people and migrants.
“The excitement generated by a proposal for migrants and tourists to sign documents calling on them to respect the ‘Australian character’ will be a waste of time if we do not have that sense of identity that is grounded in the respect of difference,” he added.
The Australian Government’s unwillingness to stand up to the US internationally on issues like Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the environment was another of the Archbishopís grave concerns, said the Perth Sunday Times.
He explained: “In foreign policy, we are devoid of any independent viewpoint. We deport citizens with a mental illness who happen to have a foreign accent and we do nothing for our own [being] held without trial in detention centres managed by our friends, the USA.”
Archbishop Herft added that it was “ironic and unedifying” that the Anglican communion was preoccupied with sex (the blessing of same-sex couples, lesbian and gay church leaders and the ordination of women) when there were other more significant events which needed the attention of gospel people.
With thanks to Doug Hynd