clandestino
20th February 2006, 03:26
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. The same should be done in the United States.
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. On the other hand President Bush hires security people from the UAE (United Arab Emirates of all places) to “secure” our nations ports.
It’s nice to know that at least one democracy in the world can appreciate the separation of church and state. Treasurer Peter Costello 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 the Islamic law, that this 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 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 they 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 spies monitoring the nation's mosques. This is Leadership with guts! While in the United States, recently Al Gore (presidential candidate for those who don’t know) was stopped at the airport for a random security check!! If the problem is clearly a “clash of cultures” why does the current administration continue to use THE PATRIOT ACT as a cheap excuse to break American law, in the name of 9/11 and defending terrorism, if the enemy is defending our ports?
A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. On the other hand President Bush hires security people from the UAE (United Arab Emirates of all places) to “secure” our nations ports.
It’s nice to know that at least one democracy in the world can appreciate the separation of church and state. Treasurer Peter Costello 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 the Islamic law, that this 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 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 they 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 spies monitoring the nation's mosques. This is Leadership with guts! While in the United States, recently Al Gore (presidential candidate for those who don’t know) was stopped at the airport for a random security check!! If the problem is clearly a “clash of cultures” why does the current administration continue to use THE PATRIOT ACT as a cheap excuse to break American law, in the name of 9/11 and defending terrorism, if the enemy is defending our ports?