Saturday, April 3, 2010

Andrew on refugees

Andrew isn't capable of a full on rant.  If he was, this post would have been much more aggressive.  This is one issue he feels particularly passionate about.  Much more passionate than I do (though I agree with all he says.)  I think his post is lacking the words 'stupid' and 'dumb'.  If you like those words, read on.
  • It is a cop out to say this is a very difficult issue and different christians have different opinions about it.  And stupid.  It's not that difficult.  We are to be merciful and welcoming.  These people have mostly (90%) come from horrible situations.  They have come to us for refuge.  We should shelter them!  This means we should treat them well on arrive.  Not move them from place to place, trying to avoid responsibility.  We should process them quickly and help them to settle into Australia.  We should be careful that our words about them are loving and kind, assuming the best.
  • It is dumb that we find it easier to be compassionate about unborn babies than about refugees.  How would christians feel if people started talking about how 'all these unwanted children, are invading our country!'
  • I wonder if underneath all the talk of 'difficult situation blah blah blah' what it comes down to is that a high standard of living and a white Australia is more important to us than justice and mercy.

6 comments:

  1. Quite true, I concur with everything - see my comment on the issue at SydneyAnglicans.com.

    I think some of it is the inbuilt nature of the White Australia policy.

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  2. Hi, Simone, I'm Duncan W MacInnes (see my comment on SydneyAnglicans.com from Jeremy Halcrow's article 'Rethink on Refugees'), am British live in the UK, and follow SydAng blogs and there was a link to your site from Nicole's 168 Hours blog, that I followed, and found your site. Keep up the good work!

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  3. Thanks Duncan. I thought that was you.

    I think Australians have very little idea about how little we do to help refugees compared to other countries. I'd love to be able to talk of our 'proud history' in this area, but simply can't.

    Your point was good.

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  4. Some Australians seem to have more compassion on caged chickens than refugees or unborn babies. Values have turned on their heads!

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