Australian values take their lead from the Christian Bible, by Kevin Donnelly.
Getting students to acknowledge and appreciate Australian values is not easy or straightforward.
The first problem is that Australia’s cultural-left academics, professional bodies and curriculum writers argue all cultures must be treated equally. Western culture is simply one culture among many and students are taught to embrace diversity and difference (the new code for multiculturalism).
More extreme advocates also argue that Western values are xenophobic, oppressive and inequitable, proven by our racist, misogynist and imperialist past.
A second problem, even when there is agreement on what constitutes Australian or Western values, is that the list is so vacuous and all-embracing that it’s impossible to identify what makes such values special or unique.
The usual list includes tolerance and inclusion, respecting another person’s point of view and doing your best.
Rarely, if ever, is there any attempt to identify what underlines and reinforces such values and why not all are equally beneficial.
Not all points of view are valid and tolerating the intolerable denies the fact that some thoughts and actions are immoral and dangerous. Aspects of the Koran, such as undertaking a fatwa against the nonbelievers, sharia law and establishing a caliphate, will always be antithetical to our way of life.
As detailed by Cameron when he argued that Britain is a Christian nation, there is an alternative. Cultural relativism is self-destructive and the reality is that the Westminster parliamentary and the common law systems, as well as guaranteeing liberty and freedom, are historically and culturally specific.
Values such as the inherent dignity of the person, freedom of expression and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness can be understood only in the context of the Bible, especially the New Testament, and historical events such as the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment.
If same sex marriage becomes accepted and normal, won’t the Bible — the cornerstone of western values — be regarded as hate-speech? Cultural Marxists are salivating at the prospect.
hat-tip Stephen Neil
