"Religion, Cultural Diversity and
safeguarding Australia"
A ROTATING ROSTER of PRAYERS to open
parliament - national interfaith services - local 'Multifaith or Interfaith Networks at Council level -
a book promoting 'Muslim Australians'. . .
Happening in
Australia?
Yes, these proposals are all from
a series of books published by the Living in
Harmony project funded by the Department of Immigration and
Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. The Australian Multicultural Foundation
was a partner in this
production. The books were published in 2004.
The 149 page publication promoting multi-faith and
inter-faith activity is a report titled "Religion, Cultural Diversity
and Safeguarding Australia".
It profiles religious activity in Australia and makes
recommendations for the future.
Submissions were received more than two years ago and
consultations have been held. The Report was published in December
2004
but it
is still vitally important for us to read the Report and understand its
implications.
The Summit of Muslim leaders (August 2005)
has discussed some of the proposals in this Report, including the training of imams and
the monitoring of what religious leaders say.
Many of the recommendations are concerning and if implemented would see
mandated 'multi-faith' activities. Recommendations about the training of
religious staff, employment by religious organisations, 'rotating' prayers to
open Parliament and the teaching of world religions in schools are all promoted
in this wide-ranging report.
This is an indication of where the interfaith community would like 'religion'
to go in Australia.
The Report is essential reading for those who are concerned about
these directions in our nation. More details about the Report are below the
ACTION section - and a detailed analysis is in the Attached document
below.
NEW:
Summary Report (one page) - 'Religion, Cultural
Diversity and Safeguarding Australia'
A One page Summary
Report
is now
attached (Aug 2005).
Report – ‘Religion, Cultural
Diversity and Safeguarding Australia’
A four Page
report on
the key recommendations, with links to the documents is
also attached below.
ACTION: We asked people to write to
their MPs, expressing their concern about these proposals.
Even
though these three books have been out for some time, it is still important
to communicate our concerns about these proposals to
our MPs and Senators...
Click here for Members of the
House of Representatives.
Click here for Senators.
The Report
The full
document is available at this website, along with a description of the project.
Click here.
Click here
for the actual pdf document of the 149 page Report.
What are the main concerns?
The whole report focuses on multi-faith activities. To name
just a few, the recommendations include the opening of parliament with a
rotating roster of prayers, the establishment of local interfaith networks, an
annual Multifaith forum, a Multitfaith Advisory Council, the teaching of world
religions in schools, the educating of those training for religious ministry in
how to 'participate in a multi-faith society'!
I have highlighted the major Recommendations below.
Two Additional
Reports
Two additional reports were published by the same
project. Both pursue the notion of 'multifaith' activities by getting everyone
'together' to ensure 'harmony'.
The third book highlights the focus of the
Report - a book on Islam... Why isn't there a book on Christianity - or one on Wicca or paganism?
‘Constructing a Local Multifaith
Network’
Click here.
This handbook has been sent to local Councils,
recommending they form Multifaith Networks
.
‘Australian Muslims: their Beliefs, Practices and
Institutions’.
Click here.
It is 83 pages long.
Written by Prof Abdullah Saeed, a Muslim who is the “Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab
and Islamic Studies” at the University of Melbourne This book is designed to
be used as a school textbook and highlights favourable aspects of Islam.
Prayer in parliament
Here I will just elaborate on the "Prayer in
parliament" proposal... for discussion of more aspects see
the One Page and Four Page assessments attached below.
The report recommends that the Parliamentary day be opened by a 'rotating'
prayer from one of 17 faith communities including those of no belief - in this
case it could be a reading instead of a prayer! Then they recommend that the
Parliamentary Day be CLOSED with the Lord's prayer.
From the Report: "Use of the Our Father (P 99)
"The use of
the exemplary Christian prayer, the Our Father, to commence each parliamentary
day was raised though some Christian leaders considered it ought to be
acceptable to all faiths since the name of Jesus is never mentioned. The
suggestion that the Our Father be replaced by a series of prayers and readings
selected by each of the major faith communities on a rotational basis with,
perhaps, the Our Father, in deference to the Christian majority, being recited
to close each parliamentary day was received by religious leaders as a more
preferred and worthwhile compromise. It is suggested that the rotation also
include a reading chosen by rationalist or atheist organizations in deference to
those whose world view is not embedded in a theist framework. It is suggested
that the rotational system include those faith groups which have at least 0.333
per cent of the total population - in 2001, this would have included the
following 16 groups (in order): Catholic, Anglican, No Religion
(atheist/rationalist), Uniting Church, Presbyterian, Orthodox, Buddhist,
Baptist, Muslim, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Hindu, Jewish, Jehovah's Witness,
Salvation Army and Church of Christ. Local inter-faith groups such as Hume in
Melbourne have utilized a similar system successfully. Such a solution would
show to the world Australia as a lighthouse of multi-faith
co-operation." Author: Jenny Stokes | Modified: 17 October 2008 |
