Thursday 14 August 2014

For politicians, footballers, Catholic priests and Muslim imams


 
Do you need to be told what is good and what is bad?


There are some people who seem to have no sense at all about what is right and what is wrong. Politicians are notable - they have to have a 'Code of Conduct' written down for them, it appears. Most of us have no need to be told what is right and what is wrong. We know.

A politician handed a blatant bribe recently excused himself by saying, 'I was quite naive in a political sense at that stage.'  If he was that 'naive' then he had to be stupid. And stupid people have no business seeking to run for parliament.  (Andrew Cornwell, NSW Liberal, according to the Australian, 12/8/14.) 

Footballers. They have educational courses in how to treat women. It seems they don't know that women should be treated with respect - someone has to explain it to them!

Mr. George Pell, former arch-bishop of Sydney, who now has a position at the Vatican. He appeared at the Royal Commision into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.  His policy was to go after those who sought damages from the church, with all the muscle the church could muster. And since the Catholic Church is very rich, that was a great deal of muscle. If a victim pursued his claim, he risked being banktupted. George Pell ordered this even when he knew perfectly well that the accusations were justified.  His response when this was brought up?  That the policy was 'misguided.'   Misguided, Mr. Pell?  Try wicked. Try evil. Try frankly BAD!   (This response by Pell was shown on 'Four Corners,' ABC, 11/8/14.) 

Mr. Pell, of course, is a Catholic priest.  There has been so much about the abuses of Catholic priests these last ten years or so, that I wonder if any of them have the slightest conception of the difference between right and wrong. So many of them were abusing children that they all had to know about it. And none of them chose to try and do anything. Worse. They acted to pretend it was not happening. One instance - a headmaster of a Catholic school objected to the priest routinely abusing the children -  and was fired. ('Four Corners,' ABC, 11/8/14.) 

More about religious leaders, this time, Muslim religious leaders. ISIS, formerly ISIL, currently calling themselves 'Islamic State' and probably something else entirely next week. They are murderous terrorists. They behead enemies - no such thing as relatively civilised 'rules of war.'  Not that war is ever civilised, but I doubt if humanity has seen anything as utterly barbaric as this mob for many, many centuries. All of this is well known. It is not propaganda, it is their own boasting on social media. Pictures on social media. A child holding the head of a victim, posted by his proud father!

So what do our local Muslim leaders have to say about this?  Thankfully, at  least some have condemned it, notably 'Lakemba Community Leader, Jamal Rifi, (planning to run for NSW parliament next year according to the Australian, 12/8/14.)     

But others do not choose to comment. Board of Imams Victoria president, Sheik Gul Saeed Shah declined to comment because 'he did not know enough specifically about Islamic State.'   (The Australian, 12/8/14.)  He could not fail to know something of what they are doing. So is he lacking a sense of right and wrong?  Or is he merely afraid of the swine? 

 

So for politicians, footballers, Catholic priests and Muslim imams, I'll try and explain in terms you might understand.

To hurt others is bad, to help others is good.  Got it?  Not so difficult now, is it?

 So how about acting on it?

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