It brought to mind a discussion I had with some old Aussie mates here in Hong Kong and which I posted here . On that thread there's a lot of interesting comments, especially from "dumbledoresarmy", a mum (grandmum perhaps) from Oz, whose posts are always interesting.
Here's what I said there....
Hi DDA ["Dumbledoresarmy"], I just wanted to say thanks and congratulations for the wonderful posts above, enlightening, as always.
I had some old, old Aussie mates visiting me here in Hong Kong recently for a week or so. Of course, over time, we got onto the issue of Islamic -- I think they were rather startled that my bookshelf is almost all matters Islam.... They reckoned that, in Oz, we didn't need to worry about "Stealth", or any other encroachment of Islam, because Aussies would just tell them to go stick it. Male mate reminded me that Paul Keating (as PM?) had said something pretty sound along lines of "if you want to live here, you have to buy into our system", or some such words. Female mate was interested in learning more about Islam, what to read off my bookshelf and which blogs to read and I set her straight on that. Some of the comments in the Aussie media in response to the Sharia suggestion above might indicate that indeed Aussies will stand up to creeping Sharia.
On the other hand, I wonder if there's not been somewhat of a divergence in recent months/years: that the bloggers and commentators have become more learned and sound on the danger of Islam -- so that we see, for example, comments critical of dhimmi articles, even in leftie papers such as the Guardian -- while the MSM and pollies have become ever more craven in their excusing of even the most egregious aspects of Islam. Or is that just my imagination?
Re my old mates: I'll have to make sure they're tuned into this report and the comments thereon, to make sure that the "go stick it" attitude to ridiculous suggestions like this one are strengthened.
BTW: haven't seen anyone refer to the "One Law For Al l" coalition in the UK. They're anti Sharia and have lot of respectable membership/support -- ie not right-wing loonies, or fringe elements. And their beef is that Sharia is bad for both women and children. Simple message: it's bad for women and children. That message ought to stop it dead. (I say "ought"....)
A poster ("PJG") had the following comment:
Meeker, as for your Aussie friends "reckoning" stealth jihad will not happen in Australia, I believe that attitude is more an indication of the "she'll be right" mentality here than anything else.
It was Peter Costello, not Keating, who said "If you want Sharia law, go somewhere else" or some similar thing, but he is gone now, and our current PM is overseeing the introduction of "ethical" Sharia banking, and the virtually free entry of Muslim "asylum seekers". As you know, Islamic infiltration is multi-faceted and backed by great determination and, presently, confidence. Furthermore, Australia is now made up of many migrant groups. I have only met one Chinese person, for instance, who knows or cares about Muslim infiltration. Are such people here to defend Australia in any way? This is one of the beauties of multiculturalism, for Muslim infiltraters: they can hide amongst all the MC chaos. I am not saying they will necessarily succeed in Islamizing Australia, but it won't be as easy as your friends think to counter their zeal.Earlier, regarding the Muslim leader Zacharia Matthews, PJG also had the following very useful comment:
I went to hear Mark Durie talk tonight, and bought a few more copies of his book to pass around. In his book ("The Third Choice") he mentions this Matthews man:
"On Friday 20/3/01, Zachariah Matthews, a prominent Australian Muslim youth leader, presented a lecture to the Muslim Society at the University of Western Sydney. His subject was the proper method of establishing Islam in the lands of immigration. He argued that it was necessary to adhere to principles derived from the example of Muhammed's Hijrah 'migration' to Medina, since 'The Prophetic Method of Dawah is the only method that will bring us success.' Matthews listed six 'Hijrah Management Principles', which were based upon episodes in Muhammed's life. Of these the third was 'secrets should be hidden' and the sixth 'deception is necessary'.
Matthews also proposed a principle "that it can be necessary to apply a 'need to know' basis for revealing the plans of Islam, even to Muslims".
Even Muslims don't know what he has in store for them. They might be in for a nasty surprise if they help him get this tiny little bit of Sharia up and running. They might end up with some Sharia they don't like very much...
