Hot off the Press: Which Islam? Whose Islam? and other essays by Visiting US author Zuhdi Jasser

According to Victorian Multicultural Commission Chairperson Vivienne Nguyen “ there is no place for racism, religious vilification or any form of hate conduct in Victoria’s multicultural society.”

 It's all happening in Warburton 2:30 Tuesday 26 April, 2022.  Senator Bridget McKenzie is the ‘real deal’ and it’s a privilege to have her visiting us at Green Gables in Warburton; a historic town nestled between majestic mountains donning stunning flora.  A Senator for Victoria since 2011, Bridget has held ministerial office in the Turnbull and Morrison Governments, also serving as the National’s Senate leader since 2019. She is currently the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development of Australia. Yet neither lofty titles nor her double degree in applied science distract the Senator from remaining grounded. She is just as comfortable donning work boots and traipsing over farms as engaging in rigorous parliamentary debate. Bridget is a fighter for what she believes in and highly respected by grass roots members of the Nats.  Her good humour and good sense are great supplements to her wealth of experience. Don’t miss your chance for afternoon tea with Senator McKenzie 2:30 Tuesday 26 April.                                                                                    Book here now  

The gap between the developed and lesser developed world grows ever wider and citizens respective top-of-mind issues reflect that. Yet a deeper plunge from symptom to source highlights that aspirational values underpinning flaring global issues remain rooted in the same familiar pursuits; freedom and happiness, which are intimately connected to identity. We live in the age of identity. It’s where people reside, where their battle lines are drawn and what they’ll die for.

First Published Gippsland Times 16/2/21

Once upon a time if Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson tweeted that a law before the Victorian parliament constituted the ‘biggest threat to our democratic freedoms in Australia’s entire legislative history’ someone may have heard. But the current modus operandi is not to hear and think but feel and flow.

Under the guise of preventing harm from what is commonly known as ‘conversion therapy’, the Victorian Labor government has tabled the ‘Suppression Practises Prohibition Bill 2020’.

I have a dear friend who writes like Charlotte Bronte. My Charlotte would be able to respond to Mark Connor’s article about blind privilege and her deep meditations would be heard. Because of all she inherited in life, she would be granted that privilege. As an educated Malay Muslim, representing the dominant culture in her society, my Charlotte is also deeply concerned about human rights and has often spoken of her own privilege vis a vis Chinese Malaysians; many who flee to Australia for the fair go and opportunities they don’t receive in their homeland. She bemoans the systemic discrimination of Chinese Malaysians in education, vocational opportunities and life in general. Despite her challenges as a single mum with a chronic illness who has weathered significant social and economic hardship, my Charlotte acknowledges her inherited privilege as an ethnic Malay in Malaysia. It’s a privilege – but it’s not white privilege. With fundamental differences in culture, faith, family background, life experience, education - just about everything - we remain deeply bonded soul sisters. And this despite judgments from others. I only need mention my Muslim friend online and someone will snipe ‘don’t lie- you couldn’t have a Muslim friend!’ And when my husband and I visit her in Malaysia, my Charlotte is asked by her educated Malay colleagues and associates why she has ‘infidels’ staying in her home. Yet she offers us this privilege not because we’re white – but because of our friendship. She hires the car for us so as westerners we won’t have the privilege of being charged double by those who think it’s fair game to rip off foreigners; a universal issue. As a decent human being, these things bother her. After visiting Australia several times and experiencing firsthand the multiculturalism we boast of, it also bothers her that fellow Malaysians continue to portray Australians as racists. And that’s the point. This is not a denial of individual racism – that’s universal – but to question the collective idea of privilege and systematic racism attached to colour or lack thereof in western nations. Having intersected with privilege and under-privilege across many cultures, I find it difficult to accept that its systematic in specifically white cultures, to which many suffering oppression and disadvantage flee. I do accept I’m privileged to live in Australia rather than the plagued killing fields of Nigeria where my friend Reverend Muhammad literally faces death daily.The ‘knee on the neck’ of his community is a jihadist one which has had the historical advantage. As I think of my privilege, I remind myself of a documentary by Afghan-Australian Broadcast Journalist Yalda Hakim on tour in Afghanistan. She declared ‘life just doesn’t have the same value here.’ Despite the privilege of being born in a peaceful democratic nation that does value life, I don’t have the privilege of making the same statement without being labelled a racist.

Porn addiction might be considered an ‘eating disorder’ of another kind. It’s the wrong kind of brain food for the developing brain, literally short circuiting healthy emotional and behavioural responses toward intimacy. It’s about porn trigging neuroplasticity changes and neurochemical release of naturally occurring hormones, often resulting in addiction and disorders. Porn is toxic for our children!

David Marr describes the faith of Pell’s supporters in him as ‘ depthless ; proof against any evidence that might be brought to bear against him.’ Co-panellists on The Drum seemed similarly mystified as to how Pell’s faithful supporters could remain so in the face of the evidence. According to Marr, Australia can claim a ‘more than modest victory for the law’, and his unsought advice to supporters is to now accept it’s time to drop any ‘florid conspiracy theories.’