LETTERS
News Weekly, June 23, 2012
Same-sex marriage push
Sir,
The push for same-sex marriage cuts to the heart of natural law, religious freedom and the rights of children to have proper parents.
Radical humanist groups, such as the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and intersexual (GLBTI), want to challenge natural law tradition with their own ideas for a better world.
They want to use same-sex marriage, and anti-discrimination and “human rights” legislation, to bring traditionalists and churches into conflict with the state. They want to force this new secular agenda onto the public, and preach and teach it as of equal rights in our kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. To get their way they are prepared to threaten to withhold funding from services such as education, health care, aged care and adoption.
So much for human rights and religious freedom of conscience, the basis of Western society! Morality is not determined by a majority vote.
It is one thing for society to tolerate private disordered sex contrary to natural law, but not the public acceptance and promotion of such behaviour as of equal choice and rights. We must hate the sin, but love the sinner.
Many can’t believe that the denial of basic human rights by a tyranny can happen here, but history shows otherwise.
The tyrannies of Rome under Nero, in England under Elizabeth I, of France under Robespierre, in Germany under Bismarck and Hitler, in Mexico and Spain in the 1920s and ’30s, in Russia, eastern Europe and China under communism, and now the United States threatened by Obama’s coercive healthcare legislation are examples.
Totalitarian tyranny happens again when a dominant group believe they can control human society on their own terms for a “better” world, like the ruling pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm.
God help us all to preserve the best of our Judeo-Christian heritage.
Fr Bernard McGrath,
Bendigo, Vic.
Glimmer of hope
Sir,
Please thank Peter J. Young for his great enthusiasm in penning his letter, “Vision needed for Murray-Darling Basin” (News Weekly, May 12, 2012).
However, he needs to take more care in assessing the feasibility of these proposals. The famous engineer Dr John Bradfield promoted east-west tunnels to divert eastern waters to the central-west plains, not northern waters to the southern plains.
The Bradfield idea is somewhat demonstrated by the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which diverts south-east waters to the western plains of NSW.
No reputable engineer has ever advocated water diversion from north to south.
It would be much cheaper to build two global cities the size of Dubai on the Gulf of Carpentaria if we wanted to be that extravagant — or to build 10 desalination plants around the coastline.
Western Australia’s Ord river scheme offers a glimmer of hope and will become more profitable in the medium term when demand increases for agricultural produce. Then Tony Abbott will be able to trumpet his northern irrigation proposal.
Peter Dixon,
Wodonga, Vic.
Armed with forks
Sir,
Congratulations to Phil Murphy, of Great Thou Art Graphic Design, NSW, for his front-cover design to accompany the headline, “Defence spending slashed” (News Weekly, May 26, 2012).
The author of the cover article, Peter Westmore, is discharging a national obligation that has for far too long been subjected to nominal attention by the federal Opposition.
I have definite ideas as to who should be on the receiving end of the four-pronged implement.
Tom King,
Mansfield, Qld