Religious claims

A correspondent in the Adelaide Advertiser today notes that PM Howard et al, in their treatment of refugees lack of compassion. The last knife (an apparent religious slur) notes that Howard declares himself to be "a faithful Christian". Here's a reply (which they probably won't publish) .....

Your correspondent Allan Nield (The Advertiser 4/11/05) rightly criticises the PM's lack of compassion in the so-called "Pacific solution". He draws a long bow when he also adds: "He(Howard) claims to be a Christian".

Two salient points need to be made. Many, many refugee advocates are Christians also, and are driven by their Christianity to work for justice and compassion. My experience working in a Christian community is that most, if not all, of my fellow-parishioners are appalled by our(and I use the term "our" advisedly) government's brutality with respect to genuine refugees.

Second, the bland statement of a person's religion is not a guide to how they construct the working out of their faith. What ever faith, individual adherents will arrive at seemingly contradictory social positions. Atheists and agnostics are not free from this phenomenon either. It is imperative, in particular, that we understand that Moslem does not equal terrorist, and not use religion as a slur against anyone.