In the very profound War Movie ‘A Thin Red Line’, the main character, Private Witt, says ‘one person sees a dying bird and sees death; another sees a dying bird and sees glory’. In this reflection on life, nature and war, Witt points to a fundamental paradox of life, that the essence of life is beyond logic.
It is wonderful news to hear that the most senior Muslim cleric in Australia, the Grand mufti of Australia, has flown to Jakarta to plead the lives of the Bali 9 ringleaders, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
The Grand mufti’s reasons enhance the implications of his visit. He said, quoted in the Age:
“On behalf of the Islamic community of Australia, we plead, with respect and humility, for mercy for the lives of two young Australian men, who have not only shown repentance for their serious crimes, but have rehabilitated themselves and indeed others” he also said that this plea for mercy and forgiveness ‘is the spirit of Islam’ and is central to its heritage, especially when there is true repentance.
The all out attack on the President of the Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs, since the public release of the report on The Forgotten Children, by some members of the Abbott Government,is deceitful politics at its worst. Accusing her of political bias does not seem to fit some of the most important facts, which seem to have been hidden by the smoke screen.
A lot of ink has been spilt over the seemingly imminent execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two Australians on death row in Indonesia.
The Indonesian government has replied to the claim of their having double standards, where they plead for clemency for their own citizens facing the death penalty in other countries, yet will not respond to pleas for clemency for the two Australians, by quoting John Howard as thinking that the death penalty was appropriate for the Bali bombers. It is hardly the same situation and I doubt whether Australia actively pleaded for the Bali bombers executions.
Religious freedom has become an essential feature of modern secular democracies. Yet like any core value of society, it is in a process of evolution and needs to be revisited, at various times as the life of a society unfolds. This is particularly necessary at this time in the light of issues raised by religious fundamentalism and extremism and particularly, the Islamic version.
In many of the Western democracies such as ours, freedom of religion was developed in the light of the diversity within Christianity. Yet there was a stage when, not necessarily fully articulated but assumed, it was freedom for people to practice their particular Christian beliefs.
In our society, multiculturalism has changed the face of what religious freedom means.