THE RESURRECTION OF A CIVILISATION

During his recent tour of Australia under the auspices of League of Rights supporters, distinguished British scientist Dr. Geoffrey Dobbs, drew attention to the difference between faith and religion, stressing that religion means appropriate action to make faith a reality. Marxism is a religion, most of its supporters dedicated to action.

A Civilisation is the incarnation of intangible values. To the extent that Western Civilisation was the incarnation of Christian values, it was a Christian Civilisation. Today that Civilisation lies broken and bleeding, crucified by the spiritual descendants of those who rejected Christ's message of freedom for the individual two thousand years ago. Foremost in the campaign, which led to the Crucifixion, were the Pharisees, who were incensed when Christ said that the Sabbath (institutions) were made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Pharisees fanatically believed that they knew what was best for the individual, whose every action had to be governed by written regulations.

Nothing has more dramatically demonstrated the sickness of Western societies than the spectacle of the Hawke Government calling a Summit Conference on the mounting drug problem, offering a massive $80 million of the taxpayers' money for a national programme which it can be predicted now will fail primarily because there is no proposal to look at basic causes.

These could be discovered if a realistic examination were made of another measure of a dying Civilisation: the growing number of despairing and disoriented young people who are committing suicide. Then there are those who, while they cannot bring themselves to direct suicide opt for an attitude of escapism. Drugs help provide one way of attempting to cope with a situation which large numbers of the young find hopeless and despairing. Many are convinced that the bomb will eventually drop and there is no hope for the future.

Students in American Universities have been debating the question of whether or not cyanide tablets should be readily available for students if a nuclear attack took place. There is little faith in the future. Every responsible parent and teachers should all be warning children of the dangers of drug taking. But even the Soviet authorities are finding that lectures on the perils of acute alcoholism are having no effect on the growing consumption of vodka. People forced to live in the dull, grey world of collectivism, with little scope for individual creativeness, turn easily to the most readily available form of escapism - vodka.

"Progressive education", with its rejection of appropriate disciplines for the young, the erosion of traditional values, and the distortion of history, has much to answer for. Mr. Hawke and his colleagues are not addressing themselves to this important question. On top of this is the perversion of the true purpose of the economic system, with large numbers of the young left unemployed and a feeling of uselessness. Present financial, economic and social policies can only be described as those of the anti-Christ, with an ever-increasing cry for even greater centralisation of power and the crushing of the human spirit. With some shining exceptions, Christian Church spokesmen offer little but pious platitudes, or even worse, and carry forward the spirit of the Pharisees with a call for more controls and regulations to "make people good".

The resurrection of a dying Civilisation is not going to start with "Summits", but out amongst the people, where regeneration must first start with individuals, these learning how to associate together to inject a spirit of positive hope into what admittedly is a dark but far from hopeless situation. But this process of regeneration requires access to that Truth which we were told is the foundation of freedom. The League humbly believes that it is in the forefront of the regenerating process by its growing stream of literature, cassette tapes and now videotapes. The challenges were never greater but so is the opportunity to serve God and our fellow human beings, including our betrayed youth.

ABUSE OF TAX REVENUE

The Special Minister of State, Mr. Nick Young, conceded in Parliament on March 26, that several M.P.s were allowing the use of their free parliamentary telephones for the use of "pressure groups". The Australian (March 27, '85) reported: ".... Mr. Young told Parliament yesterday he accepted "those sorts of things do occur", although he called on members to use their taxpayer provided services responsibly. An Opposition backbencher, Dr. David Watson (Lib. - Qld.) raised the issue by pointing out that the office telephone of Old Labor Senator George Georges was being advertised as a contact by the committee for peace and disarmament..."

Corruption in the Federal Parliament is now so widespread that such items have almost lost their power to shock. It was revealed in February (The Chronicle, Toowoomba, 18/2) that Federal funds have been neatly channeled from the Community Employment Programme (C.E.P.) to a multitude of Left-wing groups. Amongst examples: The Nuclear Disarmament coordinating Committee received $6,330 - specifically to organise the Palm Sunday Peace Rally in N.S.W. People For Nuclear Disarmament (PND) in Sydney received $78,482 to employ five people for 6 months on a 'peace bus' project. The same group got another $15,392 to employ one person full time for "disarmament education", this despite the fact the same organisation has several communists on its staff, and recently advertised for staff in the Communist Tribune. The Victorian based Campaign for International Co-operation and Disarmament (CICD) received $47,568 to employ 3 people for a year in the organisation's 25th anniversary project. Pax Christi, headed by Socialist Left academic Joe Camilleri, got $71,061 to employ 5 people for over six months on "peace education". And on and on.

Other C.E.P. funding covered: Victorian Trades Hall Council - two grants for $81,64O and $157,839. The Tasmanian Wilderness Society - $17,443, $38,767 and $11,790. Wilderness Society in Sydney - $57,642. Tasmanian Wilderness Society in Victoria - $66,616. Friends of the Earth - $23,697. FILEF (the Australian operation of the Italian Communist Party) got $13,267 in N.S.W. and $23,499 in South Australia for building renovations and staffing. The Union of Australian Women (Victorian Branch) got $35,631 to employ 3 people for a year to write the history of the organisation. The Australian Union of Students, although virtually defunct and totally discredited, got 2 grants of $31,810 and another of $21,075 to employ staff. And the Victorian Teachers' Union received a total of $110,641 to fund its Womens' Affirmative Action Handbook.

Mr. David Thompson Reports From W.A.

(Opposition to Land Claims in W.A.)
"As the radical churchmen and militant aborigines regroup to attack the W.A. Aboriginal Land Bill which provides no muscle for revolutionary aspirations, opinion polls published in The Bulletin indicate that Premier Burke would have lost an election held early in March. "On February 10th, the leaders of W.A.'s Catholic, Anglican, and Uniting Churches launched a 40-day vigil for 'land rights'. The vigil, mounted before the Land Bill was unveiled, was launched because the Heads of Churches feared that the pressing needs of Aboriginal people will not be met in Premier Burke's legislation.

But what are these 'pressing needs' for which the faithful have been called to prayer?
"In his paper at the League's (W.A.) 1984 Seminar, the Rev. Cedric Jacobs identified these needs not as 'land rights', but as health services, education, housing, and food programmes. The most charitable assessment of the position of these church leaders is that they have been misled by the revolutionaries. "In an effort to return 'dignity' to the Aborigines in their own land, the churches have lobbied for land rights rather than identifying essential services. The revolutionaries are not interested in essential services, nor individual needs. They are interested in alienating large areas of land - up to 50% in W.A. - for revolutionary purposes.
The rift between the Uniting Church leaders and the Rev. Cedric Jacobs (a full-blood Aboriginal Uniting Church minister of immense dignity) can be described as a philosophical cleavage. The Church leadership views 'land rights' in terms of an Aboriginal collective. Rev. Cedric Jacobs, the National President of the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship, is labelled as an 'Uncle Tom' for rejecting the State legislation because it provides nothing to support the role of the family and the individual".

Shires Reject Bill
The County Shire Councils' Association rejects the Aboriginal Land Bill on the grounds of discrimination. The Association would not support the division of W.A. according to race; totally rejected land claims legislation, and rejected the creation of one law for Aborigines, and another law for others. In addressing the Association early in March, Premier Burke said the most significant disclosure, that although the Aboriginal land owners would be responsible for paying rates, as would any ratepayer, payment would be guaranteed by the State Government, according to The West Australian (March 14th). "The Leader of the National Party in W.A., Mr. Hendy Cowan, rightly points out, that last year, Parliament was asked to support equal opportunity legislation on the basis of sex, race and colour, but is now being asked to pass laws that create special privileges based on race and colour."

Are They Worth It?
Mr. Hugh Morgan, Executive Director of the Western Mining Corporation, when addressing a conference of the Victorian Farmers & Graziers' grain group at Geelong (Vic.) said that the average annual cost of a politician was $262,394. Advice and legislation from 827 politicians cost about $217 Million.

On Tax
"In my opinion there are only two figures that we need to remember concerning taxation. "In 1953-54 total government outlay - Federal, State, local and public authority was 27.4% of gross domestic product. "In 1983-84 it was 42% of G.D.P."

Youth Told to 'Act Like Termites'
Rev. Father L. Cusack, in a letter to The Leader (Brisbane), writes: "Young people attending a recent 'Prophets of Hope' convention, organised by the Catholic Youth Ministry of Eastern Sydney, were advised to go back to parishes and 'act like termites', so that the whole 'capitalist-militarist establishment will collapse'. "About 700 people attended the convention held at the University of N.S.W. "The advice was given to young people by a Father Edward Hayes, from Kansas, U.S.A., who delivered keynote addresses to the participants every morning during the five-day convention.
"In the course of his address, he made clear that he distinguished between the Church and the 'Kingdom of God'. "He said that because the Church is part of society it reflects the values of society, and called on the young people to be 'ministers of the Kingdom before they are ministers of the Church'.
"In the course of their activities, he said, young people could expect opposition from parents and parish priests. "He told young people to persist, in spite of 'people without hope', and said that this opposition would be their 'special cross'.
"One speaker at the convention from Dr. Joe Camilleri's group, Pax Christi, told the young people that Pax Christi members develop their own theology because 'that which comes from the Vatican is formulated by celibate men'".

Rev. Father L. Cusack is the parish priest of SAN REMO, Vic., 3915. He is often in print in the media, and should be encouraged. He is what we would describe as a traditional Catholic parish priest fighter for righteousness. Would that there were many more like him today!

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