Tuesday 6th March 2012/ac
Australian War Graves desecrated in Libya
I was shocked and appalled to see footage of Australian War Graves being desecrated in Libya.
Footage of violent extremists smashing and violating Australian War Graves is highly disrespectful to those brave Australian servicemen who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of Libya from aggression during the Second World War.
More than 1000 servicemen who lost their lives in the Western Desert wars in 1942 and 1943 are buried at the site, including at least 55 Australians.
The sacrifice of these young servicemen allowed us all to enjoy the freedom and liberty that many of us today now take for granted. Their vision of a just world was not unlike the vision the rebels in Libya had to liberate them from the tyranny of Colonel Gaddafi. Many of the same countries who helped Libya in 1942 and 1943 came to their aid again last year.
Religious fanaticism and fundamentalism never bring about a better world. People who think their religious beliefs entitle them to violence against members of their own families, members of their communities, or people of different beliefs, are totally and utterly wrong and must be resisted at every turn. The perpetrators of this horrific behaviour must be brought to justice.
Kelvin Thomson MP
Federal Member for Wills
Not just Australian War Graves, also Canadian War Graves --- according to a report from the CBC. That report included some Libyan voices condemning the desecration and other voices referring to the dead as dogs.
ReplyDeleteReligion includes a voice of reason. Nevertheless, the voice for desecration comes out of religious fanaticism and fundamentalism, as you rightly state. But religion is more generally responsible: Religious texts (both Bible and Koran) contain material that lends support to the fanatics/fundamentalists when it is taken at face value. I hope that well-meaning people of faith will see fit to revise their texts so as to expurgate passages that lend support to the religious extremists.