Rudd attacks PM over cult dealings | The Australian

One must sympathize SOMEWHAT with Religious Right Rudd (R3) over the Exclusive Brethren who don't eat or co-habit with "sinners", eschew sinful technologies, cast out "sinners" from their midst (including their own children) and who don't vote - but have a recent record of campaigning for the Bush-ite conservative Coalition.

Coming from Tasmania I encountered Plymouth Brethren (i.e. Exclusive Brethren) descended from the Mutiny on the Bounty mutineers e.g. Fletcher Christian who ended up on Pitcairn Island (with Polynesian maidens and thence "went forth and multiplied" as in the Old Testament) and on penal settlements on Norfolk Island and Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania). I remember the story of the son of a very prominent Plymouth Brethren who was confined to a shed in the back of the garden because he had "listened to the radio" or somesuch transgression.

However Religious Right Rudd (R3) doesn't exactly keep God-bothering Bible-bashing and pandering to the Religious Right out of Policy either as the following examples show:

1. notwithstanding his mother having had Parkinson's Disease, he (on "religious grounds") voted with "Honest John" Howard AGAINST stem cell research that would save the lives of millions;

2. he no doubt supported taxpayer-funded religious chaplains for state schools (violation of church and state; taxpayer-funded brainwashing and intellectual abuse of innocent children);

3. he supported war criminal Racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel in its shelling and bombing of the Lebanese - including 25,000 Australian citizens - in mid-2006;

4. he supports increased troops for the occupation of Occupied Afghanistan in concert with the Racist Religious Right Republican (R4) Bush-ites (IGNORING post-invasion excess deaths 2.4 million; post-invasion under-5 infant deaths 1.9 million (90% avoidable and due to Australian and US Alliance war crimes) (see: "Cost of War": link ) ;

5. unlike the Good Samaritan (he supports thie cruel present-day oppressor Racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel) he "walks by on the other side" in relation to huge human rights abuses by Racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel and the Racist Religious Right Republican (R4) Bush-ites (he claimed only "61,000" post-invasion excess deaths in Occupied Iraq whereas the world's top medical epidemiologists have found 1.0 million (ONE MILLION) ( see: "Cost of War": link ) ;

6. he supported RACIST legislation breaching the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act in relation to Australia's downtrodden Indigenous brothers and sisters (no doubt the R4s would be pleased) (see: "Racism in Australia": link );

7. his absurd "Religious Right" prissiness has made "admiring female breasts"a major issue of a serious Australian election campaign (ditto the Racist Religious Right Republican (R4) Bush-ites over "Right to Life" of the unborn but no "Right to Life" of BORN American, Occupied Iraqi and Occupied Afghan infants - annual avoidable under-5 infant deaths 20,000, 110,000 and 330,000, respectively - a pretty PERMANENT way of "breaking up families") see: "Cost of War": link ) ;

8. he supports greenhouse gas-polluting uranium mining (a major CO2 polluter in the overall nuclear fuel cycle) and coal mining (hence, notwithstanding renewables noises, de facto support for Australia's role as one of the world's worst greenhouse gas polluters and our climate criminal role in climate genocide and terracide (see: War on Terra: link ).

Religious Right Rudd (R3) has a disgraceful record of pandering to the extremely morally ambivalent Australian Religious Right and to the moral morass of the American Religious Right. He can't have it both ways, he can't have his cake and eat it too - but decent Australians CAN by voting Green or Democrat and giving their Second Preference to Right-wing Labor, thereby ensuring that the EXTREME right-wing, racist, war criminal Bush-ites are defeated in the coming elections.

Rudd is to my mind certainly is from the right. But from my standpoint, so is just about everyone (except the Greens).

But it is good to see him taking a risk and making a stand about something. To claim to be a Christian while standing up to the Exclusive Bretheren sets an important distinction. Perhaps he's trying to show the public that he's not just a "me too" opposition leader. He needs to do more of that between now and the election.

The strip club mudslinging backfired and worked well for Rudd. The Age had a very funny article about it.

The Labor Party to my mind is nothing more than the lesser of two evils. Both sides are corrupt and inept. But Howard is so bad, even Labor would be a step in the right (correct) direction.