Culture Clash 'Down Under'

By Gary Lane

CBN News

March 10, 2007

CBNNews.com - Imagine discussing your Christian faith with a friend at a coffee shop.

The person at the table next to you is offended and files a lawsuit against you.

You face heavy fines and possible jail time as a result.

Sound far-fetched?

It's the law in Melbourne, Australia, and two pastors there will soon begin a new trial on charges of vilifying Islam.

In October 2002, 88 Australians were among those killed in a terrorist bombing in Bali, Indonesia. Since that time, Australia, like other Western nations, has struggled to protect its citizenry from Islamic extremism.

Prime Minister John Howard wants better assimilation of Muslim immigrants into Australian culture.

He believes some Islamic immigrants don't want to be part of the Australian mainstream. "Fully integrating means accepting Australian values -- it means learning as rapidly as you can the English language if you don't already speak it," Howard told a radio interviewer.

Pastor Danny Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries immigrated to Australia from Sri Lanka nearly a decade ago.

He's seen evidence of Muslim immigrants creating Islamic enclaves and attempting to impose their values and way of life on the dominant culture.

Western societies cherish free speech, honest criticism and open dialogue. But Islamic ones are intolerant of those who challenge or question their beliefs.

Nalliah said, "The problem is, when you take it easy, people come into your backyard and tell you what to do. It's time that lines be drawn and we take a stand for what we believe."

Nalliah -- and Pastor Daniel Scott -- have risked jail and have paid thousands of dollars in legal fees defending their beliefs.

(Watch our video interview with Pastor Nalliah. He is in the U.S. to urge Congress to defeat hate crimes legislation such as HR 254.)

In 2004, a civilian tribunal convicted Nalliah and Scott of violating Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.

The two pastors had held a seminar in 2003 comparing Islam and the Koran, with Christianity and the Bible.

Muslims filed a complaint against them, and the pastors were found guilty of vilifying Islam. They were ordered to apologize.

Both pastors refused, saying they had the right to freely express their views about Islam. That decision has now been set aside and the pastors will get a new trial.

Nalliah cited this religious vilification case against him as just one example of how the Muslim immigrants are attempting to impose their culture on Australia.

Former spokesman for the Australian Family Association, Bill Muehlenberg, is calling the religious tolerance act a bad law.

He said, "When governments get in the business of telling you which beliefs we can believe and which we cannot, when they get in the business of being judges of religious questions than opinion. we're all going to be in trouble for it."

As for Pastor Scott, he will continue to conduct seminars on Islam, the Koran and Hadith.

"Some Muslims have got the idea they have to hide the truth, and that's very sad," he said.

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