The toll rises: Christians need to find their voice.

The toll rises: Christians need to find their voice.

As Christians, we need to stand up for the widow, the orphan, the displaced, the refugee. We have embraced those affected by floods in our own land, but there are people in Pakistan and Solomon Islands (just two places from personal knowledge) living in tents after floods or tsunami. We also have refugees on our doorstep who need our care, and they are suffering mental anguish and breakdown in sub-human mandatory detention centres. The following from Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition in Australia highlights the severity of the situation. I believe Christ would have us do something to at least advocate for these people by lobbying our local members.


Steve B.
======


DARWIN TURNS TOXIC AS SELF-HARM/ATTEMPTED SUICIDE TOLL KEEPS RISING.
TIME TO END MANDATORY DETENTION

Two serious self harm/suicide attempts in one day have rocked the
Darwin detention centre.

On Monday, 17 October, two Kurdish asylum seekers both in their early
20s attempted suicide in the space of five hours, between 12.30 and
5.00pm. Both are believed to be have been in detention around 20
months. Both are believed to have been rejected and are now waiting
for a Federal Magistrates Court hearing.

The two incidents follow another hanging attempt only three days ago.
The welfare of the two men is not known. But asylum seekers inside the
detention had grave fears for both the men, one of whom was rushed to
hospital with severe bleeding.

“It is only a matter of time before there is a catastrophe in the
Darwin detention centre,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the
Refugee Action Coalition, “Only a week ago there were another three
incidents and that is only what we know about.

“The despair in the Darwin detention centre has turned toxic. There is
no duty of care – only damage control. Serco and the immigration
department are incapable of providing a safe environment for anyone.
Asylum seekers are finding it impossible to cope with an environment
in which self-harm and attempted suicide is a daily occurrence.

“The Minister has admitted that he has the power to use bridging visas
to get asylum seekers out of detention. There is no excuse for waiting
any longer. Darwin is desperate for a solution.

“Mandatory detention is not a deterrent. It is a form of systematic
abuse. Refugee advocates have been calling for human rights observers
to be placed in the detention centres for months. The need for some
independent oversight is obvious and even more obvious, is the need to
close the hell-holes.”

For more information contact Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

52,000 Australians sign Senate marriage petition

Posted by Katherine Spackman, PR Officer on August 24th, 2011

ACL's MD Jim Wallace hands the petition to Senator Ron Boswell and Senator Helen Polley

August 24, 2011

52,000 Australians sign Senate marriage petition

In an extraordinary display of concern for the institution of marriage, more than 52,000 people, mainly from the Christian constituency across Australia, have signed a Senate petition to keep the current definition of marriage between a man and a woman, the Australian Christian Lobby’s Managing Director Jim Wallace said.
The campaign, man+wife4life on www.makeastand.org.au, will be the largest petition to be tabled in Senate in the life of the 43rd parliament.
As well as the petition, more than 20,000 people came to the website to send emails to politicians about the importance of marriage remaining between a man and a woman.
“This depth of support shows that Australians believe marriage between a man and a woman is important for the social makeup of society,” Mr Wallace said.
“Imagine this level of response multiplied across other faiths, which also support marriage between a man and a woman.
“Many people are concerned that children should be given the opportunity to be raised by a mother and father, where possible, and revising the marriage definition would remove that ideal.
“This petition shows that there is strong support amongst Christians for marriage to remain the same and debunks any poll suggesting otherwise,” he said.
ACL has previously dismissed a Galaxy Poll, commissioned by the Australian Marriage Equality, claiming 53 per cent of Christians supported gay marriage.
“Asking people what religion they belong in the poll is different than going to the Christian constituency directly, which we have done in the petition,” he said.

‘Man+Wife4Life’ petition - last push urgently needed!!!

From ACL, 

please read and respond as a priority matter.God willing, we will preserve marriage as being between a man and wife in Australia.


Steve B
=====

Dear Supporter,

Thank you very much for signing the ‘Man+Wife4Life’ petition. Your support has seen us collect over 40,000 signatures for the campaign to retain in Australian law the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

In this, the final week before the petition is tabled in the Senate, and MPs report on consultations with their constituents on same-sex marriage, I encourage you to urgently make a couple of extra contributions to the campaign.

Please send an email to your local member of parliament in support of marriage.

An MP who supports marriage has alerted us to the fact that GetUp has activated its very large email list to flood MP’s offices with emails from their electorate. This panic action has occurred because they realised “offices have received more pressure from those seeking to block change”. However we cannot allow GetUp to pervert what has been an eight-month consultation by a last minute gasp.

We need your help now if politicians are not to form a false impression that there is a groundswell of mainstream public support for turning the institution of marriage on its head – before MPs report back to the parliament with their constituents’ views on marriage next Wednesday.

You might consider using the following points in your email:

• The definition of marriage does not unfairly discriminate against same-sex couples because it is simply a reflection of the natural and historical reality that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
• Marriage has more to do with the welfare of children than the recognition of adult relationships.
• Every child has the right to the equal love of their mum and their dad.
• I do not believe that same-sex attracted Australians should be subject to unfair discrimination, but marriage is a unique institution that deserves the protection of government.
• A large number of Australians hold marriage as sacred and their view ought to be respected.

Please click this link for an easy online form to send your email – don’t forget to also cc the message to the senators in your state/territory.
I strongly encourage you to forward this email to your contacts to encourage others to get involved by sending an email to MPs and signing the petition. If you’re on Facebook – you can easily invite your friends to sign the marriage petition by sending them this link:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=223067914408339

Thanks again for signing the petition and for your participation in the campaign.

God bless,

Jim Wallace, AM
Managing Director,
Australian Christian Lobby