Source: Yahoo
Australia is experiencing an “alarming emergence” of religious intolerance, Attorney-General George Brandis said on Thursday, calling for greater efforts to counter discrimination, particularly against Muslims and Christians.
“Members of the Islamic community are sometimes the victims of suspicion and hostility directed against them by those ignorantly seeking to blame terrorist violence upon Koranic teaching,” Brandis told the gathering of religious representatives in Sydney.
“Members of Christian faiths -– in particular the Catholic faith -– are routinely the subject of mockery and insult by prominent writers and commentators.
“It is the work of this roundtable to identify some of the challenges which this alarming emergence of intolerance of religious faith… presents,” the nation’s top law officer added as he called for the development of strategies to promote tolerance and understanding.
Brandis’ comments came as a report reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act, and which surveyed Muslim Australians, found they experienced “daily or regular” discrimination due to their beliefs.
Categories: Australia