Yesterday Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed to Australia at a dinner at Parliament House, Canberra.

She was allowed to speak, but not until after listening to a preliminary speech by Australia’s Prime Minster, Julia Gillard.

It was supposedly a speech of welcome — but that notion rang fairly untrue, the Gillard having shown the previous day her contempt for the Queen, by means of disrespectful body language.

JG informed the Queen that Australia is a “vibrant multicultural democracy”.

She later corrected herself by acknowledging the bizarreness of Her Majesty having been monoculturally greeted by “a female Governor General, a female Prime Minister and female Chief Minister”.

* * *

The Queen was kind enough to ignore most of what the Prime Minister said.

She did not refer to the effeminisation of the Australian nation and its paucity of masculine leadership.

She did mention that our highest decorated scientist is Prof B Schmidt, a male.

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The Queen also mentioned that next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth will be an opportunity to find new ways to bring about “positive change”.

Perhaps.

But there are influential power-mongers determined to make it a time of further NEGATIVE change.

Nations which, like Papua New Guinea, do not at present have –and which intend never to have – legalised same-sex marriage and same-sex couples bringing up children . . . .

These nations are going to get a lot of blackmail-type pressure put on them at the CHOGM.

The Queen — being perhaps basically a politician after all — chose to keep out of that one.

Mrs Clinton is in Libya congratulating National Transitional Council bosses, Jalil and Jibril, for disempowering/killing ex-dictator, Colonel Gaddafi.

“The future belongs to you,” she said.

They know that.

“We will support a process of democratisation that respects the rule of law etc.,” she added.

They don’t know so much about that.

Nobody seriously expects a democratically-elected government to be in charge in Libya, soon or ever.

Look at Egypt. Look at Afghanistan. Liberated in the name of democracy. Corruption all the way to the top after months and years respectively.

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Why should these people want democracy?

If you mean by “democracy”, rule by US-style media-brainwash, billionaire candidates and politicians lying 24/7 — they could hardly be blamed for not wanting it.

The results of democracy is having people like Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton’s husband rising to the surface.

Or like the Gillard.

Or like the reverend Mr Silvio Berlusconi, for goodness sake.

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Mrs Clinton will probably never be heard telling Libyans that what they need is to become Christians — to stop following a beheading Prophet and to start following One who gave his life on the cross to redeem our race.

Nor would she say it to the people of the USA.

Or to herself.

Anyway, we don’t need politicians lecturing us on what to believe and how to conduct our lives.

We know it already.

But it is not so easy to do it.

Ultimately it is between oneself and God.

Iranian actress, Marzieh Vafamehr, has been sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in prison for acting in an Australia-produced film.

One of her “crimes” was to appear on screen without traditional head-covering.

Surely 90 lashes is too many – but does that mean she should go entirely unpunished?

Marzieh was using the media to undermine an aspect of her nation’s culture.

Letting her off entirely would, it might be argued, be turning a blind eye to the destruction of something precious.

We Anglo-Celts etc., who comprise the bulk of Australia’s population, don’t see female head-covering as something of critical importance . . . .

* * *

Let’s consider a different example.

Some months ago, a photographer, Bill Henson, displayed an exhibition of pictures of pubescent girls and boys naked and near naked.

He was condemned for using the notion of “art” as a cover for child porn.

I think he was never punished.

A few lashes — not 90 – might have been very appropriate to deter him and potential imitators from a repeat effort.

Is not the modesty of children and adolescents something to revere and vigorously protect?

* * *

Culture is what guides community members regarding what behaviour is acceptable.

A culture can be cruel or unjust and need change.

It can be right to challenge aspects of a culture — but it must be done with respect.

Those seeking change must constantly examine their own motives.

Ultimately our culture should be the practical means of  keeping ourselves focussed on God and his will.

Robert Jeffress, a supporter of would-be Republican candidate for the US Presidency, Rick Perry, has caused a stir.

He says that opposing candidate Mitt Romney — a Mormon– is “not a Christian”.

He labels Mormonism a “cult”.

Mr Jeffress is pastor of a Baptist 10,000-member “mega church”.

Question: are Baptist mega churches Christian?

Anyway, the Democrats are enjoying watching the Republicans undermining each others’ credibility.

And the secular media are bleating about more “separation of Church and State”.

And “keeping religion out of politics”.

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Yes, there must be a degree of “separation of Church and State” – or we’ll end up with injustice.

Two examples:

(1) State-dominating-Church as in China: where the government interferes with the appointment of Catholic bishops.

(2) Church-dominating-State as in Egypt: where today and tomorrow people are shot to pieces or run over by tanks for being non-Muslims.

But “keeping religion out of politics” is something else.

Keeping religion out of politics is not possible.

Without true religion, how does one determine right from wrong?

Without true religion, those getting in your way merit no special respect, being simply animals/robots who, if inconvenient, can be thrust aside or disassembled.

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Think about the practical questions of surrogate pregnancy, abortion, human cloning, euthanasia, same sex “marriage”, business fraud etc.

On issues like these, Mr Romney has been willing to flexibly adopt whatever stance seems politically expedient.

A Catholic cannot do that.

If he tries it, his bishop must discipline him — and, if necessary, excommunicate him.

If not, that bishop must, himself, be attended to by somebody acting for the Pope.

During September, a 15-person group of archaeologists from Flinders University did some digging in Penola at the site of the first school set up there by Mother Mary MacKillop in 1866.

They found about 50 relics, including an 1839 coin, a thimble, a marble, a lamp base and what seem to be writing slates and slate pencils.

Local organiser of Penola’s “Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre”, Claire Larkin, says the number of visitors to Penola seeking info about Saint MMK is up 20 percent on last year:

“People are just taken with the story and they are finding they can learn a lot more in Penola.”

* * *

Are they? We should all learn more about Saint Mary of the Cross.

If we were all more like Saint M, Australia would be a happier, more just and more holy place.

A visit to Penola might help(?)

Reading her writings certainly would — available through any religious bookstore.

Readers will discover that she isn’t quite like what we’ve been told.

She was no rebel, no multiculturalist . . . .

 She was thoroughly Catholic — a traditionalist —  nothing whatever in common with the spirit of the 1960s Second Vatican Council.

Shortly before she died, she wrote, “I have not changed with the times, and with God’s help, never shall.”

The MK minders at Penola and the whole hierarchy of the Australian Church may try to modify and modernise her message — but we should try to avoid being duped.

God will find ways to get the real message of Saint Mary MacKillop through to the people of Australia . . . in his own time and in his own way.

Meatloaf is a rich man.

Tens of millions of records sold.

Now 60-odd he can still charge $600,000 for singing(?) a few songs at the MCG before the AFL Grand Final.

He (and also the footballers who came on next) are first, foremost (and only) overpaid entertainers.

They were doing a job – keeping the Australian consumer-public from thinking.

* * *

Angry Anderson is another entertainer.

But at 60-odd, he is not just acquiring money by making loud noises.

He is trying to make people think. He has opinions and expresses them.

For example, “We have strict quarantine laws and it should be the same when it comes to cultures that do not want to integrate. We should be very careful about where certain Muslims come from and what they believe . . . If people come and live in any country and their way of life is so different they need their own special laws, then possibly they have to pick somewhere else to live.”

Mr Anderson also says the Carbon Tax will harm Australia’s workers and do little for the climate.

He wants to stand for Parliament representing the National Party.

Should they take him on? That is up to them.

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On the subject of sport and thought . . . .

Did you notice how Novak Djokovic, on match point in the recent US Open Tennis grand final, after making a sign of the cross, bounced the ball 10 times, hit a serve and then a tremendous forehand which Nadal hardly saw – and it was all over.

I’ve seen Jelena Dokic cross herself at appropriate moments.

Likewise Matthew Hayden used to — in his younger days — I think somebody talked him out of it in later years.