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Strewth! Aussie Catholics zap Ramsey for swearing

How far is it the role of senior churchmen to censor television in a free society?   In Australia, the Roman Catholic diocese of Adelaide has demanded that Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares be taken off air or screened much later, because of his swearing.  Particularly when he called a chef a 'French pig' (should have said 'cochon', perhaps).  "There can be no excuse for vilification of this sort. We conclude that this episode should never have been aired on Australian television," they say.    Reuters mischievously point out that only a year ago Britain banned an Australian tourism advert (a rather good one) for saying "Where the bloody hell are you?".   .

The surfing imam

The rising tide of Islam in Australia is being met by this surfing imam. There's an interesting brief history of Muslims in Australia here, including how the camel helped spread the faith.

If you can't see the video click here.

Joanna Sugden

Australia changes...

Census information tracks the changes in Australian culture and faith:  atheism up a bit, Hindus and Buddhists double,  Catholics still a majority .  But alongside that is the disturbing story of the child abuse and drunkenness in Aboriginal communities, and the draconian measures taken by government.  Before the European settlers,  there was an ancient faith and culture in place; if it was degraded, the responsibility is heavy.