I may never understand their religion. I will never understand their need to genitally mutilate their girl children and bully their women into forced marriages. But I am sure I have learned to share living and working space with them. I am sure that they will fade back into the humdrum tapestry of Australian society so that like Jews and Blacks its just part of world. The nice thing about secular society is that it allows for change. We do grow up, free from what some ancient prophet or carpenter or Egyptian princling demanded from his people. Peter B : Anne L Plurabelle said: "In fact the British Empire was probably the first empire based on hating, fearing and despising the people they ruled over." It's peripheral to the original article, but I felt it was necessary to challenge this statement. Firstly, there were many empires before the British "...based on hating, fearing and despising the people they ruled over..." The first which comes to mind is the Assyrians, whose state terrorism was employed against conquered foes nearly 3000 years ago. Likewise, the Byzantines actively discriminated against Jews, Samaritans and even fellow-Christian Egyptians (they were Monophysites, don't you know). And the pre-British maritime imperial powers (Spain and Portugal) both engaged in massacres of the people they conquered. Secondly, hate, fear and scorn of the people they ruled over was not British government policy. Instead, the feelings of the British towards the people they ruled ranged from hatred, through being patronising