The conference that I came to Perth to attend was the fourth International Conference of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture. It was quite a learning experience for me, especially as an American, to be around people who are so focused on environmental issues often from a religious perspective. While I am generally concerned about the future of our planet, I came to realize how woefully uneducated I am in terms of what is going on and what is at stake. Just a couple of examples include understanding the differences between the disciplines of ecology and environmentalism and the concepts of world and planet. The cost of electricity in Australia has gone up nearly 50% in the past two years. There seemed to be a pretty concerted effort to conserve energy, but I did not really see much evidence of green energy technology.

I attended and presented at the conference because of the significance that religion is given in this society (ISSNRC) as it relates to nature. The opening session included a welcome from Dr. Richard Walley, an elder of the Nyoongar people, who blessed us with stories, songs, and teachings to help us understand the spiritual connection between the land upon which we were gathered and his people. I came away with a much deeper appreciation for the animism of the indigenous peoples that connects them to all of life. This was fascinating from both a religious and information science perspective. One goal that I take away from this conference is to develop a workshop on information from the perspective of indigenous peoples.

One of the final things I did at this conference was to watch a movie called "Our Generation" about how the Australian government is making a concerted effort to move indigenous peoples off their homelands in the Northern Territory in order to provide easier access to ore deposits for the corporate mining interests. When the people refused to "lease" their lands for 99 years, the government suddenly discovered "widespread child abuse" among the indigenous people and this was the excuse to begin forced relocation. This action is referred to as "The Intervention".

I watched former Australian PM John Howard looking and sounding very much like George W. Bush with the same uncanny ability to keep a straight face while telling lies in order to justify injustice. For a society with countless symptoms of a general lack of appreciation for life as evidenced by abortion, drug abuse, sexual disease, alcoholism, obesity, child pornography, etc., to manufacture such outlandish charges against a people is indicative of how essentially evil our white western values can be. By the way, just like the supposed weapons of mass destruction, an extensive investigation proved that the "wide spread child abuse" was also a lie. Four possible cases were discovered.

I was also surprised to learn that in Australia there is no such thing as a bill of rights. Also, there was never a treaty with any of the indigenous people of that country. The abuse of power, even by a democratic government, is a real and constant danger for anyone who loves freedom and respects life.

I do want to say that I loved my time in Australia and that I am already missing hearing the magpies and other birds that were constantly calling me to pay attention to nature. The tree in this picture is located on the campus of the University of Western Australia. I find it to be a great symbol of the interconnectedness of life.