Wednesday something to do with god blogging..

Back in the olden days (the 80s) when I was in primary school in Australia, I used to attend scripture classes every Wednesday afternoon. All the kids in my school, which was public.. (that's public in the sense that it's public not in the sense of posh private school) were sorted into groups of their respective religions and had some nice lady (or gentleman in some cases, I'm sure) come and talk to them about that religion and it's rules and how to be nice and stuff.

I was in the catholic group, with all these other catholic kids who knew what our nice lady was talking about when she mentioned names and stuff in the bible like it was common knowledge. I for the most part had no idea what she was talking about. I think I was in that group only because when my parents were given the papers to fill in they put catholic under religion in a "I guess that's what we are" sort of way, but we never went to church or mass or read the bible or paid the least bit of attention to religion. Not really a catholic, in other words.

I should say I was in that group for most of my primary school years. For about the last year I sat in a classroom with 5 other kids doing catch up work. The last I thing I remember from the catholic class was the nice lady telling us that we must decide that we're catholic and that we'll follow all the rules and go to church every week by the time we're 14 we need to decide because if we don't we'll go to hell. That's right, Hell! The memory is quite strong, and I'm pretty sure I went home and told my parents this and that's something to do with the reason I was in the no-religion group after that. That's my theory anyway.

I've thought about the old scripture classes now and then, in my grown up travels to more enlightened* parts of the world, and it occurred to me that it was somewhat archaic and backward to have religion classes in public schools, as recent as the when I was in school, at the very least.

It was this post that made me think of all this, and in fact the scripture classes are still going on. The post is about a new proposal for teaching ethics in New South Wales schools, and links to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about how it's a sneaky way for atheists to to stop religion in schools. Apart from the fact that it's a fucking no brainer that there shouldn't be these classes in schools, the article is full of so much bullshit I can't believe the SMH put it in. His main argument is about how Australia's culture has been shaped by christianity.. bla bla bla.. Judeo-Christian all that jazz.. the fucked upness of that is pointed out in the linked blog.. ie "good" and "christian" are NOT synonymous fuck you very much** so I won't go into that.

I just want to point out that he doesn't really have an argument. Let's say these ethics classes really do completely replace scripture and no religion will ever be taught in a NSW public school again. Apart from the fact that this is what should happen and should have happened a fucking long time ago according to the many people who are not really religious, it shouldn't be a problem for those who are either. Remember my story, how I was in the catholic group and was left confused most of the time? And the other kids, actual catholic kids in the class new all this stuff already? Well, you see, they have these places called "churches", and in these "churches", people go and find out all about their religion. And you can go to whatever church suits you, only that church, and not go to other churches.. and if you don't want to you don't have to go to them at all! There are also things called mosques, synagogues and temples, for those who are religous, but don't have a church. There are also books that tell you this stuff, and websites. And parents. Parents can tell you what to do, and often how to think.. all that stuff. And the good bit about all this is that kids only have to follow the shit their parents do.. not always great but at least the other kids don't.

So yeah.. after being in the catholic group, I was in the sit around and do nothing group. Perhaps the ethics classes will be something for these kids to do while the religious ones learn something.. I dunno. And another thing.. I don't really recall what all the classes were when I was a kid, I just know that most of the kids were in the catholic or church of England groups.. and there were a few other smaller classes.. but there must have been non christian religious groups amongst them.. and if not, there certainly should be now.. so the whole equating religious with ethical is bad enough.. but specifically with "christian", in a multicultural country.. is particularly fucking insulting Mr Wallace so fuck you again.

There's probably more but I've ranted enough. This was originally supposed to be a well organized, better written out post but you can't have everything.

*well some of them, in some ways, sorta.
** I don't mean that christians are not ethical I mean that it's neither exclusive nor universal to christians.

Tell you what, I'll accept the magic beer fairy, and we'll leave it at that.

The Pope was in Brno today. That's in the not Prague part of the Czech Republic.. I was there a few weeks ago. He was in Prague yesterday, but didn't speak to the peons, just some politics.. wonder why.. hmmm..

Well anyway, he had an interesting message to the crowd.. "Don't exclude God" he told the worshiping 100,000+ strong crowd.. I mean I wasn't there but they say the crowd was about that and I'm just assuming...

And it's annoying. I mean I know that's what these religious leaders do, and that they're mostly talking to (directly anyway) those who are already faithful but fuck. No, I won't include a non-existent deity into my life who if it did in fact exist would most certainly make said life much much worse.. and you my dear, have and should have no say in it. I know for you god is real and good, but you don't speak for the far far majority of people in the world, and to those people your words are OF NO IMPORTANCE and you should.. ya know.. fucking realize it.

Anyway.. more stupidity from the Ratz includes:

"History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions"

Um, no. Sorry dear. History has demonstrated that people can do horrendous things for all sorts of reasons but by far the most has been because of religion. I do accept that a lot of the time the religion is a front for ethnic and land disputes, but... well what he said is just rubbish, is all.

Oh and I love this bit..

"The 82-year-old pontiff's three-day visit comes as Czechs prepare to mark 20 years since their 1989 Velvet Revolution shook off a regime that had ruthlessly persecuted the Roman Catholic Church."

Waaaaaaaaaaaahh, waahhh.. Please. The Catholic Church should know a bit or 2 about persecution.. and I really don't know a whole lot about the history of Catholics in this country, but there weren't any burnings or flailings or whatnot. Just sayin..

And in other Pope related news.. Yesterday in Prague he was attacked by a "large arachid" :)

Freedom comes from within.. the spinny bit..

It was International Women's Day on the weekend, which I totally blew off.. something to do with boozing.. shameful, I know. But some people do care about women.. especially our good friends the Catholics.. who, or at least some of whom weren't too drunk at the time to observe it. They tell us, that it's not the contraceptive pill, or working outside the home that liberated us.. but the washing machine:

"In the 20th century, what contributed most to the emancipation of western
women?" asked the editorial.
"The debate is still open. Some say it was the
pill, others the liberalisation of abortion, or being able to work outside the
home. Others go even further: the washing machine."

Ok, 2 major points about this. The first one is that there is some truth in it. The second point is, that it's utter bullshit.

There is truth in it because obvs. technology and all the gadgets it's brought us, has saved us all a lot of time, it's changed the world, the lives of people everywhere, it's changed the way we work and class systems and all that etc etc etc.

It's bullshit for a lot of reasons. Some women might spend less time doing housework, some might do more, but even if every single woman in the world spends less time on these things, if you control for the differences world wide that have come about because of technology, the differences are either nil, or are in reverse, eg the stereotypical 1950s higher standards of cleanliness that came about because of all of these things.. and if you don't take into consideration the way technological differences have changed our lives over all, well, you just can't compare it because life is just different. So there.. I mean, a middle class Western woman of the 1850s most likely did no, or little physical housework, certainly not more than we would today because she had servants.. people just did then, and we wouldn't consider those women more liberated than modern women because of the society they lived in. Just an example.

It's also bullshit for the reason that it obviously accepts that fact that women do and should do all the washing, which is a fucking copout, and the very antithesis of liberated. And when you compare the washing machine's impact on women's lives, with the ability and right to control her own fertility, and what the article calls "working outside the home" and what I'll call the right and opportunity to enter a wider variety of professions, then it's outrageous bullshit. The fertility thing is pretty much a no brainer, and I think it's clear why the Catholic Church brought this one up, and downplayed the huge benefits that the pill has brought women. I don't think you can point to any one thing that is the biggest liberator of women in the 20th century, but the pill would definitely be equal first, a position that the washing machine most certainly does not share.

Working, having careers, I consider that point as part of a larger idea that women are more than just wives and mothers, who are full human beings capable of doing much more, who are independent human beings who desrve full rights, ie feminism.. and if you compare all that's been done by feminists during that time well.. you can probably guess that the little old washing machine isn't faring well in this competition.

Oh goodness I've rambled on again.. but in short, I think that you can believe that the washing machine is the biggest thing that came out of the 20th century to liberate women, more than the right to vote, the right to abortion, to study, to travel unchaperoned in a lot of places etc etc, if you believe that women are, and are always going to be a wives and mothers, of as many children as god gives them, who's main job it is to take care of the washing, and by extension all the other stuff in the household.. a view that isn't surprising coming from a spokesperson for the Catholic Church, but not one that is in any way liberating.

And to finish off, as if I haven't said enough, the main thing in all this is. The people who get to decide what is liberating for women are people who are pro liberation for women, mostly women themselves who have lived it. You don't get a say if you're not pro women's liberation, and most definitely do not if you are actively, enthusiastically, against liberation for women. You know.. like, guess who...

The real meaning of xmas.

It's been a while since I've heard someone bemoan to me that the "real meaning" of Christmas has been lost. I do come across it online though, and was recently invited to join the cause to "keep the Christ in Christmas" on a social networking site. I politely declined.

It reminded me of those people, back when I lived in a more Christian country than this one, who assumed I would agree with them that the focus on non Jesus elements was wrong for Christmas. I always found it annoying, though I never said anything.

I know that those people meant well, and were on the whole good people, not usually the type to push their religious ways on people, but nevertheless, they were wrong. They weren't wrong that Jesus is the meaning of Christmas for them and for people who think like them. What they were wrong about, is assuming that it's that way (or should be) for anyone else.

Yes, it's (in English anyway) named after Christ, and has a Christian history, that is after they took the festival from the Pagans and altered it to suit them, but now it's a Western cultural tradition, which is still Christian for some people, but not at all for others.

I grew up in a family which celebrated Christmas, though we were never religious. I grew up with the trees and presents and Santa Claus, the food, the family... and that's what it is about. That's all it is about. Since I've grown up, I still celebrate Christmas, though I've become an official atheist, because I like it. Some atheists see it as a Christian holiday and don't celebrate it which is all fine.. I can see a lot more reasons to not like Christmas than just the religious one, I'm a sucker though, I like all that festive jazz.. I'm quite suited to a bit of sparkly tree and Santa worship.. much more than I am to worshiping the baby Jesus.

Ironic of course, that in this adopted, not very Christian country of mine, it's the baby Jesus who gives children presents. Traditionally there isn't a Santa Claus, and his new presence is none too welcome by some of the local folk, which I got to overhear from many passer's by last year during my stint as Santa's photographer. I can understand it, he is to some, the symbol of creeping American culture, Coca Cola, the worst excesses of xmas materialism.. but.. I still like the jolly fella. And the trees and the sparkly shit and the (these days very modest) pressies.

And it's another excuse to booze it up. Perhaps that's what I like about it most of all :)

Merry Christmas all, have a happy one.