This post is partially inspired by Chally’s post at Feministe, though on different topics, and nowhere near as well written as her piece – which I’ve just re-read and have fallen in love with all over again.
But anyway… here are some issues that I would LOVE the USA to address, because they piss me off no end.
I don’t live in the US
As Chally pointed out, the world does not revolve around you, not even close. You are not the only country that uses the internet, though that must come as a bit of a shock. Internet sites are getting better at noting this, but really, if you are a multinational company, and you sell to countries outside the US, defaulting to the US (especially when you can figure out that my IP is from Australia) is just rude.
Not to mention the number of times when I first started on the internet and put AU as the country code in forums and was asked if I was from Austin…. no, there really are other countries out here.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read about a job vacancy listed in the LinkedIn groups I’m in and someone has listed a two letter state code, which I presume is somewhere in the US. Oddly enough I’m not across your 50 states, where they are, what their capital cities are and how on earth to decode their state abbreviations. If you’re a member of an international forum, for flying spaghetti monster’s sake, just spell out the state if it’s that important to you AND list that this job is in the US (so I can ignore the post and move to the next one). Every other non-US role I’ve seen advertised lists the country – it’s just the USian jobs, which list two letter codes which could be anywhere, which piss me off.
So yes, start looking outside your borders, realise that there is an ENTIRE world out here, with people who use the internet, shop on the internet and who work and job hunt.
For the past few weeks, the gym has become increasingly harder. Cardio (the rowing machine) has left me gasping for breath, and I’ve had to stop so I could breathe as I felt I wasn’t getting enough oxygen (no narrowing of vision though, just a sensation). I’ve been waking up more tired and almost falling asleep at work. I feel that no matter what I do I’m putting on extra weight. I look at the stairs at work and my body flatly tells me that climbing them is a VERY bad idea. Today when I was folding the washing and then making the bed, I was breathing heavily and sweating. I’m vague and forgetting things that normally I’d have no trouble in remembering.
I know I am actually really tired. I’ve had a very stressful month[s], I’ve not gotten all the sleep I should or need, and I worked for part of my weekend at Sexpo, as well as organising most of it, instead of resting. I hope that it’s just stress and exhaustion. I hope it’s nothing more serious, though sleep apnoea is also on the cards.
The worst thing is that right now I’m very unhappy with me, this is not how I normally feel. I know that my energy levels are up and down generally, but making the bed has never been an effort for me before. I also feel that I can’t do much about it right now because I’ve just become permanent at my lovely global multinational, and I don’t want to stuff that up.
So… I’ll make a GP appointment for Wednesday or Friday night and see what can be done. I know it might be as simple as low iron, slight asthma (worst asthma season in Melbourne for years), sleep apnoea, or stress. I’d like to know how to fix it, so I feel more like me again.
(Storm by Tim Minchin – Transcript at end of post – thanks to Wandering Primate)
I’m not much of a skeptic. I don’t spend a lot of time interacting with people who believe that alternative medicine is as affective as real medication, well I don’t spend time discussing it with them because the energy is not worth it, and so they’re tuned out and I don’t engage with their beliefs. Actual engagement is saved for people who are unlikely to be offended by me pointing out the fallacies in their arguments, and for whom I have an answer, for I am not all that educated in medicine, biology or science. I have a background in science – specifically chemistry and physics (I was going to be an Engineer).
So although I can point and laugh at some claims made by companies about the properties of their whatsit, I don’t often share my glee with others – I save things like that for many of the excellent skeptics on the interweb. However, there have been a couple of things recently which have tickled my fancy, so I thought I’d share them here (and I’m bored so blogging is a good option).
The Bamboo Room Deodoriser
Todae is a store that sells eco-products, which is problematic in itself given the high cost of products and how that prices the unemployed, under employed, students and pensioners out from the market – and other environmental issues (mercury in compact fluorescent light globes for example). But anyway, Todae is selling Bamboo Room Deodorisers. On their own I don’t think that these products are actually all that much of a con. In chemistry I remember studying that charcoal – which these bamboo pieces have been turned into – adsorbing stuff – which effectively means that particles will stick to the charcoal. Wikipedia succinctly states:
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, biomolecules or molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface. This process creates a film of the adsorbate (the molecules or atoms being accumulated) on the surface of the adsorbent. It differs from absorption, in which a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid.
So on the surface, it is possible that charcoal bamboo may remove odours from a space the same way people expect bicarbonate of soda to remove odours from a fridge. Activated charcoal is used in air purification (thanks Wikipedia), so it will be somewhat useful in removing odours form a room – however, there isn’t any mention in the sales pitch for this product how many per cubic square of air in a room would be a good number, and how you’d place them for the best effect.
The other claims made for this product are:
Bamboo is treasured for its healing powers, beauty and versatility. A special heating process creates bamboo charcoal with billions of porous pockets and powerful ability to absorb odours, moisture, chemicals and electromagnetic waves from the surrounding environment. Bamboo charcoal also purifies drinking water and enriches it with minerals.
Personally I “value” bamboo for being an incredibly useful renewable resource. It’s organic, it grows quickly, composts nicely, and is only a slightly invasive member of the grass family (and elephants like to eat it). I don’t know what “healing powers” bamboo has, and the ad makes no further claims, nor provides any further evidence to support that. It’s not a medicinal plant, it’s not a mystical plant, it’s just a plant – no healing powers here.
There are indeed special heating processes to turn organic compounds into activated charcoal. They typically involve very high heat so that there is little ash creation – which reduces the effectiveness of the charcoal. Charcoal is porous, regardless of it’s origin, and according to the Wikipedia article above, coconut makes the best porous charcoal.
I’m happy with the “odours, moisture, [and] chemicals” claim made by this product. There are some chemicals it does not adsorb or absorb very well, but the ones that the average home user would want dealt with should be fine. The electromagnetic waves claim is a load of crock. If you want to avoid electromagnetic radiation (which includes light), then go and play in a faraday cage. As bamboo is not even remotely metallic, it will not absorb electromagnetic waves.
Activated charcoal does purify water, as stated in the Wikipedia article, but there is no evidence that it “enriches it with minerals.” Which minerals? In what levels? Are they safe minerals (arsenic is a mineral)? How does near pure carbon enrich water with minerals?
The last claim that the sales pitch for this item makes, is that it can be “renewed” by leaving it in sunshine once a month. Doesn’t say how long it should be in sunshine, nor the conditions (outside versus inside). This is actually untrue anyway. Charcoal, once fully laden with things that you wanted removed from whatever it was you were removing them from, can be recycled, but as Wikipedia states:
The most common regeneration technique employed in industrial processes is thermal regeneration. The thermal regeneration process generally follows three steps:
Adsorbent drying at approximately 105 °C
High temperature desorption and decomposition (500–900°C) under an inert atmosphere
Residual organic gasification by an oxidising gas (steam or carbon dioxide) at elevated temperatures (800°C)
Since sunlight doesn’t get to 105C, you’re not going to be able to renew your beautiful, but now ineffective, bamboo charcoal room deodorisers this way.
Biodynamic farming
I bought some tea the other day from Oxfam. It’s biodynamic and is really good (which I actually think has nothing to do with it being biodynamic). There is this great quote on the back of the tea.
The Demeter logo is the symbol for biodynamic products. Biodynamic farming is a very special form of organic farming, founded in the 1920’s and practised worldwide. It is often described as “organic plus” as each farm is unique and self-sustaining, in balance with soil, plant, animal and cosmic processes. Biodynamic farmers use specially formulated energising herbal compost preparations and a lunar calendar to help them determine when to sow and harvest.
I can pick apart this little paragraph without even delving into some of the very odd practices of biodynamic farming found on Wikipedia. Let’s take the “self-sustaining” part. In what ways are the farms self-sustaining? Does that mean that they don’t need any seed/fertilisers/water from outside the farm? Does this mean that a typical biodynamic farm needs no input from the outside world? Somehow I doubt that is the case. Even if the farm had livestock to provide fertiliser for fields, you’d need to bring in new livestock so you avoid interbreeding, and to cover replacements needed by illness that the livestock may develop.
Let’s wonder about “cosmic processes”. What cosmic processes is the farm in balance with? Does each field/plant/animal have a star chart developed for it? How can any cosmic process (apart from the sun, wind, rain and snow) have an impact on the success of a farm?
Now the “energising herbal compost”. I do wonder about what they mean here. If they mean it literally – as in the soil gets energised by the herbal compost (and what herbs? What herbs are good for soils?), then I wonder what the originator of biodynamic farming was smoking when he came up with that one. If they mean that it renews the soil – well it’s compost, you’d certainly hope so.
Sowing and harvesting on a lunar calendar – I don’t know enough about botany as to whether plants respond to the moon in the same way that some animals (moths and coral as examples) do.
Ok, so Wikipedia has a detailed page on Biodynamic farming for those who want more information. Basically there are some really weird practices in field which makes me think more of homoeopathy (thanks Cha) than appropriate farming. Claims that ground quartz left in a cow’s horn during winter will ferment – because you know, rock ferments ALL THE TIME. Claims that to make appropriate field preparations (things dissolved/suspended in liquid – like the aforementioned quartz), you should mix “one teaspoon of the contents of a horn in 40–60 liters of water for an hour and whirling it in different directions every second minute.” This next quote (from the Wikipedia article) speaks for itself:
Treatment of pests and weeds
Biodynamic agriculture sees the basis of pest and disease control arising from a strong healthy balanced farm organism. Where this is not yet achieved it uses techniques analogous to fertilization for pest control and weed control. Most of these techniques include using the ashes of a pest or weed that has been trapped or picked from the fields and burnt. A biodynamic farmer perceives weeds and plant vulnerability to pests as a result of imbalances in the soil.
Pests such as insects or field mice (Apodemus) have more complex processes associated with them, depending on what pest is to be targeted. For example field mice are to be countered by deploying ashes prepared from field mice skin when Venus is in the Scorpius constellation.
Weeds are combated (besides the usual mechanical methods) by collecting seeds from the weeds and burning them above a wooden flame that was kindled by the weeds. The ashes from the seeds are then spread on the fields, then lightly sprayed with the clear urine of a sterile cow (the urine should be exposed to the full moon for six hours), this is intended to block the influence from the full moon on the particular weed and make it infertile.
Astrology and homoeopathy all rolled into one farm collective.
In the end, the Wikipedia article states that studies have found that biodynamic farming showed:
Studies have compared biodynamic farming methods to both other organic methods and to conventional methods. Most studies have found that biodynamic farms have soil quality significantly better than conventionally farmed soils but comparable to the soil quality achieved by other organic methods; the decisive factor is likely to be the use of compost. Studies of yields differ in their conclusions.
In the end, biodynamic farming would appear to be no better than organic farming – which has it’s own issues as reported recently in The Age (here and here).
Critical thinking
In an age when we have so much information at our finger tips, accepting claims blindly without investigating and weighing validity is annoying and frustrating to those who have done the research. I’m always happy to look at more evidence and weigh it against what I know, and to change my mind if the new evidence is compelling.
It is not the media’s responsibility to educate you (as a nephew of mine recently told my husband). It is your job to learn, to read, to think and to get educated.
Storm
by Tim Minchin
In a North London top floor flat,
All white walls, white carpet, white cat.
Rice paper partition, Modern art And Ambition
The host’s a physician,
Lovely bloke,
Has his own practice,
His girlfriend’s an actress –
An old mate of ours from home,
And they’re always great fun,
So to dinner we’ve come –
The fifth guest is an unknown,
The hosts have just thrown us
together for a favour.
The girl’s just arrived from Australia,
And she’s moved to North London,
And she’s a sister of someone.
Or has – some connection.
As we make introductions,
I’m struck by her beauty,
She’s irrefutably fair,
With dark eyes and dark hair.
But as she sits, I admit:
I’m a little bit wary,
As I notice the tip,
Of the wing of a fairy,
Tattooed on that popular area,
Just above the derrière,
And when she says “I’m Sagittarius!”
I confess, a pigeonhole starts to form,
And is immediately filled with pigeon,
When she says her name is *Storm*
Conversation is initially bright and light-hearted,
But it’s not long before Storm gets started.
“You can’t know anything.
Knowledge is merely opinion.”
She opines over her Cabernet Sauvignon
Vis-à-vis,
Some unhappily empirical comment made by me.
Not a good start I think,
We’re only on pre-dinner drinks,
And across the room my wife widens her eyes,
Silently begging me “Be nice!”
A matrimonial warning,
Not worth ignoring.
So,
I resist the urge to ask Storm,
Whether knowledge is so loose weave,
Of a morning, when deciding whether to leave,
Her apartment by the front door,
Or the window on the second floor.
The food is delicious,
And Storm whilst avoiding all meat,
Happily sits and eats,
As the good doctor slightly pissedly holds court on some anachronistic aspect of medical history.
When Storm suddenly insists:
“But the human body is a mystery
Science just falls in a hole
When it tries to explain the nature of the soul.”
My hostess throws me a glance,
She, like my wife, knows there’s a chance,
I’ll be off on one of my rare, but fun, rants.
But I shan’t, My lips are sealed,
I just want to enjoy the meal.
And although Storm is starting to get my goat,
I have no intention of rocking the boat,
Although it’s becoming a bit of a wrestle,
Because, like her meteorological namesake,
Storm has no such concerns for our vessel.
Pharmaceutical companies are the enemy,
They promote drug dependency,
At the cost of the natural remedies,
That are all our bodies need,
They’re immoral and driven by greed,
Why take drugs when herbs can solve it?
Why do chemicals when
Homeopathic solvents can resolve it?
I think it’s time we all return to live,
With natural medical alternatives.
And try as I like,
A small crack appears in my diplomacy dyke.
By definition, (I begin)
Alternative medicine, (I continue)
Is either not been proved to work,
Or been proved, not to work.
Do you know what they call
‘Alternative Medicine’
That’s been proved to work?
— Medicine
So you don’t believe in any natural remedies?
On the contrary, Storm, actually,
Before we came to tea,
I took a natural remedy,
Derived from the bark of a willow tree.
It’s a painkiller, virtually side-effect free.
It’s got a, a weird name,
Darling, what was it again?
Maspirin?
Baspirin? Oh, yeah –
Aspirin!
Which I paid about a buck for,
Down at the local drugstore.
The debate briefly abates,
As my hosts collect plates.
But as they return with dessert,
Storm pertly asserts,
Shakespeare said it first:
There are more things in
Heaven and Earth,
Than exist in your philosophy
Science is just how we’re trained, to look at reality,
It doesn’t explain, Love or spirituality.
How does Science explain
Psychics, auras, the afterlife,
The power of prayer?
I’m becoming aware,
That I’m staring,
I’m like a rabbit suddenly trapped,
In the blinding headlights of vacuous crap.
Maybe it’s the Hamlet,
She just misquoted,
Or the fifth glass of wine I just quaffed.
But my diplomacy dyke groans,
And the arsehole held back by its stones.
Could be held back no more.
Look up, Storm, So I don’t need to bore ya,
But there’s no such thing as an aura,
Reading auras is like reading minds,
Or tea leaves, or star-signs,
Or meridian lines.
These people aren’t plying a skill,
They’re either lying, or mentally ill.
Same goes for people who claim
To hear God’s demands,
Spiritual healers who think
They’ve got magic hands.
By the way, why do we think it’s okay,
For people to pretend they can talk to the dead?
Isn’t that totally fucked in the head?
Lying to some crying woman whose child has died,
And telling me you’re in touch with the other side?
I think that’s fundamentally sick.
Do I need to clairify here,
That there’s no such thing as a psychic?
What are we – fucking two?
Do we actually think that
Horton heard a Who?
Do we still believe that Santa brings us gifts,
That Michael Jackson didn’t have facelifts?
Or are you still so stunned
by circus tricks,
That we think the dead would,
Wanna talk to pricks like John Edward?
Storm, to her credit,
Despite my derision
Keeps firing off cliches
With startling precision
Like a sniper using
Bollocks for ammunition.
You’re so sure of your position,
But you’re just close-minded,
I think you’ll find that
Your FAITH in science and tests,
Is just as blind as the
faith of any fundamentalists,
Wow, that’s a good point,
Let me think for a bit.
Oh wait, my mistake,
That’s absolute bullshit.
Science adjusts its views
Based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation,
so that belief can be preserved.
If you show me that, say,
Homeopathy works,
I will change my mind,
I will spin on a fucking dime.
I’ll be as embarassed as hell,
Yet I will run through the streets yelling,
It’s a MIRACLE!
Take physics and bin it!
Water has memory!
And whilst its memory
Of a long lost drop of onion juice is infinite,
It somehow forgets all the poo it’s had in it.
You show me that it works,
And how it works,
and when I’ve recovered,
from the shock,
I will take a compass and carve
‘Fancy That’,
On the side of my cock.
Everyone’s just staring now,
But I’m pretty pissed and I’ve dug this far down.
So I figure.. In for a penny, in for a pound!
Life is full of mystery, yeah,
but,
there are answers out there.
And they won’t be found,
By people sitting around,
Looking serious,
And saying: Isn’t life mysterious,
Let’s sit here and hope,
Let’s call up the fucking Pope,
Let’s go on Oprah,
And Interview Deepak Chopra.
If you must watch telly,
you should watch Scooby-Doo,
That show was so cool!
Because every time
There was a church with a ghoul,
Or a ghost in a school,
They looked beneath the mask.
And what was inside?
The fucking janitor,
or the dude who ran the water slide!
Because,
throughout history,
every mystery
ever solved,
Has turned out to be –
Not Magic!
Does the idea that
there might be knowledge frighten you?
Does the idea that
one afternoon on Wiki-fucking-pedia
Might enlighten you,
Frighten you?
Does the notion that there might not be a supernatural,
so blow your hippy noodle,
that you’d rather just stand in the fog of your
Inability to google?
Isn’t this enough?
Just,
this world?
Just this,
Beautiful,
Complex,
Wonderfully Unfathomable,
Natural World?
How does it so fail to hold our attention
That we have to diminish it
with the invention
of cheap man-made
myths and monsters?
If you’re so into your Shakespeare,
Lend me your ear
To gild refined gold,
To paint the lily,
To throw perfume on the violet,
Is just fucking silly
Or something like that.
Or what about Satchmo?
I see trees of green,
Red roses too…
And fine, if you wish to,
Glorify Krishna and Vishnu,
In a post-colonial,
Condescending,
Bottled-up-and-labeled
kind of way,
Whatever, That’s okay.
But, here’s what gives me a hard-on,
I’m a tiny, insignificant
Ignorant bit of carbon.
I have one life,
And it is short and unimportant,
But thanks to recent scientific advances…
I get to live twice as long,
As my great-great-great-great
uncleses and auntses.
Twice as long!
To live this life of mine,
Twice as long,
To love this wife of mine.
Twice as many years,
Of friends, of wine,
Of sharing curries and getting shitty,
At good looking hippies,
With fairies on their spines,
And butterflies on their titties.
And if perchance, I have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
We’d as well be ten minutes back in time
For all the chance you’ll change your mind.
It would appear that Mollom is eating comments that people have submitted and not letting me know about them. I’ll find a new spam filter tonight and install that and deactive Mollom.
I’m sorry if you have commented on my blog and your comment did not appear. I blame Mollom, as I have only deleted 2 comments recently (past 3 – 4 months) (both nonsense) and sent one to the spam pit (an attempt to get me to monetise my blog).
So, let me make things much more user friendly.
[UPDATE]
I’ve moved to Akisment and lodged a complaint with Mollom. So this blog should be a WHOLE lot more user friendly (including being able to access spammified comments). Apologies again
I thought, now that I’d spent a shift at Sexpo and the organising and grumping about the whole thing is over, that I’d write a list of the good and bad things about Sexpo, because there are some really fantastic things about Sexpo that a lot of people don’t realise under all the sleaze and heteronormality.
The Good
Let’s start with all the positive stuff first. This will be a little long because there is one really great thing that needs to be pointed out, with a whole lot of background.
The ACCSEX Coalition. With the permission of the activists at Sexpo, I’m going to reproduce their brochure below so everyone knows what Accsex is. The thing I love about Accsex is that it makes Sexpo a safe (ish) place for disabled people to be, to discuss their needs with vendors of sex toys, and to be sexual beings enjoying what is going on. The fact that the activists are also people with disabilities really brings the message home to people.
The ACCSEX Coalition
We are a network of people who aim to assist consenting adults with disabilities to access their choice of sex, friendships, sex education, intimate relationships and the adult industry.
We recognise those social attitudes and structures around disability and sexuality interfere with the fulfilment of this aim.
We therefore see changing community attitudes and influencing social institutions as a major priority.
We believe that dominant attitudes need to be challenged, the foremost belief that people with disabilities are asexual, unattractive and unsuitable social and sexual partners.
Issues being looked at now
Access
Policies
Physical and financial access
Social connections
Research and Sexuality Education
Legal and ethical issues & discrimination
How you can be involved
Contribute to our information sharing – we want to know about research, education and social support activities
Help us to identify key issues that we as a group can help to address through our work
“Sexuality is often the source of our deepest oppression; it is also often the source of our deepest pain” [Finger, 1992: 9]
You may benefit from being a member of Accsex if:
You are a person with a disability and you want to meet people and work with other to create change;
you are a parent with a disability;
you are a partner/parent/carer of a person with a disability;
you provide services to people with disabilities;
your organisation is interested in service improvement;
you are an advocate, or from an advocacy organisation; and/or
you are a researcher or educator interested in sexuality and disability.
The social institutions that we wish to influence are:
Governments, so that they can fund initiatives and support legislative changes that facilitate the sexual choices of consenting adults with disabilities;
The Media, who nearly always represent people with disabilities using two dominant stereotypes. We are portrayed as either the tragic but brave “Supercrip” who triumphs over adversity, or as the pathetic and passive victim, the object of pity. We are never seen as consenting adults.
Attendant care agencies, so that they can train their staff and shape culture and policies that facilitate the sexual choices of consenting adults with disabilities
Providers of commercial sexual services and the adult entertainment and retail industries, so they can make their venues, goods and services accessible, affordable and inclusive of consenting adults with disabilities.
Membership information
If you are interested in becoming a member of the ACCSEX Coalition, come to our meetings and/or link up with our E-group listing.
I’ve left off the names and personal contact details provided by ACCSEX because I don’t want them to be spammed to death by bots. If you are interested in finding out more about them, I’d start with the yahoo group listed above.
The bodies. The beauty in seeing people of all sizes attend an event that is mostly about sex. The fact that there were people of all sizes buying sex toys, lifestyle products, and generally being sexual beings. This also includes the fact that there are several clothing (corsetry, bustiers, underwear, lingerie, etc) vendors who are selling clothing in what is termed “plus sizes”.
The costumes. There are a huge number of people that dress up to go to Sexpo in all sorts of clothes. Makes people watching at my stall lots of fun.
The event is quite queer friendly. I organised the Bisexual Alliance stall – the volunteering, decorations, rosters, etc (James did the paperwork with the Sexpo organisers). Although some people almost cause themselves whiplash when they read our sign and then immediately turn away. Talking to other vendors, they’re very supportive of our presence and happy to engage. Those who approach, wherever they are on the LGBTIQ spectrum, they’re happy that we are a queer presence at Sexpo. Generally I have experienced or witnessed very little homophobia/biphobia or at Sexpo.
The Bad
There are bits of overwhelming sleaze. Some vendors (a very small minority) are very sleazy and make me feel really uncomfortable. Some of the products being sold are somewhat ick to me.
The co-option of queer women’s sexuality for the male gaze
How bored the (female) pole dancers are if you actually look at them
The fact that the event is quite heteronormative
The music is too loud to hold conversations with others at times
The airbrushed [and thin and white] women on posters/brochures advertising various products or services
Overall, it is a very positive thing for our community stall to be present. We’re a queer presence in a straight assuming event, and welcomed by many. Organising the event is tedious, and spending time there can be boring sometimes, but generally it’s good to be out, proud and active.
I’m not used to feeling intimidated… well I am and I’m not. Let me explain.
I was regularly told during my childhood that I could do whatever I wanted. Anything I wanted to put my mind to, I’d be able to achieve, with appropriate learning/effort/time. My parents were happy for me to be an engineer, plumber, optometrist, marine biologist, mother, teacher, nurse, chemist, whatever struck my fancy at that point in time. And when I first stumbled into a full time job that ended up being a 15 year career, I started with baby steps and ended up running with the bulls – all with time, effort and learning. It flowed over the years, and although there were moments of intimidation in the whole, “You think I can do this? Are you sure? I’m not so sure” when I started a radically different role from the one I was doing (going from being managed to managing for example), the roles had enough in similar and I knew who I was working with, or going to be working with, for it to be relatively smooth.
I’m no longer in that position. I’ve made a HUGE career change, I’ve started afresh again and I’m in very unfamiliar territory. The internship here with my global multinational employer was easy, all work and no responsibility, but somehow I’ve impressed EVERYONE, and they’ve offered me a role with lots of responsibility (and training and support and time to get to know everything). I’d forgotten just how intimidating starting a new role can be, especially when it comes with high expectations and responsibility. I know I can do just about everything I put my mind to, but right now I’m anxious that I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew, even if many of my immediate colleagues think that I am a gift from their deity of choice. So anxious in fact that while napping on my weekend away with James (photos here), I kept dreaming of falling of the cliffs of Mount Buffalo. Accepting this job is the right thing to do for me, for my career, for my mortgage, and for the future plans of world domination that I may or may not have. Intellectually I know all this, but my emotional side is biting her nails and stressing about stuffing it all up.
I moved to Fawkner (in Melbourne) about a year ago, and I love my neighbourhood. I love it’s diversity, multi-faith options (including the option of none at all), the shops, the parks, the friendliness. I love all of this, and I have especially love living in the area with the least crowded train line, which is also the least violent and racist train line that I have lived on for a while.
Until last night.
A thug, his friend and his friend’s girlfriend got on the train near Coburg. As he walked through the carriage he commented loudly that the train “smelt like immigrants” (whatever that means). He stopped and stood in the door way with his friends and continued talking loudly. He again proclaimed that he never knew that something could smell like immigrants until now, while his friend mimed violent acts to his girlfriend. The third time he opened his mouth to proclaim how everything smelt of immigrants, I said, “Hey! Shut the fuck up”. He did, and the girl turned and looked at me. The thug dropped his voice and got off at the next station with his friends.
Initially I was shocked that someone would say such a thing, especially on this train line, where (up until now) everything has been cool, calm and collected. The second time I was outraged and wondering if I should actually say anything to him to get him to shut up. The third time, I acted… and then immediately went into “Oh fuck!!!!” territory on the inside. Thankfully I can rely on two things, I’m female and less likely to attract violence (though my partner with me may have), and I can look really scary when I’m annoyed.
I acted because I want the train line I’m on to be safe for me (not a migrant) and everyone else (migrant or not). I acted because uneducated bigots who think that they have the right to spew hatred really annoy me. I acted because no one else was (a failing of mine).
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Once upon a time I was a relatively devout Catholic, it wasn’t even that long ago that I stopped being a Catholic and lost my faith completely. It wasn’t a lightning bolt moment, waking up in the night and thinking, “OMG, I’m an atheist”, it was a gradual thing that happened quietly and peacefully in my head (thankfully I didn’t stress about it one way or the other overly).
The reason that this post has suddenly become relevant is that I’m reading “Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell” by John Shelby Spong (a retired Episcopalian (Anglican) Bishop from the USA). It is an interesting book, the first half makes perfect sense to me as Spong deconstructs religion and declares that god is dead. The next section was far harder to comprehend where he attempted to argue that god is within each of us and that by knowing ourselves we know god, and that all the mystics are pretty much right. Then he talks about the Jesus story through this lens and how this has affected his personal journey.
I have a few problems with the book which are fairly easy to summarise.
Self consciousness
Spong, in his recounting of evolution and why religions were formed, uses self consciousness as the basis for what separates humans from animals. The fact that humans are aware of death and plan for the future, makes us different from animals he argues, and the corresponding fear of the unknown and death began the rise of religion in early human history as a form of security.
That may all be true, but there are animals which are aware of death and who can plan for the future, two key parts of what Spong says separates humans and animals. Elephants are very aware of the death of members of their herd, and mourn when one dies, knowing at the same time that they must keep moving to get to food or water to continue the survival of the herd. Dogs, apes and some monkeys are also aware of death, though less good at the planning for the future bit. Dolphins and whales would appear to be conscious of death and plan for the future also.
Christianity
I know that Spong is an Episcopalian Bishop and has grown up in the Christian traditions, however I felt that in his writing, although he acknowledged other religions, returned to Christianity as the one true religion. He hasn’t stated it directly, but clearly to be involved in a religion means that the other religions are wrong or incorrect in some fashion (wrong god/s, wrong worshipping practice/s, wrong dietary requirement/s, wrong clothing, etc). Little was done to address any other religion’s views on life after death, to look at mysticism in other religions, to even compare the fact that the Jesus story appears in many other religions, and that there appears to be little historical proof to support Jesus’s existence. Ultimately this reinforces the privileged position that Christianity holds in Western nations. His use of “religion” to generally also only describe Christianity also doesn’t help.
Belief and non-belief
The biggest issue I have with the book is that Spong states that the death of old-school religion (that currently practised by most Christians around the world), is just the stepping stone through to enlightenment and self-knowledge. It did feel, while reading this part of the book, that those of us who state that there is no god, are lesser beings, as Spong states that those who have moved into new belief are effectively superior (though he probably means superior to traditional Christians). In my opinion, stating that god is dead should be the end, and enlightenment is where you step free from the need to have any religion.
Currently I haven’t finished his book, so I’m not 100% sure what the end result is going to be in regards to what he believes that faith is going to be like. The first third to half the book is an excellent argument as to why people should not believe in any god/s. It details a lot of issues and questions I thought my way through when I started losing my faith, such as:
Why would a loving, all seeing, all present deity allow suffering and pain in the world (particularly in big environmental disasters)?
Why must we cajole and praise a deity in order to have our prayers answered? (Much like whining children getting what they want)
Why are there poor and homeless people, and why aren’t their prayers being answered?
Why must people who do not believe, but who live a good life, go to hell?
Why are the traditions/rules of this religious institution telling me that X is good and Y is bad, when both X and Y are neutral?
What do you mean women are lesser creatures?
If there are so many different religions, how can I know which one/s are actually correct?
If there was a god, surely there would only be one religion.
The standard responses to suffering, pain and misfortune in the world by religious leaders: they deserved it; it is god’s will; karma; etc, are all non-answers really. No one deserves to have themselves or their family killed in a monsoon/earthquake/bombing/train crash/bushfire/flood, and any god who willed that such a thing should happen, is not a god that I could possibly respect or worship.
One last note. Whenever I write about religion, it will typically be about Christianity because that is the religion I grew up in. I will not spend time critiquing other religions because I know little about them.
ADDENDUM: I realised over lunch that I haven’t said all I want to say on this topic, and that there are some very good excerpts from Spong’s book which might also help me get to the other bit of the point I was attempting to make. Basically, there will be another post on this topic when I have time. The worst bit about writing when busy, is that I tend to forget the points I had neatly ordered in my head.
Clearly the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has not been feeling the love recently, so they decided to come out punching today and publicly declared (covered in The Age at least) that they were against Labour’s plans to fund a “gay rights advisory body”. Before I delve too deep into the ACL, I want to cover a little bit about who they are and what they want to achieve. From their website (link not provided deliberately):
The vision of the ACL is to see Christian principles and ethics accepted and influencing the way we are governed, do business and relate to each other as a community.
There is no sense in this vision of our wishing to see Australia a theocracy, but merely wanting to reestablish the rightful influence of those who believe in our Christian heritage.
Wow, I could spend this entire post and the remainder of time before I go to bed for my well deserved night’s sleep deconstructing that “About” page, but I’ll save that for another time (note to self – make sure you do that eventually).
So, the ACL… focused on Christian principles, not surprising, but want them to influence government, business and interpersonal relationships, not as a theocracy… no, no, no… but to “reestablish the rightful influence of those who believe in our Christian heritage” (emphasis mine). Doesn’t that sound scary. Those who do not believe in the Christian heritage of Australia (and I think the Aboriginal nations might have something to say about that), should not have influence, so no influence (or less) for Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Hindus, the Christians that aren’t affiliated with the ACL, etc.
Anway… back to the article at hand now that I’ve provided a quick background on the ACL, though as things are relevant, I’ll probably dive in and out of their website to find useful factoids.
Sadly, the ACL is an incredibly vocal lobby group with very little transparency. There is no clear record available (that I could find with a quick search) as to who funds them, how many members they have, which Christian Churches they work with/through. Their board is a massive sausage fest, but that’s hardly surprising given it’s a Conservative Christian business. They do come out and state that they are a “political lobby representing individual Christians and is neither denominationally nor politically aligned”, which means that they act on stuff that they are specifically interested in, versus what the Bible recommends, or what Churches want, or potentially even what their probably rather small (“Consistently maintained a growth rate of 50% annually in membership over its first three years as a national organisation” – much easier with smaller numbers) membership desires. Though as I believe that only Conservative Christians would join this group (an en-masse sign up of everyone else would be funny), they probably are interested in what the ACL pushes.
But again, back to the article:
THE Labor Party’s plan to fund a gay rights advisory body is a disgraceful act and shows that the government is pandering to a small minority, says the Australian Christian Lobby.
Because listening to minority groups and ensuring their full participation in society is such a bad thing (and yes, we suck at racial minority groups, listening to them and helping them fully participate in society for the most part). I do love how ACL completely ignores societal support for increased rights for the LBGTIQ members of society and family support that many TIQLBG have, who would also want the rights of their family members recognised.
”Most people treat abortion as a done deal [but] for us and for many Christians it is still a very topical issue and where candidates sit on that is very important,” Mr Ward said. [ACL chief executive]
Citation needed Mr Ward. How many Christians is this an issue for? Why is it an issue? Which Churches? Are the views of your Board (5 white men) actually relevant here? What about for people who aren’t Christian? Why does your belief system get to walk all over theirs? (That last statement is going to be a recurring theme here).
He said it was a ”disgraceful act of undemocratic process” by Labor to fund a government advisory committee that would advise cabinet on issues affecting the gay community.
”What Labor has done has identified a small minority, a very vocal minority with one issue, their issue: gay rights, and they have said ‘we will cater to your needs’,” he said.
Yes, because 10% of the population is a “small minority”, much like the ACL which would appear to be even a smaller minority, and the ACL is also “a very vocal minority”. I’m beginning to see parallels. So, Mr Ward and the ACL, are you going to stop now and go away like you’d like the BLGTIQ community to?
And stop with conflating all the issues that the QITLBG community has into a broad, brush stroke, pithy phrase. Because the GLBITQ community has many issues that we’d like addressed and yes, they do relate back to human rights, that is true, that doesn’t make them any less valid than anyone else’s rights though. I’m actually rather pleased that the Labour Party has committed to having a BLGTIQ advisory body. It means that the issues that my fellow queer and trans* have may actually be addressed, such as bullying and suicide of queer and trans* teens, appropriate medical access for trans*, recognition of relationships, no discrimination on the basis of gender identity or presentation, hate crime legislation strengthened, and gender mutilation of intersex babies ceasing. See, these issues are pity and can easily be summed into two words that are meaningless on their own.
”If they have got money to throw around, why don’t they throw it at child protection? Why aren’t they setting up a group too that will defend freedom for religion?”
Because Mr Ward, child protection and freedom of religion are already legislated. Most of the rights I’ve listed above, and other issues faced by the LBIQTG community are not. See, that really is very simple. And since when did YOUR religion need protecting. Christianity isprivileged and has far more status in society than any other religion.
Mr Ward said more than 100,000 people used the Australian Christian Lobby’s site during the 2010 federal election.
And this is the most telling about the small size of the ACL, despite their very loud (and annoying) voice. There are approximately 13.6 million voters in Australia (in 2007). Of those 13.6 million voters, at the Federal Election in August ONLY somewhat more than 100,000 people visited ACL’s website. That’s 0.735% of voters. That’s sweet-fuck-all. That last admission by Mr Ward really does show how irrelevant he and his lobby group are. Though why they continue to get airtime and be seen as a source for “balance” is beyond me.
Now, back to the point of forcing me and anyone else who isn’t the same type of Christian or even Christian to live under your rules. From ACL’s website:
Do you know?
That 12.7 million, or 64% of Australians declared themselves as Christians in the 2006 ABS Census.
That over 2 million Australians attend a place of worship every Sunday.
So although approximately 64% of of Australians declared themselves as Christians only somewhere over 2 million of them, or 15% of Australian Christians actively participate in their places of worship. In the 2006 Australian Census, I marked myself down as Catholic, but I do not, and never would have, supported the ACL’s stance on GLBTIQ rights, abortion or euthanasia (well I probably would have when I was younger and not as well educated). It’s a HUGE reach for the ACL to claim that they represent all Christians, where there are about 10 different grouped denominations who don’t agree on most things. The ACL doesn’t represent the Catholics or Anglicans who have various Bishop Councils advocating on their behalf. I have no idea about the Orthodox Churches but I imagine have their own lobby methodologies. So who, really, does the ACL claim to represent other than conservative Christians?
And given that only 64% of Australia declares themselves Christian and only 15% of those who declare themselves Christian regularly attend Church services, why on earth does the ACL think that it can dictate to me and all the other non-Christians and non-ACL style Christians how we should live? If they are so threatened by the GLBTIQ community, why don’t they just put their head in the sand and leave the rest of us alone to live our lives to our full potential? For my sake, the sake of the GLBTIQ community, for the sake of women who should be trusted to make up their own minds about the suitability of an abortion, for the sake of people who want to die with dignity, please STOP giving these people a voice until they are at the very least:
transparent about their membership
transparent about their finances
transparent about their decision making processes
Maybe then, as we’ll all be a bit more educated about their agenda and relevance, they might be allowed a voice, but right now, they’re a harmful distraction to important issues.
