The Senate, pink Aussie flags and 5000 bums
Last Monday morning (1 March 2010), on the fabled steps of the Sydney Opera House, photographer Spencer Tunick – world renown for his photos of mass nudity – snapped a five-thousand strong contingent of butt-naked nudites under the House’s white sails.
Said Mr Tunick of the event, “Gay men and women lay naked next to their straight neighbours and this delivered a very strong message to the world that Australians embrace a free and equal society.”
Australians have been demonstrating “a free and equal society” for pretty much most of its recent history (yes, ok – many could state that that statement has a fair bit of contention, but by and large I hold it… Continue reading ...
Excerpt: Burqas, bathrooms and the public concern
[The following is an excerpt of an article I published on The Aristophrenium. Please visit The Aristophrenium to read the full article and to comment.]
“While the French government unveiled its plan to ban the burqa worn by some Muslim women, the reign in Maine leaves much to explain by proposing to allow transgendered people to use the bathroom of their choice. The contrast between the two stories is quite clear: the French move to protect its public while the Mainers move aside to endanger theirs.
Two burqa-wearers walk into a post office …
The stance taken by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, declaring last year that the burqa was not welcome in France, is one taken… Continue reading ...
Abstinence at the movies
The recent media attention on the issue of sexual abstinence of the past two to three weeks – which I wrote a commentary piece on over at The Aristophrenium – led me to watch a movie that I would not have ordinarily have watched. Not 15 minutes into the film I was beginning to regret watching it – I wasn’t expecting it to be as crude and as base at it actually was. In hindsight, knowing our culture and the way in which it views sexual topics and issues, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. In any case, I got the kids off to bed and settled down with my wife to watch The 40 Year Old Virgin
Excerpt: Abstinence arouses displeasure Down-under and State-side
[The following is an excerpt of an article I published on The Aristophrenium. As indicated in my two-year anniversary post, I will be writing both here at thoughts out !oud and The Aristophrenium.]
“One thing that hasn’t been abstaining from the news in the past fortnight is culture’s attitude towards sex. There are two counts in particular that caught my interest: one was State-side, aroused by curious questions from Oprah Winfrey on her namesake’s show; the other was a reactive orgasm from Australia’s media and some members of it’s Federal Government (including the Deputy Prime Minister, no less) towards remarks made by the Opposition Leader.
Both instances concerned the topic of sexual abstinence and, while both were… Continue reading ...
Woman arrested for attempted murder for failed abortion
Here’s some more No Shortage of Crazy:
Q. If a woman desires (and is permitted by law) to terminate her pregnancy, under what circumstances is she not allowed to?
A. In a culture which says that abortions are permitted by law when the mother does not desire the child, doesn’t it then seem contradictory to state that the mother cannot induce a termination of her own accord?
In most States in the US and increasingly in the UK and in Australia, abortions can be solicited for any reason, even if the pregnancy is desired by the father – the mother’s decision vetoes that of her husband’s/partner’s.
Recently, an Iowanian woman was arrested for attempt of murder… Continue reading ...
Quote: When sex gets the best of you
“What had happened to the human imagination, as a whole, was that the whole world was coloured by dangerous and rapidly deteriorating passions; by natural passions becoming unnatural passions. Thus the effect of treating sex as only one innocent natural thing was that every other innocent natural thing became soaked and sodden with sex. For sex cannot be admitted to a mere equality among elementary emotions or experiences like eating and sleeping. The moment sex ceases to be a servant it becomes a tyrant. There is something dangerous and disproportionate in its place in human nature, for whatever reason; and it does really need a special purification and dedication. The modern talk about sex being free like any other sense… Continue reading ...
School orders psychological assessment for 8yo who drew a crucifix in class
Here’s one for the No Shortage of Crazy basket: an 8 year old boy who, on having been instructed to draw something that reminded him of Christmas, drew a picture of a crucifix with a stick figure of Jesus. On showing the picture to his teacher he was sent to see the Principle who in turn sent him home with his parents, not to return until the boy’s mental health could be assessed.
Apparently, the drawing – shown below – was deemed ‘violent’, or portrayed ‘violent’ tendencies.
The report from Breitbart.com says the boy was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation before being allowed to return to school:
The boy was cleared to return to school on… Continue reading ...
10 reasons why absent fathers are bad for society
There is a lot of hoo-hah in today’s society as to the role that fathers play in the lives of their children. It seems that society nowadays believes that single-parenting is an okay situation – and by accepting this situation in totality, they state that fathers are redundant. Why? Because the majority of single-parent households consist of mother and child. This comes at a cost to society. From Fathers for Life, studies have shown that fathers play an important and pivotal role in the upbringing of their children. And the best environment in which fatherhood ‘earns its keep’ – and in which children ultimately flourish – is within an intact, married household.
As Frank Turek notes, there are 10… Continue reading ...
Corporatising unhealthy values to our youth and society
Marketers. An interesting bunch. If it weren’t for the fact that their sole job is to promote or sell something to you, you may actually just admire them for the creativity. But when marketers produce advertisements for their client’s products, the manner in which they do so promotes not only the product or service but, inevitably, a certain worldview as well. Whether or not it is intentional, all media – particularly television and film – promotes a certain worldview. As Christians and members of a concerned public, we ought to be aware of the messages that are permeating our TV sets, newspapers, magazines and bus-stop billboards; we ought to be better prepared to counter act the influences found in these mediums… Continue reading ...
“Gay marriage like incest” or “how to take quotations completely out of context”
In the wake of the repeal of same-sex marriage legislation by the constituents in Maine last month, the Australian Senate was presented with a private members bill to amend the traditional definition of marriage. The Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, seeking to replace the words “a man and a woman” with “any two persons”, attracted the largest number of submissions from the public – in excess of 28,000, a record number for any Bill.
Australian Senate rejects Marriage Equality Bill
The amendment was rejected by the Senate with a 2/3 majority of the submissions opposing the Bill.
These facts and figures would be amazing by themselves if it were not for the comments made by Family First Senator… Continue reading ...
Twurch Marriages – ur vows on teh intawebs
From the “world has gone crazy” basket, US resident Dana Hanna takes out his mobile phone during a wedding service to update his Twitter followers and Facebook friends of the proceedings. Where’s the twist? Dana was the groom!
As the minister presiding over the wedding said: I now pronounce you husband and wife. It’s official on Facebook … and it’s official in my book.
Thinking back, for those of you have already taken the plunge to tie the knot, was there anything ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ you did for your wedding? I was plain and boring for the most part but, in hindsight, if Twitter was around you may have found my updates something along the lines of:
Whodve thght… Continue reading ...
Quote: people who don’t understand a social institution should be last to advocate its change
In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I… Continue reading ...
Senator X takes Church of Scientology to task
South Australian Independent Senator, Nick Xenophon, brought Scientology back to Australian political and public headlines last Tuesday (17th Nov), by accusing the Church of Scientology of being a deceptive, malicious commercial enterprise, masquerading as a religion for protection.
And … he’s right. In the very words of Scientology founder, Ron L Hubbard, the organisation exists to “Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it.”. There is no religious function at all, really. The practices of the organisation as a whole is nothing short of being just a spectacular rort.
Rather than Senator Xenophon’s address regarding the evils of Scientology being taken… Continue reading ...
Record high submissions received by Senate Inquiry indicate 67% oppose the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill
Lodged as a private members Bill by Greens Senator Sarah-Hanson Young, the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009 expressly seeks to alter the legal definition of marriage from “one man and one woman” to “any two people”.
Reported in a recent AAP article, the Bill had received a number of submissions in excess of 26,000 – a record for any Senate inquiry, indicating that the definition of marriage is of a key concern to many in the Australian constituency.
Approximately 67% of the submissions received were opposed to the Bill.
The report implies that the one-sided opposition may in fact be due to two factors: duplicate submissions and a large number of “formula emails sent by Christian groups”… Continue reading ...
John Howard speaks about the wrongs of an Australian Bill of Rights
Follow the link (John Howard on a bill of rights) to hear a short address regarding an Australia Bill of Rights that our ex-Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, delivered at the opening of Quadrant Magazine’s new offices in Balmain, NSW.
Mr Howard raises some of the key points as to why Australians should stand against a Bill of Rights and why a such a Bill is not only unnecessary but is fraught with danger. To paraphrase, Mr Howard states that a Bill of Rights (or Charter of Rights, same diff):
- carries with it the grossly incorrect notion that Australia, both legally and culturally, is devoid of adequate human rights measures. Proponents of the Bill frequently point to the Charters in other countries for examples of
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