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: 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 ...
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 ...
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
Grover from Sesame Street discusses marriage
This video is so innocuous and politically correct that it really irks me.
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In summary, according to Grover and his friend Jesse, marriage is an institution:
- between two people
- in which these two people kiss and hug each other
- in which two people live together and help each other out
- where the two people are friends
Three points that I can think from this clip, in relation to the marriage debate raging across the US and other Western countries, are: 1) gender of the participants is never mentioned (and in my opinion is carefully avoided); 2) apparently marriage is completely adult centred (no mention of children or families, which is the key reason for marriage); 3) you can do all the things… Continue reading ...
Meet the Mayor with a Pair
There’s a new Mayor in town and it seems his agenda is clear: abolish the political correctness rubbish that needlessly spends taxpayer money. And one of the first few items on his hit-list: cut funding for gay pride events.
No sooner had Mayor Peter Davies been elected by popular vote in June 2009 – a rarity in itself and a fact that speaks volumes that the Mayor’s approach to local politics is aligned with his constituents – than he solicited the group Campaign Against Political Correctness to survey what it is that people are fed up with. Mayor Davies promptly acted on the group’s findings, which concluded that 80 per cent of Britons were tired of the incessant political correctness… Continue reading ...
The Kiwis publish their 21 reasons why (hetero) marriage matters
While it seems Europe has fallen (for the most part), and the US is in the midst of duking it out, those of us floating around in the Indian and Pacific Oceans are perhaps only beginning – somewhat lethargically – to take up arms. The issue of same-sex marriage (or “marriage neutering”, as The Opine Editorials fondly terms it) in Australia and New Zealand is gearing up for full-swing.
Last month, in Australia, the Senate ceased taking submissions on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009, a Bill which seeks to redefine marriage as a union between “two persons” (but what if I had two boyfriends? Can’t I marry them both? That’s unfair!). The Senate inquiry is due to have a report by 26 November 2009. I would… Continue reading ...
“It’s not fair: homosexuals can’t marry who they love”
Without a doubt, the most common objection to marriage remaining as the union between one man and one woman, for life, is that current marriage law “unfairly” discriminates against homosexuals who desire – and cannot help but desire – those of the same-sex (second to this is the claim that current marriage laws offer unequal protection / rights to homosexuals – that’s the subject of a different discussion).
Often, the objection is phrased in such terms as: “Heterosexuals are free to marry who they love, but homosexuals can’t – that’s unfair”, or “Banning same-sex marriage discriminates against homosexuals because it prevents them from marrying who they want”.
In almost all variances of this particular objection… Continue reading ...
There’s no inequality for the Greens’s Marriage Equality Amendment Bill to address
On 25 June 2009, Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young lodged the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill in the Australian Senate.
This Bill seeks to repeal the definition outlined in the Marriage Act 1961, redefining the definition of “marriage” as meaning:
the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexuality or gender identity, voluntarily entered into for life.
The current definition of “marriage” reads, and ought to remain, as meaning:
the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
All Australians concerned about retaining the natural definition of marriage ought to consider writing a brief letter to the Senate, requesting them… Continue reading ...
Mummy? Isn’t your friend Julie really my mummy?
An interesting question from mercatornet.com caught my eye in my RSS Reader the other day: what explanation do parents of surrogate children offer when their children ask the inevitable questions akin to “where-do-I-come-from” or “how-are-babies-made”?
Surrogacy (whether gestational or not), for those not in the know, is that process by which a host mother-to-be is brought onto the scene to carry a child to term on behalf of another couple, whereby they surrender any parental rights to the birthed child to the adoptive parents.
The reasons for entering into such arrangements can be varied – ie. couples may not be able to conceive a child naturally, or for cosmetic reasons the female may not wish to spoil her figure / ‘endure’ child-bearing, and then again there are alternate… Continue reading ...
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