RRR phrasebook
I've been pondering how to begin with my condemnation of the rise of extremist Christian fundamentalism in Australia, fundamentalism that has been gently soothed and appeased by Liberal and Labor in recent years.I thought a Rancid Religious Right phrasebook - putting into plain English commonly-used phrases of christian right pollies, religious figureheads and "family" spokespeople - might be helpful. I hope this may clarify the strange hypocrisy and bridge the giant chasm between what these people say and what they actually mean.
"bedrock": the sudden strength and power heterosexual marriage attained when the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 first appeared, despite a 40% divorce rate. Also a misleading implication that marriage throughout history has been a single, constant and unchanged rite of passage. Also interchangeable with "fundamental" and "building block".
"children's right to a mum and dad": again, a value that isn't espoused much when single mums in marginal electorates are raising kids on their own. And apparently this right does not extend to the bastard child to which Tony Abbott refuses to be a dad. Definitions of the linguistically-similar but completely different phrases "children's right to parents who love and value them", "children's right to financial stability" and "children's right not to be villified in the schoolyard by thugs raised by hate-filled evangelical parents and church groups" can be found in the upcoming Queer Penguin's Guide to the Fucking Obvious.
"Christian": People with none of the love in their hearts that Jesus preached about, but who are versed in quoting Old Testament passages to validate their hatred and equally skilled in quoting the phrases that are convenient while overlooking the ones that aren't (for example, that slavery is ok or that people who work on the Sabbath are required to be put to death).
"defence of marriage": a psychological condition not unlike paranoia, where the person who rants about having to defend their marriage is so insecure they genuinely believe that two people of the same sex choosing to marry will somehow bring about the end of their own. (Seriously, even my old man, a Liberal voter for thirty years, looked at my mum, his wife of 35 years and asked: "how could the two blokes over the fence there wanting to get hitched affect our marriage in any way?" Out of the mouths of babes...)
"institution": a place of unbalanced, delusional people unwilling to accept reality.
"lifestyle choice": the perception by the christian right that being gay or lesbian is a choice we make one morning, sometime between the choice of having Weet-Bix for breakfast and wearing Revlon lippy to work. Apparently "ex-gays" - confused men and women desperate to seek approval of their church who allow themselves to be broken down, brainwashed and re-constructed as "straight" - demonstrate perfectly why queer is a lifestyle choice.
"marriage": a dying "institution" (see above) whose continual decrease in subscribers is indicative of the slow death of organised religion. Interestingly, the church refuses aid from gays and lesbians who are more than prepared to strengthen its numbers by subscribing themselves.
"overwhelming majority": a figure that logically is at least 75% but conveniently becomes 45%-50% when discussing how many Australians oppose same-sex marriages.
"social engineering": a phenomenon whereby oppressed and victimised minority groups ask to be treated like human beings and for the rights to which they as law-abiding, tay-paying residents are entitled, and/or to be treated the same way residents in other similar democracies are being treated. History demonstrates that the phenomenon is often met with great resistance from enemies of civil liberties and individual freedom, but such resistance is often worn down by reality, common sense and a desire not to return to the days of witchburning, the Spanish Inquisition and other historical blights caused by "Christianity" (see above).
More phrases to come...
posted by Sam @ Wednesday, January 26, 2005
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