Hype fails to inflate WYD
After all the hype and fanfare, World Youth Day has been a flop, with its final Mass drawing a crowd of only 350,000 despite unseasonably fine weather -” a whopping 150,000 short of original estimates.
Thankfully this reduced the burden on public transport for the rest of us, but much of Sydney has been left with a bad taste in its mouth -” particularly after a pilgrim physically attacked peaceful protesters over the weekend and after WYD-related graffiti was painted on the Hyde Park War Memorial.
This will only add to growing disquiet over the extraordinary privileges given to religious organisations in this country which have continued to grow at a time when church attendance is at an all-time low.
Religious organisations took in a whopping $23 billion in revenue in Australia in 2005 -” with $13 billion of that going to the Catholic Church alone, yet governments state and federal have continued to throw money at anti-discrimination-exempt private schools who may sack or expel gay teachers and students at the expense of our public schools. And it’s not only our community that is affected -” six years ago in this country an eight year old boy was expelled from an evangelical school, not for anything he had done, but because his mother was in a de facto relationship!
The same exemptions apply to church-owned businesses that have nothing to do with the provision of religious services such as banks and insurance companies -” not to mention the healthy tax breaks.
If secularists or GLBT organisations refused to hire or fired employees based solely on religious affiliation it would be highly illegal -” and rightly so.
If a gay jobseeker was sent by Centrelink to one of these church-owned businesses and refused to go, they’d be penalised or have their payments cut. Yet the reverse is not true.
And it’s not only atheists and agnostics who are discriminated against in these arrangements -” the benefits only flow to organised religions and to their hierarchies who are conservative by definition, propping up those in the churches who are most opposed to change, while allowing them to interfere in the lives of dissenting believers in a way which would not be permitted in any other sphere in this country.
The churches will point to the good they do in society, but charity begins where government fails and if they paid taxes like everyone else, how many of these ills might not need correcting in the first place?
Hi Steven of Zetland, I certainly don’t begrudge your enjoying WYD and applaud people who remain in the church to change things from within, though the authoritarian nature of the Catholic Church makes that a harder project in comparison with other denominations.
The issue here is not that WYD occurred, but the amount of public money thrown at the event and the amount of disruption to the wider community that was sanctioned and allowed to occur.
It was certainly reasonable for Australian Catholics to hold an event, even if WYD is a modern invention and does not form part of the traditional calender of worship. I said this myself when interviewed on SBS Radio on the subject.
However Mardi Gras is a similar sized event- both in length and the number of people involved (WYD’s 350,000 is comparable to Mardi Gras on a bad year)- but is held without any in-cash support from State or Federal Governments and only minimal in-kind support.
Not only did Governments throw $160 million at the event- an obscene amount of money- they allowed pilgrims to sleep in publicly owned buildings and installed “temporary” improvements in public schools such as extra showers and smoke alarms and then tore them out! They also demolished a small park against residents wishes, cutting down a mature tree that had been planted in memorial to a deceased prominent local. Original plans would have seen a large group of structures demolished at Olympic Park and then rebuilt at public expense!
Many public figures would give the excuse that a large proportion of Mardi Gras is political in nature and thus it would be inappropriate to fund it- but the Catholic Church has organised political campaigns in attempts to defeat legislation it disagrees with all over the world and regularly writes to politicians from Catholic backgrounds to let them know that there may be consequences both in this life and the next depending on how they vote.
Finally, the stated purpose of WYD was to evangelise lapsed Catholics. That in itself should have precluded taxpayer support- even in this country, and even in Morris “How God inspires my rule” Iemma’s NSW.
Hi Rod. No, I haven’t forgotten about the mistreatment but I have never been one to throw rocks from outside. I am working from within. Nothing will happen overnight if we don’t try to unite, little by little it might change. If we don’t try the stones get bigger and the fences only get higher. I am sorry you find my enjoying WYDSYD08 a problem. Peace & hugs Steve
Steven of Zetland: Did you actually read the article above? It’s embarrassing that people like you fail to realise the negative impact organised religion has on individuals, families and communities. But as long as you had a good time, that’s all that’s important.
Meanwhile, gay men and lesbians in Poland are struggling for their right to gather in the streets of Warsaw because of right-winged Catholic political leaders banning the Pride Parade and stirring up anti-gay feelings among Polish youth, making it dangerous for them to march down the street.
As a gay catholic i think WYDSYD08 was a wonderful event. If hanging out with a lot of people from all over the world and feeling good is a bad thing then I guess I should return to Oxford St and never smile again.
Bravo Andrew .. well said … attack the homophobic discriminatory bigots where it hurts them the most … hit out at their tax advantages and their funding …