Competing Rights?

I was watching Q and A last night and it got me thinking or rather feeling about thinking, which is more to the point. Religious tensions never cease to amaze me obviously because the whole notion of religion is to become the best dam version of yourself that is humanly possible. People try and do that then, well, fight about it rather than reshaping their religion so as to find meeting points with other religions or ways of seeing the world. It’s like a New Year’s resolution that never quite worked out. It’s like a book without a spine, a teacher without flexibility and a centre missing the deepest heart. It’s a house instead of home or a photo with many deeper stolen stories, smiles like paintings not like real action. I’ve written about this before. I hope not to have to write the same story without change every year.

The Editor of the Australian was quick to point out that Christian Schools feel under threat of religious persecution in the wake of discussions around discrimination acts. Being raised in a Christian environment where gross misconduct was in play involving the abuse of minors, I would point out that scrutiny is paramount for the wellbeing of children’s basic human rights. If they feel under threat, too bad. Deal with it. Many thousands of children and young adults have been and continue to feel under threat within educational contexts or church communities that are put upon them. This doesn’t mean that I don’t value some of the Christian teachings, some of the values born from my experience of Christianity. I still do. This may sound like a fighting retort. It’s not. I think it’s more of a fact. It’s not a threat anyway, It’s a reminder of fragility, of diversity of love. They are being reminded to love one another and loving one another does not include homophobia for example.

I was taken back to a time in which I had found The Secret Diary of Frank in Primary School at the local Library. I was an avid reader, mostly Tweeny kinds of mystery novels, hobbitesque style fantasy, anything about horses and adventure and sometimes something of philosophical fiction or collections of poems. I recall spending school holidays reading a lot. There wasn’t anything to do on line. The only line was a telephone or washing line. My grandfather noticed the book and asked me why I had chosen it. I explained that I had met a Jewish boy and wanted to more fully understand the war experience from that angle. He was quick to fill the air with a racist string of ideas around Jews being at fault for the war at large, something about Germany not being at fault and Australians having to pop on over to get the German’s out of a mess made by penny pinching people who were too greedy for their own good. It was a degusting and misguided idea and an 11-year-old child trying to make stand against bigotry was never going to work, though I made some feeble attempt at the time. It was in that moment that I fully realised that choosing one’s family isn’t possible and that belonging completely was also not going to ever feel complete. Many young people live in families that hold different views to themselves. Many middle aged and older people do too. Competing rights start in the home. At the very least, children should be free to learn widely about the world outside of that context so that they might decide for themselves one day, how to love, where to love and why they might be loving someone or some place. Religious Schools are not being asked to change too much. The bible itself says

Isiah 43:19 See I am doing a new thing. It’s rooted in religion and culture that we might continue to revaluate ourselves and the words made long ago are up for a restoration and refurb for “When Water remains in one place too long it spoils” Persian proverb.

I’m still with Anne Frank and her words;

“in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

Even more than that I believe in people and if they want to believe in aspects of religion that are non-discriminatory then I can find togetherness in that notion.

I once attended a creative writing class when I was very small and met a beautiful little boy who had been called Donald. We did a puppet show as part of the class, including making all of the puppets and retelling the story of The Sound of Music. He played Kurt. I played Gretel. He wrote me a Poem which I made into a song when I was a teenager but haven’t shared it as yet. I don’t have the whole poem any more. It went something like this….

“Do you believe in Disneyland,

Do you believe it’s you.

Do you believe in Disneyland?

Darlin’ is it you?

If Donald Duck could talk to you,

What would he say? ‘

Is Snow white a princess

Or Cinderella just a ghost?

Do you believe in Disneyland?

Do you believe it’s you?

Do you believe in Disneyland?

Darlin is it you?

I don’t believe in Disneyland

I don’t believe it’s you

But I believe in someone more

I believe in YOU.

I was only 5 or 6 years old or so. I remember crying. He was rather annoyed, complaining that it wasn’t supposed to make me cry to which I replied;

“It’s making me cry because it’s making me happy and sad too.”

Children are astounding. We must not curb their spirits, cage their chance to belong, to feel believed in, wanted, known of,  as though beautiful rivers and trees  and lakes that grow and meet in one beautiful ocean together.