Kevin Rudd, John Kaye, John Howard, the Exclusive Brethren and funding cult schools as part of an authoritarian dogmatic conservative mindset

Caution: the following does not mean that conservatism is pathological or that conservative beliefs are necessarily false.

But ain't it grand to go back to the oldies but goldies every now and then just for the fun of it. Remember when a tribe of psychologists took a look at the roots of conservatism, and found that it could be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses arising from "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity"?

Thanks to the wonders of the full to overflowing intertubes, you can find the full paper published in 2003 - Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition - in pdf format here.

Let's not get into the details. After all I read The Punch, so these days reading any academic treatise hurts my head and gives me a migraine. How about the abstract? That's short enough:

Analyzing political conservatism as motivated social cognition integrates theories of personality (authoritarianism, dogmatism–intolerance of ambiguity), epistemic and existential needs (for closure, regulatory focus, terror management), and ideological rationalization (social dominance, system justification). A meta-analysis (88 samples, 12 countries, 22,818 cases) confirms that several psychological variables predict political conservatism: death anxiety (weighted mean r .50); system instability (.47); dogmatism–intolerance of ambiguity (.34); openness to experience (–.32); uncertainty tolerance (–.27); needs for order, structure, and closure (.26); integrative complexity (–.20); fear of threat and loss (.18); and self-esteem (–.09). The core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and justification of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty and threat.

The guys rather give the game away by opening their piece with a quote:

Conservatism is a demanding mistress and is giving me a migraine.
—George F. Will, Bunts

But hey I'm testing my own scientific theory that conservatives only find jokes involving barnyard pecking orders and people slipping on bananas truly funny (unless of course it's the death of a species or a major accident in a hydro plant or death panels).

Now what got me distracted and walking down the byways of psychoanalytical publications when generally I have a scientological approach to shrinkery?

Could it have been because I was listening to the radio, and then reading the news that the Rudd government has managed to increase federal funding to schools being run by the Exclusive Brethren?

What's the bet we'll be seeing shock and outrage columns from the commentariat on this subject?

You must be dreaming.

The problem of course started with the shameless trolling by John Howard in the murky waters of the EB, apparently without visible dissent from that smirking cheshire cat Peter Costello, who himself was and is fond of blathering on about Christian civilization and haring off to clap happy days with Hillsong.

By the end of his reign, Howard was siphoning off $9 million in funding for the Brethren schools. And then under that supposed radical revolutionary Kevin Rudd, demonized by the right as the anti-Christ, things got worse:

... NSW Greens MP John Kaye says funding for EB schools around Australia has risen to $13.9 million this year.

"[It is] scheduled to go to about 17.2 million by 2012," he said.

"The Rudd Government did not change the Howard Government's formula that had an in-built escalation in it.

"This is funding going to the schools that Kevin Rudd referred to as being operated by a cult."

Well it only takes a nodding acquaintance with the Brethren to know they are indeed a cult, but then since the federal government also funds scientology based schools, it seems these days there's nothing wrong with cults.

Naturally the Rudd government has attempted to distance itself, claiming that the increase in EB funding only grew 14% between 2007 and 2008, because of increased enrolments and that a review of current Howard governmnent based funding arrangements would not begin until next year. You can read Steven Cannane's story for Lateline here under the header Govt increases funding to Brethren 'cult'.

The SMH also picked it up under the header Rudd increases funds for Brethren schools.

If you read that story in full, you will see that under a clever Category 12 arrangement, new schools built by the Brethren are designated as campuses of an already established school - meaning a school in Meadowbank might have a campus in Albury.

By golly, those EB folk have got a thing or two to teach regional universities about ways to score government funding.

Meanwhile, the federal opposition has bravely voted down the federal government's bid to introduce a $250 fee for university students to help fund student facilities and services, with that arch loon Barnaby Joyce leading the way on the basis that the funds should be quarantined to be used only for sporting facilities and sporting groups.

Yep, that's Barnaby, celebrate the body, and fuck the mind. What on earth would you go to university for, except to play rugger and rag those deadshits in arts courses (Student fee defeated in Senate)?

Oh and hand over money to cult schools of course. Well done Barnaby. You've really brought the Rudd government to heel with your rucking and scrimmaging.

Now of course if the EB schools had been an Islamic enterprise the howls of indignation would have resonated throughout the land like an unending Wagnerian chorus. You could just imagine a baying Albrechtsen being picked up by Akerman, being backed by the Devine, being added to by Christopher Pearson, and with Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt relentlessly sniping away with fresh tidbits about the outrage on a mind numbing daily basis.

But which one will break the authoritarian, dogmatic, rationalizations that insist any Christian is better than any Islamic? You've got to be dreaming.

Because for the life of me, while I picked up plenty of stories in the Fairfax media online about the issue, I couldn't find any dog whistling from the Murdoch press.

Yet it's nakedly and patently an educational scandal:

''In August 2007 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd referred to the Exclusive Brethren as an extremist cult and sect,'' Dr Kaye said.

''In 2008 his government continued the Howard years funding system, resulting in the Exclusive Brethren schools receiving almost $62 million dollars in recurrent funding for the years 2009 to 2012, up from $37.4 million for 2005 to 2008.

"Mr Rudd has either had a spectacular change of opinion on the Brethren or he is guilty of funding schools that he thinks support a cult and do not deliver modern education.''

Well who's to say that creationism isn't part of a healthy modern education?

Excuse me while I go howl at the moon.

Because in a world where Malcolm Colless is allowed to write nonsense and gibberish about Y2K and the ozone layer (see below), the news that the federal government keeps paying the Exclusive Brethren to teach nonsense and gibberish, baying at the moon seems the only sensible option.

Oh and if you want to find out more about the Exclusive Brethren, not that I'd urge you to believe a word of it, go here. But first let me bring you the good news about the rapture:

... any unbiased Christian will see that the events of the last day will be:- (i) Rapture (ii) Period of chaos and upheaval (iii) Appearing of Christ (iv) Millennial (1,000 years) (v) Final judgement emanating from the great white throne. (vi) The day of God.

Revelation shows clearly that Satan will be confined to the pit during the millennium but on being released will seek to promote evil and will be banished, without trial, with the beasts, to hell.

Coming soon to a school near you. Especially as they've already released Chairman Rudd from the pit.

Me? Sorry, got more baying to do ...

(Below: but heck, the full to overflowing intertubes is full of images of wolves baying at the moon. Is this an international therapy for dealing with conservatism I've only just become aware of?)