(Above: St Kevin with the boss, and below that, I recognize the woman, but who's that Mormon missionary she's with outside the church?)
On a day when the Liberal party is finally in a position to authorize the Labor party to carry out a deeply flawed Liberal party policy, to the consternation of a squawking rump of the Liberal party, it's worthwhile contemplating the continuing legacy of John Howard, as executed by Kevin Rudd.
For that, let's turn to the dogwhistling that marked Chairman Rudd's keynote speech at the Australian Christian Lobby's National Conference, in which the Ruddster eerily managed to sound like Peter Costello being chummy with Pastor Danny.
Contemplating the quiet years of ordinary people working hard, raising families, building communities and institutions, Rudd whips himself into a fine old lather about the importance of religion:
If we studied those quiet years more closely, I believe we'd all better appreciate the profoundly important role of our churches and religious institutions in our national life.
The work of sustaining community life in times of celebration and times of grief and loss.
The work of caring for those at life's extremities, those in need of care in our hospitals, our aged care homes and our refuges.
The work of improving opportunity for all through our schools.
The work of helping shape the values that are essential for a healthy society - values of compassion, of tolerance, of sacrifice for others, of hard work, of responsibility, of self-respect, - and of the equal dignity of every human being.
And the work of helping people to wrestle with deeper questions of meaning.
This isn't noisy work - it's quiet work.
Yet it's the work that builds a nation.
Work that builds families.
Work that builds communities.
Work that strengthens the social fabric - or the social capital - of the nation.
The work of sustaining community life in times of celebration and times of grief and loss.
The work of caring for those at life's extremities, those in need of care in our hospitals, our aged care homes and our refuges.
The work of improving opportunity for all through our schools.
The work of helping shape the values that are essential for a healthy society - values of compassion, of tolerance, of sacrifice for others, of hard work, of responsibility, of self-respect, - and of the equal dignity of every human being.
And the work of helping people to wrestle with deeper questions of meaning.
This isn't noisy work - it's quiet work.
Yet it's the work that builds a nation.
Work that builds families.
Work that builds communities.
Work that strengthens the social fabric - or the social capital - of the nation.
Homosexuals and uppity women who don't follow the party line excluded of course.
Then Chairman Rudd got into his major theme - the benefits of school chaplains to the educational system and to children. He might not have given the fundies at ACL what they wanted in relation to the current state of homosexual unions in the ACT, but he gave them the next best thing - an education revolution which sees Australia retreating to the educational practices of the nineteen fifties.
O brave new world:
I have been a supporter of school chaplaincies since my time in the Queensland Government almost twenty years ago, as chief of staff to Premier Wayne Goss and then as the Director General of the Cabinet Office.
It was during this period that we formalised arrangements through the state education department for school chaplains to operate in our schools.
The Queensland Department of Education formally approved the Scripture Union of Queensland as the employing authority for state school chaplains.
And the first chaplain was employed at Kelvin Grove State High School, followed by chaplains at the Mitchelton and Craigslea State High Schools.
The development of these formal arrangements for school chaplaincy acted as a catalyst for the education department to develop chaplaincy guidelines, which were first published in 1993.
When these guidelines came into effect, Scripture Union Queensland was the only employer to seek employer accreditation Queensland-wide, and as a result became the predominant chaplaincy employer in the state.
And it is still the most significant group coordinating chaplaincy services, with the strong support of local communities across the state.
We supported the role of chaplains and other student welfare staff such as counsellors and pastoral care workers because we recognised that schools are key institutions in the lives of kids and their families.
It was during this period that we formalised arrangements through the state education department for school chaplains to operate in our schools.
The Queensland Department of Education formally approved the Scripture Union of Queensland as the employing authority for state school chaplains.
And the first chaplain was employed at Kelvin Grove State High School, followed by chaplains at the Mitchelton and Craigslea State High Schools.
The development of these formal arrangements for school chaplaincy acted as a catalyst for the education department to develop chaplaincy guidelines, which were first published in 1993.
When these guidelines came into effect, Scripture Union Queensland was the only employer to seek employer accreditation Queensland-wide, and as a result became the predominant chaplaincy employer in the state.
And it is still the most significant group coordinating chaplaincy services, with the strong support of local communities across the state.
We supported the role of chaplains and other student welfare staff such as counsellors and pastoral care workers because we recognised that schools are key institutions in the lives of kids and their families.
The Scripture Union! As weird a set of god botherers of the old school of piety still going around, and always keen to get into the act, whether in schools or universities, here - with no shame on Rudd's part - given a virtual monopoly in Queensland as chaplaincy employer.
But wait, there's more, much more, and it doesn't involve talk of state schools or the employment of counsellors, or the virtues of a secular approach to children and their emotional problems. No, it's about the benefits of god bothering:
Chaplains do great work.
They provide a listening ear for individual students - who are often more comfortable talking to a chaplain or a counsellor than a teacher, because they see them as being independent of the school authorities.
They provide an additional adult role model in the school.
They help connect the school community, including parents and teachers as well as children themselves.
They organise informal school activities where students can make new friendships and develop new interests.
They can arrange expert help with specific challenges, such as dealing with family breakdown, bullying, self-esteem, drugs, grief and behavioural management problems.
They provide a listening ear for individual students - who are often more comfortable talking to a chaplain or a counsellor than a teacher, because they see them as being independent of the school authorities.
They provide an additional adult role model in the school.
They help connect the school community, including parents and teachers as well as children themselves.
They organise informal school activities where students can make new friendships and develop new interests.
They can arrange expert help with specific challenges, such as dealing with family breakdown, bullying, self-esteem, drugs, grief and behavioural management problems.
Did you catch the throwaway line "Or a counsellor"? Well enough of that idle chatter. Here's the punchline:
School chaplains make a difference.
That is why today I can confirm today that the Government will be continuing the school chaplaincy program.
We will guarantee funding for the next two years until December 2011 for schools currently funded under the National School Chaplaincy Program.
This will involve a total additional investment of $42 million over the 2010 and 2011 school years.
This does two things.
It provides certainty for our schools and chaplains.
And it provides the Government with further time to consult with the community and evaluate the best long-term shape of the program.
During the course of 2010, the Government will be consulting widely over the future shape of chaplaincy and pastoral care programs beyond 2011.
We are doing this because we want to hear your views about ways the long-term program can be improved.
That is why today I can confirm today that the Government will be continuing the school chaplaincy program.
We will guarantee funding for the next two years until December 2011 for schools currently funded under the National School Chaplaincy Program.
This will involve a total additional investment of $42 million over the 2010 and 2011 school years.
This does two things.
It provides certainty for our schools and chaplains.
And it provides the Government with further time to consult with the community and evaluate the best long-term shape of the program.
During the course of 2010, the Government will be consulting widely over the future shape of chaplaincy and pastoral care programs beyond 2011.
We are doing this because we want to hear your views about ways the long-term program can be improved.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. How about one last outburst of sanctimonious piety in a speech so littered with them it's hard not to feel vaguely nauseous while reading, or being constantly reminded of the smug smirking pieties of Peter Costello:
In the complex world of the 21st century, governments must work together with the whole community to tackle the difficult social problems that we confront.
Churches and faith-based organisations are among our most important partners in that challenge.
You have been doing this quiet work since the first days of European settlement in this nation.
And your work will continue to be of great importance as we confront the challenges that lie ahead.
The Australian Government greatly values the contribution of the nation's churches and faith-based organisations, and we look forward to continuing to build stronger partnerships in the years to come.
Churches and faith-based organisations are among our most important partners in that challenge.
You have been doing this quiet work since the first days of European settlement in this nation.
And your work will continue to be of great importance as we confront the challenges that lie ahead.
The Australian Government greatly values the contribution of the nation's churches and faith-based organisations, and we look forward to continuing to build stronger partnerships in the years to come.
Yep, it's Peter Costello in drag, and the real Peter Costello must be chortling with joy to see his legacy so enshrined by Chairman Rudd. If you've got a strong stomach, you can catch the rest of the speech here.
Yet this nonsense, this blather, has passed almost unnoticed, as the Liberal party deguts itself over the implementation of an ETS scheme it devised itself.
The only response I've seen has come from the always reliable Maralyn Parker, who for some strange reason has become a voice of sanity in the Murdoch tabloid Daily Telegraph. Here she is on the deviant Rudd offering up another $42 million for chaplains and the devious Christians:
Worse - Rudd justified the extra spending on a deeply flawed recent study of the chaplaincy program that deviously concluded it was a good thing for public schools to have Christian religious workers on staff.
The Effectiveness of Christian Chaplaincy in Government Schools was commissioned by the National School Chaplaincy Association, an umbrella association for organisations, such as the Scripture Union and GenR8 that supply chaplains to public schools and benefit directly from extra funding.
The study did not include one single NSW public school and one of the two researchers involved is a Uniting Church minister employed by the Christian Research Association
Of course it came up with the insidious recommendation that all public schools should have chaplains.
The Effectiveness of Christian Chaplaincy in Government Schools was commissioned by the National School Chaplaincy Association, an umbrella association for organisations, such as the Scripture Union and GenR8 that supply chaplains to public schools and benefit directly from extra funding.
The study did not include one single NSW public school and one of the two researchers involved is a Uniting Church minister employed by the Christian Research Association
Of course it came up with the insidious recommendation that all public schools should have chaplains.
There's a lot more in Parker's piece, but rather than cannibalize it, I commend it to you - you'll find it here under the header Public schools do not need Christian chaplains.
Oh heck, I can't resist one last grab:
Bible lessons can be given in regular classes by regular teachers at the discretion of the principal, Christian prayers are chanted at school assemblies, Creationism and Intelligent Design have been taught in senior classes, Christian evangelists are used to “motivate” students and girls are taught to be gentle and obedient - and it is all happening in QLD public schools.
I would hate to see any of that in NSW public schools. Kevin Rudd was very wrong to promise more tax payer money to this sly religious program.
Yep, meet the new boss, he's a carbon copy of the old boss (ah yes the good old days of carbon copies).
Everything changes so that it can remain the same, and the Labor party keeps on keeping on the policies of John Howard. No wonder the Liberal party is in disarray ... the art of the odious dog whistle, at a cheap, knock down, one off price of $42 million, is now firmly within the tent of Chairman Rudd as he goes about his unctuous, smirking, smarmy business.
(Below: John Howard in a moment of quiet reflection. Lord, what have I done. And who's that Mormon missionary in the background?)
How about my favorite poem to wrap up the morning's reflections. It doesn't really bear on anything, and yet somehow it does:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
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