De ja vu

Some ABC Journos might get a bit worried this week --when their own wisdom reflects the reactionary and finally island like logic of Margaret Mead this week See here quickfiz.blogspot.com


One thing many Journos refuse to believe about themselves is that they are religious. They see themselves as anything but. The tell us what scientists say - well what do psych scientists say about the universality of faith systems ? Does it take one to know one? If you ignore reality ,does the unreality come back to haunt you ?There is none so blind as one who  'sees ' the problem in another, but not see it in themselves . Alternatively , maybe there is something in the water out there ?

This  perspective does not come from those journos call  "religious"  but those who study the human condition .

The old foggies at qanda want to watch out for those prepared to question

qanda tonight .

Did you notice the young geek who dared to speak heresy in church last night - couldn't close him down even with an angry boy. (" don't look at me" the blessed saint of ABC gen Y said)
The Heretic used that word Liberal, and without hestitation qualification or cynicism  - and the congregation's mouths dropped - how dare he !  The point is,  he wasn't advocating one party over another , just truth telling and seeking proper scientific discussions - something  that ABCTV will go into history celebrating kindergarten level engagement on. If you are not a scientist stop telling us what we think or alternatively, "what poor scientists we must be ". What would U know really ? 

Guilt,Original Sin, Denial and Redemption are back

Careless theologians might celebrate that , at last , the ABC has brought Guilt, Original Sin and Denial aback into  the conversation . Perhaps not so much the word "guilt "( still forbotten ) , but certainly the feeling of it.  The PM qanda and Broadcasters  preach righteousness with an urgency unheard of in their youth .  The feeling is clearly that "we are all sinners and carry a burden of guilt"  ..... it is  in the headlines and the words of our leaders ; " its the right thing to do " the word "should ".  They want to change the word but keep the sense of it - how plagerisiic and non like author like they are

BUT ,Like the worst kind of church ,  its the kind of sermon where the sinners are outside and the righteous are inside . The righteous being absolved by riding bikes and recycling rubbish. The members inside claim those outside are in denial of the truth ..... but who knows . The real truth maybe not said or said openly ( why do churches have a box for confession )- it may until dealt with remain denied or hidden.  It could be that the insiders are higher up some righteous ladder,  but who would know ? Who cares and why ?

But , no reason for complacency or ignoring the facts -  penance is no substitute for proper payment .  The big theological question is not how much I sin compared to how much you sin ( typical cheap grace scenario)  but whether by breathing or farting, we all sin.   The key question is how to take it and deal with it .
The reality is,  if carbon dioxide is the worry they say it is , we are all in the shit as it were .Original Sin is back - with a vengeance.  And the return of OS is  making people nervous about all sorts of things they weren't previously worried about - like eating meat and killing animals. If footprint is the issue , then we all share the blame . As for guilt ,you don't hear the word ,but you smell it in the wind .Powerful if not directional .( the reactionaries  biggest problem is they can't nail the future  )
The popularity of the carbon tax is understandable in this moral context . But is the CT a substitute tax , a token  tax or a proper payment or purchase or redeeming tax?
 One thing is clear ; there is a lot of tokenism in the temple taxes,  and not much true reconciliation- of who pays. This is the dumb debilitating nature of the discussion so far - it doesn't take "meeting the mark" to its logical conclusion PERSONAL responsibility accountability and effectiveness. No other way ! Also if you go into the cul de sac one way there is no option but to back out (rep ere)
Whatever happened to the Liberals love , not of temple tax,  but "user pays" - its much more truly liberal in philosophy , substance and sustainability than their dumb worship of the market.
Good theology would for clarity sake say,  clearly  that , "while original sin exists , the only way to tackle sin productively is to target particular sins and pay the full cost price for each of them  ( only suspect economists advertisers and polys would say otherwise .....but they appear to have their sway)  . A CT will not pay full price - its a token tax , and worse still it doesn't target the real sinners - only big sinners will  pay ( whatever that means - biggest thing in town will be environment court) . And while maid Julia's men will rob everyone,  good people will receive a handout and .....bless the pope . ( So like dream,  its not really funny ....is it? )  do ( predictably it is going to build the god of government ) but which more prerogative and focused taxes like full taxes have been doing ( and should still do )
The real test of a good tax is whether it works to give both  effective use of taxes and yields an acceptable level of reconciliation- but without the high and irrational cost of penance .  The CT is trying to do lots of things ----including plain tokenism and irrational guilt mediation .
More people are going to church but are they leaving with a blessing!
Sound doctrine can do what its always done - set a workable framework  for thinking about life and its challenges.