Why is the religious indoctrination of Muslim children being applauded and celebrated as diversity?
And so it is, here in Australia on this Thursday summer morning, a crowd-funding campaignpromoting the religious indoctrination of children has raised over $127,000, all within a 48-hour time period.
The virtue-signalling has been at its most fervent and potent, with huge virtue-signalling brownie points on offer, simply by sharing a post on your social media account, demonstrating you are tolerant, inclusive and accepting of diversity. In fact, at the time of writing, 3,295 virtue-signallers have donated to this campaign, thus receiving their fleeting shot of dopamine and heightened sense of sanctimony. But does this movement, this embodiment of brazen self-righteousness, actually understand the intricacies of what they are promoting?
The spark which ignited this whole fiasco was a billboard, which advertised an RAC-V sponsored festival in Kings Domain Gardens in Melbourne. The digital billboard included multiple rolling photographs, including one which pictured two young girls holding Australian flags, while wearing hijabs. This particular picture was taken at an Australia Day event last year, in the Docklands area of Melbourne.
Firstly, the girls appearing in the photo looked happy, and were clearly enjoying themselves. Let’s call out the facts for what they are. Secondly, they were both holding Australian flags, thus getting into the spirit of the day. I for one applaud this. You really can’t have it both ways, complaining Muslims don’t demonstrate patriotism for the nation, yet complain when they do show patriotism, and in this instance, fly the flag of this great nation. But this really isn’t the salient point.
After a flurry of social media posts condemning this billboard, the outdoor media company hosting it are alleged to have received threats, some, according to Robin Scott, the Victorian minister for multicultural affairs, were, “of an abusive and threatening nature.” Consequently the billboard was removed by the outdoor media company.
It’s important to note that a spokesman for the outdoor media company, QMS, said they would not be commenting on any threats which, “may or may not have been made.” Furthermore, both Robin Scott and Victoria Police have both declined to comment on the nature of the threats made.
In response to the billboard being taken down by QMS, Dee Madigan from the Campaign Edgeadvertising agency decided to create a GoFundMe crowd-funding campaign. The funds raised by the campaign will be used to have printed billboards containing the girls picture deployed all over Australia.
As these printed billboards will be seen all over Australia, with the intent of celebrating Australia’s diversity, tolerance and inclusiveness, it creates a great opportunity to open up a much wider debate. For this, we should be thankful and appreciative that this billboard will be promoted nationwide.
As a society, we need to ask some pertinent questions regarding this so-called diversity, and these questions should be parameters for the debate.
Firstly, why is the religious indoctrination of young children being applauded and celebrated as diversity? The young girls, in this instance, never had the freedom to select their own religious affiliation. This was unwillingly thrust upon them by the piousness of their family unit. I’m at a loss as to what it is about this depressing situation that is worthy of such an outpouring of celebration.
Secondly, assuming the reader has a fundamental knowledge of Islam, they’ll comprehend that the use of garments, such as the hijab, pertain to sexual modesty and value of chaste. I’d really like to be enlightened on what it is a 9-year-old girl has to be modest about. She is a child, not a sexual being.
Of course, the uninitiated in Islamic cultures will argue that these garments are just a fashion choice, but anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that’s just pure poppycock. Again, I’m at a loss as to why children being expected to adhere to religious modesty norms is something that should be celebrated, especially on such a national-scale. Apparently, it makes us tolerant to celebrate this. Apparently, it makes us virtuous.
The reality is, celebrating the forced indoctrination of children makes us pitiable, insufferable cultural relativists, who consider the currency of virtue as possessing a significantly higher value than the well-being of children. We should be ashamed, not proud.
So I wish to say thank you to Dee Madigan for bringing this issue to the nation’s attention. I look forward to raising further awareness of the appalling issue that is the forced indoctrination of children, in what is supposed to be a progressive society.
Why are there girls in Hijab representing Australia Day? One clue – the above billboards are provided by “the outdoor media company, QMS” aka Qatar Media Services:
http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/mitchell-fuels-speculation-about-qms-investment-20131027-jguhv
Sharia by stealth.
Contrast ‘Australia Day’ with ‘Qatar National Day’. The two ‘celebrations’ are light-years apart:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ndqatar/page1
https://www.youtube.com/sndcoc
Exactly. For a multicultural ‘secular’ society to exist in harmony, public demonstrations (aka; wearing the hijab in public) of religion should be seen as a divisive force. The whole point of being Australian is that we are all the SAME. Culturally, racially (pigment) or linguistically we may not be, but there is no hindrance on private citizens pursuing their own faith as long as they accept that they should respect others of a different faith or none and vice versa. To think that we will all melt homogeneously into a melting pot of our own volition is just another blind Fraserism. There needs to be rules and the oath of allegiance to ones country is one which should always be kept paramount. Australia is not a free ride. We have our ideals and overt religious practice is not one of them. As to the hijab or burqa ? There is no place for them on the streets in Australia. The real question should be why we allow religious indoctrination of children by their parents and shy from even talking about it because we are MULTI cultural. If that is what culture is then it is wrong. Freedom of choice in religion is liberty. But to promulgate it through your children ? The rape of an innocents mind is no different from the rape of an innocents body. Culture isn’t necessarily defined by religion. My father is protestant and my mother catholic. We (three kids) were baptized catholic. My father though forbade my mother to take us to us to any religious institution (ie; church) until we were of age, ie; 16. I like buddhism (which is not a religion and GAIA) but otherwise consider myself agnostic, my older sister is lesbian (which is also not a religion) and my younger one jewish (converted to judaism to marry her south african husband). She is the only one who has broken that covenant of proselytisation. Not to mention my mother who became a Urantian and now looks after little urantians. As a family unit we are no longer, ie; we don’t talk. And Australia will not be either until it enforces it’s creed, ie; the values of our country. In Law. No more pro-crastination. Any overt religious public manifestation IN PUBLIC is un-acceptable. Including a jewish skullcap. Do it in your homes or in your abodes of worship. But not on our streets. My view.
We are all different. Every single one of us. In politics, in the wealth we hoard, in religions and countless other measures. But one drop of blood on a DNA glass plate proves we are of the same animal species. The issue of our lifetime should not be what divides us. It should be what unites us, or at least our children, to the coming catastrophe. Our environment. Global warming ? Our sinking ship…