Cultural vandalism by a culturally hollow elite – we must resist

Once again, I have to ask, ‘How do they get away with it? Why doesn’t somebody do something about these saboteurs and traitors?

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The short story is, they are coming for the classics

Frank Furedi, The Australian, 17 October 2021

Why am I not surprised to read the Welsh National Opera will run a series of lectures on Madame Butterfly to highlight issues of “imperialism and colonialism”?

Because in recent years it has become increasingly fashionable to frame Western art and culture in a negative light. All its great inspiring figures, from Chaucer to Shakespeare through to Jane Austen face the charge of being “too Western”, “too white” or “too racist”. Classical music, ballet and opera are also dismissed in a similar vein. Western classical culture has always been the target of dogmatic radical commissars on the grounds it is elitist, out of date, irrelevant and far too exclusive. Now these philistine arguments have fused with those promoted by advocates of identity politics.

Hostility towards Western classical culture is frequently justified on the ground that it is too old, too white, too male and far too homophobic. This point was emphasised recently by a participant in the Gender Equity and Diversity in Opera Summit organised by the Australian Music Centre. Sonya Holowell took great objection to the traditional meritocratic emphasis on quality in the opera world. She dismissed the idea that “quality comes first” on the grounds that it “ignores the inherent privileges that many” are afforded

Her solution is to “decolonise the high arts”. In praise of this form of artistic vandalism she asks, the “pertinent question to me is what do we want to leave intact?” Judging by recent unrestrained attacks on classical culture, the answer must be “not very much”.

Read the rest here…

How does the Catholic Church compare?

Many times I have pointed out that the incidence of child sexual abuse is no higher in the Catholic Church than in comparable organizations. Indeed, most sexual abuse of children occurs by far in a family situation. The research is there for all to discover.

But these facts mean nothing to such organizations as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who jealously maintains its place at the head of the forces determined to destroy the Catholic Church in Australia. But what about the public school system? What goes on there? Lauren Southern lifts the lid on the US public school system in The Horrors of The Public School System.

Prof John Haldane’s first lecture – better than I expected

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne announced on its website that ‘Professor Haldane is once again in Australia, this time leading an important Catholic educational, cultural and societal project in partnership with the Archdiocese of Melbourne and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS).

As part of his visit, he is offering a six-part virtual lecture series entitled The Catholic Contribution, which begins on Thursday 14 October with the question: “What does it mean to be Catholic?”’

One does not know what to expect these days when such an announcement is made about the Church and its history. So, I watched the first lecture, ‘Introduction: What does it mean to be Catholic?’ with curiosity – and some trepidation. No need for the trepidation. The lecture and its tight delivery were excellent. I will be watching the next five.

Louise Milligan – youse are all wrong

Gavin Morris, ABC News Director, has tossed in the towel. Who could blame him? Louise Milligan, whose self-righteous cussedness has topped unheard of heights, would be purgatory enough. But imagine having to deal with Sarah Ferguson, Sally Neighbour and that whole band of whingeing self-righteous man-hating feminists at the ABC? Hell on earth. I wonder that Morris endured it so long. To give a taste of the brain-destroying torture Milligan has in store, I provide a link to Stuart Lindsay’s piece in the 10 January 2021 edition of Quadrant: Ignore the High Court, Louise Milligan Knows Best – Quadrant Online. Stuart Lindsay is a retired Federal Circuit Court judge .

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Ignore the High Court, Louise Milligan Knows Best

Stuart Lindsay, Quadrant, 10 January 2021

If you want a true sounding of the depths to which the trade of journalism and the vocation of writing in our country have fallen I suggest you can do no better than listen to or read the recent interview and transcript of Louise Milligan, the much-feted anti-Pell fanatic, on a podcast called The Garrett.

The Garrett is produced in Melbourne by a lady named Astrid Edwards, who interviews “writers on writing”. However, if you examine her website you will notice that the writers are overwhelmingly women and the writing is overwhelmingly leftist stock-in trade. And if you subtracted from the podcast’s interview catalogue those which deal with either feminist, black- or Islamic-grievance or climate change, you would be left with, well… Richard Fidler. He is the author of a gem of a book about the Byzantines and his undogmatic and agreeable presence on Ms Edward’s site is as anomalous as is his presence on the ABC’s airwaves. The explanation for the narrow range of the podcast’s pre-occupations is obvious enough. The website says it has “ongoing partnerships with the State Library of Victoria, Writers Victoria and RMIT University.” Alas, these days, what good thing ever comes out of an institution with “Victoria” or “Melbourne” in its name?

Remember, too, that most of The Garret‘s subjects have probably already been given their complimentary promotional tour at tax-payers’ expense by the ABC leviathan before they sat down to talk with her. In other words, The Garrett is just another of the vast number of state-funded or state-affiliated organs whose function is to sustain the Left’s stifling overlordship of every aspect of Australian cultural and political life. You know the ones I am referring to; the ones that get all of the government grants and award each other all of the prizes.

But don’t let that prevent you listening to the Milligan episode. You will learn much about Milligan and about her employer, our national broadcaster.

THE High Court judgment which set aside the Victorian Court of Appeal’s upholding (with Weinberg J in vigorous dissent) of Pell’s conviction and the unmistakable language of stern reproof in which that judgement was written don’t seem to have signified much of anything to Ms. Milligan. Rather, the High Court has taught her nothing about either the fundamental tenets of fair reporting or the criminal law. Both the woman and the ABC are unteachable. Why do I say that? Let me take you to the transcript. First, this bit (with my highlighting):

Read the rest here…

The ABC has geared up…

When a picture is worth a thousand words…

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Shock! Horror!
Perrottet is a Catholic

Roger Franklin Quadrant, 7 October 2021

As the dust settles after Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation and what is reported to be the imminent elevation of Dominic Perrottet to the post of NSW premier, Australia’s newsroom hacks thought they heard the faint tinkle of sanctus bells and made like Pavlov’s dogs, slobbering hints and imputations about the danger of having a leader who is not only a Catholic but a conservative Catholic to boot.

And put the boot in they surely did and will, Catholicism being, as Tony Abbot found and William F. Buckley observed, the last socially acceptable target for prejudice. Predictably, Their ABC immediately centred the papist premier-to-be in its crosshairs, even dragging in Perrottet’s school years:

…as a child he attended the Roman Catholic school Redfield College in Dural, which is run by Opus Dei priests.

The Opus Dei sect has been tied to secretive dealings, along with aggressive recruitment methods and accusations of elitism and misogyny.

Read the rest here…

Big changes in Melbourne archdiocese – who knows about it?

From the website Melbourne Faithful:

‘On 22 May 2021, Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli announced that the Melbourne Archdiocese would be undergoing a radical and wholesale restructure – converting 209 parishes into 50 to 60 Missions. The Archbishop has called this restructure “Take the Way of the Gospel”. The Archbishop’s hope is that the restructure will bring vitality back to our parishes.’

See the rest here…

‘Sister’ Nathalie Becquart – symbol of the Church’s future?

Nathalie Becquart is a member of the French order Xavière Sisters. estasblished in 1921, thus one hundred years old. The order is (to quote) ‘achored in the St Ignatius of Loyola’s Spirituality and rooted in his spiritual exercises’ (my translation.) I have had a look at their website.

From the description, you would think it a traditional female religious order. But the description of a traditional religious order is in stark contrast with the many photos of a joyous group of women in full colourful mufti – all smartly coordinated. Hardly a reflection of Ignatian spirituality, if your mind works according to usual associations, and if you have a traditional conception of the Ignatian exercises. But the person of Ms Becquart raises for me a far more chilling contrast than aspects of clothing.

Sr. Nathalie Becquart, a member of the Xavière Sisters in France, is one of the two new undersecretaries for the Vatican's office of the Synod of Bishops, appointed Feb. 6 by Pope Francis.

Sr Becquart has recently been in Australia to talk about – or rather give a pep talk to followers of her very particular vision of the Church. Bergoglio appointed Becquart as one of two new undersecretaries for the Vatican’s office of the Synod of Bishops. This is a powerful position in Begoglio’s ecclesial vision, so it’s useful to know Sister’s thoughts on the Church, synodality, and all that.

Well, we get an unambiguous view inside sister’s head in an interview she gave to Global Sisters Report: a Project of National Catholic Reporter. The interview is titled: Q & A with Sr. Nathalie Becquart: Upcoming synod could ‘turn a clerical church into a synodal church’.

Continue reading ‘Sister’ Nathalie Becquart – symbol of the Church’s future?