Saint or sinner ... who makes a better Aussie icon?

Scarneck says:

07:51am | 20/10/10

I was surprised that in the USA recently that some Americans I met had vaguely heard of Ned Kelly, when I asked them to name some other Australian icons…sadly they could not, except of course for Kangaroos and Vegemite (which ironically is now owned by a massive American company). For me Mary MacKillop doesn’t mean much, that’s not to say she hasn’t done well, I just wouldn’t say she is a hero for all Australians, for me a true hero and icon for all Australians would be someone like Errol Flynn, but of course, I could be bias!

stephen says:

11:32am | 20/10/10

What’s ‘systematic theology’?

St. Michael says:

11:55am | 20/10/10

“In other words, the way out of violence and hurt is not through violent retribution or rebellion, but loving perseverance that remembers one’s own imperfections and seeks to build others up, even when they want to tear you down. She is reminiscent of other great spiritual leaders of non-violence.”

So ... the author of the article is in effect saying St. Mary’s response to, say, being sexually abused by a Catholic priest is to (a) take it; (b) remember that you’re a sinner; (c) just put a smile on your face and go on your way; and (d) politely complain about it to the Church?

Screw that.  That’s the attitude that allowed the Catholic Church to get away with decades of thieving the innocence of its children.  Hodge’s article has all the stink of a meeting in the 1950s between a child abuse victim and the bishop overseeing the priest who did it.  Mary was withheld for 80 years from sainthood because of a bureaucratic coverup inside the Catholic Church.  I don’t think sexual abuse victims should wait so long.

Make no mistake, if some people in the Church (and, more significantly, outside it) hadn’t decided not to buck the horse and openly criticise, challenge, and get angry about the issue, sexual abuse victims would still be waiting for the semi-semi-kinda-apology that the Pope has kind of-maybe-tacitly acknowledged even after outcries in multiple countries about the Church’s dealing with child-molesting priests.

Church communities in Belgium, Ireland, and Germany weren’t terribly interested in loving perserverance or “working behind the scenes”, which is what Hodge seems to imply is the correct approach.  They kicked up a public stink about it and the Pope rightly surrendered.

I wouldn’t get too enamoured of the oblique references to Gandhi, either, Mr Hodge.  Gandhi’s approach to British India caught a lot of media attention for the time, but his political nous was severely lacking, so much so he’s partially responsible for half the current problems between India and Pakistan.

You’re also getting one crucial thing wrong, Mr Hodge: Australian heroes from Ned Kelly down to World War 1 diggers aren’t ‘venerated’ just because they’re anti-authoritarian.  Insofar as they’re admired, it’s because they had the moral courage to stand behind their beliefs openly rather than submitting to a cowardly bureaucracy by “working quietly behind the scenes”.  We call this rejecting bullcrap, you see, and standing up openly for a principle even though it might cost you your life.  That is a constant trait of most of Australia’s heroes, from Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth (who Colonial authorities thought quite ‘mad” to attempt to go over the Blue Mountains) right down to Bernie Banton (who was sneeringly told by a company lawyer in a conciliation conference that “we’re not Father Christmas, you know” and promptly put the suit in his place).

Our heroes are heroes because they aren’t scared to openly declare their principles.  To which, in closing, might I direct you to a passage of the Bible that St. Mary would have been familiar with? “If anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of God’s angels.” (Luke 12:8)

Simon says:

12:34pm | 20/10/10

Ned kelly was a career criminal who deserved nothing less than his eventual hanging. The fact that he is venerated as a hero is a national disgrace.

Ella says:

01:24pm | 20/10/10

I’m sorry but “the Catholic narrative is surprisingly appealing and humane (and includes a celebration of the feminine).”

Seriously? What planet are you on? A celebration of the feminine, indeed. I suppose that’s why they still don’t have any female clergy, up til vatican 2 women weren’t allowed to stand on the sacred bit at the front of the church, and in the early days of the church they suppressed sects like the cathars which gave a greater role for women, burnt witches and had references to women like Mary Magdelene and jesus’ mother and god in the feminine removed from biblical scripts. Don’t get me started on the humane bit.

The Scientitian says:

01:55pm | 20/10/10

So does this mean that as we advance medicine diagnostics and treatments, fewer ‘miracles’ will occur, and consequently there will be fewer saints because everything will be fixed or explained by good old fashioned know-how?

Tess says:

03:28pm | 20/10/10

The hero worship of cop-killer Ned Kelly falls in the same misguided “Have you really thought about what you’re saying” basket as those who want - and often treat - Waltzing Matilda as our national anthem.

It’s a folk song about a homeless itinerant worker who’s such a crap thief that he gets caught immediately, and such a wuss that he tops himself rather than do time.  Is that really the sort of symbol we want to hold up as summarising our national values?

MINDOG says:

06:03pm | 20/10/10

From my understanding Ned Kelly was given refuged and looked after by the local towns people where he lived and robbed in some instances he would help them out as well. ON top of that the english soldiers (NOT THE ARVEGE POLICE OFFICER OF MODERN DAY TIMES WHO’S A FRIENDLY FACE ON THE STREET) made life hard for his family and they were no saints by any means excuse the pun. Not to detract from St Mary Mckillop she deserves her recognition. But point is that he,s story is relative to the time and place and in my opinion does have a romantic side to it.

Brer Fox says:

06:42pm | 20/10/10

Ned Kelly is the ultimate hero because he appeals to the ultimate bogan community which is growing by the second.  He was nothing but a disgusting thug who if he was alive today would be driving aroung in some sh**y sports car with the worst kind of “modern” music blaring and frequently being pulled over under suspicion.  No wonder this country still holds him up as some kind of icon when people like Tracey Grimshaw ffs are winning awards for journalism, I grow more and more disgusted with this “great land” the longer I live in it and I’m only 21.

Reg says:

10:48pm | 20/10/10

Mary MacKillop, and Ned had something in common. They both stood against what each perceived as corrupt authoritarianism, had each had the support of the other, who knows what may have been achieved. I admit it sounds like one of those dreadful Hollywood plots But if Mary McK been wrong about her accusations, you’d never have another word about her. Right or wrong, Ned was always for the high jump.

I guess it’s hard for us to understand what REAL privation is today but we still judge on the flimsiest of evidence. Miracles?

Ben says:

04:54am | 21/10/10

I am not religious at all. But i would rather a religious icon be a “representive of australia” more than a criminal.

And if Brer Fox is correct and Tracey Grimshaw has won awards for a current affair, then Australia is indeed losing its place in the world.