Respect
As I took my seat at Alain de Botton’s “Religion for Atheists” last week, I caught sight of a postcard promoting the upcoming Global Atheist Convention.
It listed the usual suspects - Dawkins, Harris, Myers (and sadly not Hitchens). But then I was confused. Was the Atheist Convention trying to save money by co-advertising with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival?
Out of the 34 speakers, 10 are comedians: Ben Elton, Mikey Robbins, Lawrence Leung, Jim Jeffries, Catherine Deveny, Simon Taylor, Tom Ballard, Stella Young, Craig Foster and Mr Deity. Sounds like good news for Melburnians - buy one ticket, get two conferences.
Continue reading "God I’m sick of comedians laughing at religion" »
A small minority of people have expressed some concern with the ABC top-rating satire, At Home With Julia. The main complaint has been that the program does not show respect for the office of Prime Minister, nor for the incumbent.
Satire about political leaders is nothing new in Australia. The Rubbery Figures series showed little respect for John Howard, and cartoonists regularly take the mickey out of almost any political leader.
Respect for the office of Prime Minister has never been a strong theme in Australia. In America, the office of the President does carry strong respect. It has its own Seal, its own presidential anthem in Hail to the Chief, and the incumbent is referred to as Mr President, whether popular or not.
Continue reading "Disrespecting pollies is as Aussie as flies at a barbie" »
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Robert Smissen Of rural SA says:
It isn’t that Swan is so good, it’s all the rest are sooooooooooooo bad! ! Read more »
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Robert Smissen Of rural SA says:
Disrespecting pollies is as Australian as making heroes out of cold blooded killers like Ned Kelly & Breaker Morant Read more »
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