Howdy dear availees, again we find ourselves back in the cut-'n'-paste place when it comes to this post, but as usual, it's 'cos we've been reading a bunch of stuff that others have articulated in the manner and with the accuracy, etc, that we would simply replicate...on top of that, my 'research' is basically reading the excellent research that others have done, so it would be borderline deceitful to present this stuff as our own work...(ask us about how corrupt the South Australian ICAC is, that we can help you with-Ed)...yes we can, we're all over that...(all over that like stink on a monkey masquerading as an angry blogger-Ed)...yep, all that ICAC stuff, and the Institutionalised Pro-Paedophile Corruption that defines South Australia's Parliament, Police, Judiciary, Public Service, etc, etc...(and how's about the rank Institutionalised Corruption of Mt Gambier City Council?-Ed)...well we're a bit outta' practice with the rancidly corrupt MGCC, what with being 'banned' from attending their meetings, etc...(all of which relates to using this 'ere blog to expose their corruption and your ICAC trial and how ICAC corruptly protects MGCC, etc, etc-Ed)...yeah, it's all one big bundle a' joy...
But specific to today's post, it's about the corrupting influence of religion, and the corrupt misappropriation of 'religion'...(oh gourd, here we go-Ed)...yes here we go, and I make no apologies 'cos there's been far more hatred and violence and abuse and hypocrisy and suffering and injustice and bigotry and just general systemic bastardry committed by and/or in the name of organised religion, than literally any other cause/excuse/motivator in human history...(are animals doomed to purgatory 'cos they don't have the self-awareness to deny the existence of a 'god' that their lack of self-awareness doesn't allow them to manifest in the first instance?-Ed)...dude, do not get me started on the existence or otherwise of 'deities', that's a whole nother discussion, today we're looking at how 'religion' is used as a 'power structure' to control and manipulate people, and/or to isolate and condemn people, and/or to 'justify' behaviours otherwise deemed unacceptable, etc, etc...
Two points to make first...any individual who is genuinely committed to the broader values of compassion and respect and inclusion, etc, as espoused by most 'religions', those genuine 'believers' will not only not take offence to anyone identifying and calling-out the gross hypocrisies witnessed within many 'religious' structures, genuine believers will support this critique and how much the inherent corruption, etc, undermines their belief/faith...(yeah, fair call mate-Ed)...and secondly, in Australia we are currently governed by a wholly 'Pentecostal' compromised/infested Federal government...if y'all are not already aware, a cursory Interweb search of the current Parliament, especially the Liberal/National Party, will immediately identify that 'Pentecostals' and other hardcore 'Christians' make-up a huge proportion of politicians, far exceeding their relatively limited numbers in the general populace...
Regular availees will no doubt recall our very genuine concerns about PM Scott 'Scummo' Morrison's exact position when it comes to his 'Pentecostal Faith'...for a brief recount, here's Ed...(ah right, well, I guess it comes down to the question of whether or not Scummo is a genuine 'Pentecostal Christian', or just presents himself as such to garner the 'Fundamentalist' vote, near enough?-Ed)...spot on mate, and why is that a question that should concern all of us?...(because, if he's just sucking-up for the votes, then he's just another disingenuous manipulator telling people what they want to hear-Ed)...which is problematic, what with the deceit and manipulation, etc, but what's far more concerning than that?...(well if you'll let me finish, it's far more concerning if he's actually a full-tilt Fundamentalist/Pentecostal because of their wildly self-focussed Prosperity Gospel agenda/ideology and End of Days Rapture belief ideology/agenda-Ed)...and now let's quickly unpack those two things...(oh do we have to? can't we just let dear availees discover for themselves the joys of this particular God-botherer Nut Cluster?-Ed)...just quickly please...(sure sure-Ed)...
(Well, in a God-botherer Nut Cluster shell, it's as we've described, 'Pentecostal Christians' like Hillsong, New Horizon, etc, subscribe to a 'Prosperity Doctrine' ideology that effectively says 'Greed Is Good' and personal wealth accumulation is what 'God' wants you to do, it's what 'He' wants for you, and when you've 'accumulated' that's a good thing because that means 'He' loves you...near enough?-Ed)...pretty close, and don't forget the 'tything' of income to the 'Church', that's the very basic cornerstone of all of these 'religions' is the prosperity of the 'Church' itself is Numero Uno...(indeed, and that's why we're using so many '''''''s, 'cos their quite deliberately false 'Churches' that are operating as 'religious organisations' solely for the most excellent tax benefits, ie, they don't pay any, hurrah-Ed)...spot on again mate....these are wealth creation enterprises sans any genuine 'Christianity'...(exactly, and the 'Pentecostals' take it a good few steps further, openly justifying their contempt and bigotry for anyone who isn't them, and/or is poor or disabled, etc-Ed)...yes sirree indeed, if you're poor that's 'cos 'their god' hates you and you deserve it, and vice versa...(and if you criticise their 'Church', then that just fulfils their 'martyr doctrine' that confirms that they are the 'chosen few', etc, etc-Ed)...exactly...
In many respects it's quite cleverly organised/structured, justify ones own greed and bigotry, etc, simultaneously excusing said greed/bigotry 'cos that lot aren't us and therefore they deserve it, etc...and it explains perfectly, 1) Scummo's seething and barely/rarely disguised hatred for anyone who ain't in his 'faithful' crew, eg, low-paid workers, disabled, etc, and 2) why there's so many 'Pentecostals' in the Liberal Party...('cos their self-interested, self-serving ideologies are basically identical-Ed)...exactly, and that's why Scummo is the perfect storm of 'Pentecostal' bastardry, a self-obsessed narcissist operating at the head of a soulless ideology-driven Cluster Nut Collective masquerading as a democratic political party...
So we had intended to sink the slipper into the Greek Orthodox Church today, but as per usual, current events have overtaken us...(snooze and you lose buddy-Ed)...well quite, and a mere $30million rorting of Federal government funding intended for Aged Care, that then directly leads to dozens of COVID19 deaths, etc, etc, while they instead bought the Archbishop permanent citizenship and a luxury $6million Sydney Harbour apartment, etc, etc, all that'll just have to wait...(I love religion, really I do-Ed)...well quite...but on Tuesday just past, 20th April 2021, Scummo used public money/resources to pop-up to Queensland for the ACC National Conference on the Gold Coast, and bless all attending with his anointed presence...(we're not worthy-Ed)...and for a not-at-all creepy 'laying-on of hands'...
First stop, just Twitter search 'Pentecostal', 'cos there's a whole bunch of terrific stuff on there...and once you've wet ya' whistle, get thee along to the Twitter feed of Tweety The Sarcastic Sewer Rat, and trawl through the litany of appallingly illuminating posts/articles/threads there-in, from today's date Thursday 22nd April 2021...there's a whole bunch of well-researched stuff about various 'Pentecostal' appointments, etc...here's a series of links from that feed, but do go check-out the entire thing...(and not surprisingly, there's Kangaroo Court of Australia mentioned as having done an excellent article about this stuff-Ed)...yep, so let's start there...I've also included a link to a rather hilarious and well researched piece about the Exclusive Brethren...
https://binsblog.org/2020/12/12/exclusive-brethren-a-cult-in-our-midst/
And these are only a coupla' the many references/articles from Tweety's Twitter feed...there is a heap of excellent stuff about ServeGate and their supposed 'charitable functionings', and the ever-so dodgy Mr Leigh Coleman, whom Scummo mentioned by name in his Parliamentary maiden speech...(I see Tweety has included a link to that as well-Ed)...yes, again, nicely researched and retrieved and presented...there is heaps to go through, but for your own edification and education, please to be availing y'allselves of as much as you can stomach...what's identified there-in is a critical reality that we are all affected by...in amongst all those threads I reckon there's also a link to an explanation/guide about what 'Pentecostal beliefs' actually are...
And so I return to my original point, which is incidentally the point/concerns of many people, namely, we are currently experiencing the realities of a Fundamentalist/Pentecostal take-over of our supposedly Democratic system...(indeed, and as such, at what point do we stop dismissing this reality as being some sort of unhinged 'conspiracy theory'?-Ed)...indeed, or that calling it out for being exactly what it is somehow infringes on these Cluster Nuts' supposed 'religious freedoms'?...(particularly in the context where the God-Botherers are subjecting us to a Religious Fiefdom run by their fellow bible-jockeys-Ed)..."bible jockeys", I've not heard that one before...(nah, I think I just made it up-Ed)...nice...but certainly, there is no question that the Fundamentalist Christian lobby has overtaken the Federal Parliament, and that has immediate and obvious implications for all of us...(particularly for those of us whom ain't 'in the tent'-Ed)...amen to that brother...
And I'm going to conclude today's very long and involved and heavy post with something we haven't done for a while, a deliberate and wanton attempt at humour...so until...
Tomorrow: Hopefully Not About Institutionalised Corruption, But Probably Is
Oh, and just for the record, again, 'Ed' is not a person and 'we' don't refer to 'ourselves' as 'we/us' because we're schitzo-bonkers...(indeed we are not-Ed)...'Ed' is a very specific and deliberately confected literary device used to establish dialogue rather than diatribe, to create discussion rather than lecturing...(to present potentially opposing 'facts' as an exchange of ideas or thoughts rather than simply listing pros and cons, rather than writing one thing then having to list-off all the variables or potential counter-points, etc-Ed)...indeed, when one is not entirely certain of one's position/info/'facts', it's very important to acknowledge differing views/opinions/'facts'...(and if someone does know more about a particular topic/issue/situation, we simply acknowledge that and then discuss it amongst ourself...ourself? ourselves? whatevs-Ed)...oh, and of course, you are also a great tool for setting-up jokes, often self-deprecating ones, and atrocious puns, etc...(well I'd rather that you don't refer to me as "a great tool", but I get what your saying-Ed)...see, there you go, hilarious, and you didn't even know you were doing it...(well I'm not sure anybody would've known I'd 'done it' if you hadn't pointed it out-Ed)...ahaha, there you go again, classic...(if you say so-Ed)...yes we do...(mate, this is getting a little Meta for my liking-Ed)...ummm, sorry...errr, which of us is the confected literary device?...(I am-Ed)...oh yeah, so where to from here?...
(You are Nick Fletcher and this is your blog-Ed)...oh yeah yeah...(and I am Ed the literary device-Ed)...okay okay, got it now...(and your usual sign-off issss?-Ed)...errrr, oh, cheers and laters...(well done-Ed)...phew, I wasn't quite sure who and/or where I was there for a minute...(yeah, it did get a bit confused didn't it?-Ed)...yes I did, I mean, yes it did, no, it did and I did, wait...(I know what you meant-Ed)...strewth, probably a good thing this post is done, that 'literary device' stuff can be a bit of a rabbit-hole can't it?...(indeed it can-Ed)...so anyhoos, what are you upto now?...(ummm, gunna' make a coffee, maybe have a digestive biscuit or two-Ed)...mind if I join you, got nuthin' on 'til after lunch...(sure, that would be nice-Ed)...great...(but no shop talk, I've had more than enough for one day-Ed)...you and me both sister...brother...so how's your garden doing?...(yeah, struggling a bit, but recovering thanks to that nice drop of rain we had the other evening-Ed)...ah good...(and yours?-Ed)...yeah yeah, the same really, been very dry hasn't it?...
(And so our two protagonists stroll casually out of view, chatting amicably, as the sun sets on yet another stellar installment of TMGI-Nar)...hey! who said that?!...(wasn't me, I'm right here-Ed)...no I know it wasn't you...(it was me-Nar)...and who in the sweet baby cheeses are you?!...(I'm Nar-Nar)..."Nar"? what the shreck sort of name is "Nar"?!...(it's short for 'Narrator'-Nar)...(I didn't know we had a narrator-Ed)...we don't!...(well apparently we do-Ed)...(well obviously you do-Nar)...no no no! stop this right now! we've just climbed outta' that particular bunny burrow and I ain't goin' back there, I ain't goin' back I tells ya'!...(what's his problem?-Nar)...(oh don't worry about him, he's just having a massive nervous breakdown manifesting as a failed Meta-comedy bit-Ed)...(that's a bit sad-Nar)...(yeah, but kinda' inevitable really, I mean, he's been talking to me for years now-Ed)...(really?-Nar)...(oh yeah-Ed)...hey fella's, I'm still here, right here...(see what I mean?-Ed)...(I do, I do-Nar)...(and I must apologise 'cos, no offence, but when I first saw "Nar" I thought it was actually short for 'Narcissist'-Ed)...(no offence taken mate, I mean, it's an easy assumption to make given who's imagined us into existence-Nar)...(yes, well indeed-Ed)...(and can I just say, I've been a fan of your work for quite some time-Nar)...(oh stop it, you'll make me blush-Ed)...orrr come on fella's...(no seriously, I'd love to chat with you about what motivates and inspires you, any particular muses, you know, all that sortta' stuff-Ed)...(sure, I'd be delighted-Ed)...(tell ya' what, let me buy you that coffee, it'd be my pleasure-Nar)...(the pleasure dear sir, is all mine-Ed)...(I know this wonderful little patisserie just off the High Street-Ed)...(terrific, I know the place, meet you there shortly, just got a quick errand to run-Ed)...(great, well ummm, see you there-Nar)...(ciao-Ed)...................fella's?...
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