Don't get me wrong. (I'm aware that there are very few ways I can put this without someone, somewhere getting me entirely wrong, but that's a risk I'm quite willing to take..)
I support, entierly, people's rights to their beliefs. Everyone wants to or does believe in something. And I think religion, as a concept, in certain circumstances can be a good thing. God knows in times of trouble we've all murmured quiet prayers and/or pleas to whichever higher power we have happened to be exposed to. And that/those same God/Goddess/Gods also know that religion and religious communities do have the power to bring people together, to help them support themselves and the people around them. Then there's the whole charity thing, but that's been done to death lately, don't you think? http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/charity-is-for-rich-and-poor-priest-20100629-zhzg.html
Moving right along...
On Friday evening I received an email from the Australian Sex Party.
This is not particularly unusual. I'm down as a volunteer and IF they were standing for the house of reps in my region, then I'd be voting for them. Unfortunately they're not and I'm left with candidates from the parties they preference to OR the two main players in the whole sordid affair some people are calling an election. Ha. I'm so tempted to 'Chuck a Latham', it's not funny. But then I have this deep sense of guilt, mixed in with angst about wasting my chance to chan- Yeah. No. I don't. I really don't. Give me something or SOMEONE to vote for and maybe I'd look into it. There are very few options around here. And I won't be caught dead voting for the Greens just because I've got nothing else to do. I'd sooner draw pretty pictures all over my ballot and then skip away to hand out 'How to Vote' cards to those poor unfortunate souls in need of guidance. More on that later.
So, email, Friday night. Now, I live rather close to Mt. Ainslie. Mt Ainslie in all it's infinite mountainous glory, was, last year the scene of a rather wondrous display of religious fanaticism by our dear friends 'Catch the Fire Ministries.' (For a quick history lesson on the previous battle for Mt Ainslie, go here: http://the-riotact.com/?p=14665 and for the batshit crazy version of events, head here: http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/events-ministries-2/)
Catch the Fire is headed by the enigmatic Pastor Danny. The less that's said about this guy, the better. My only opinion is that he got whatever qualifications he claims to have off the back of a cornflakes packet. He's one of those guys you really don't want claiming he speaks for and to God. He's charming enough to gain the trust of many innocent believers and turn them away from true belief, towards fanaticism and I feel, deep down, in the future, perhaps towards situations in which they could be in harms way. Truth be told, this guy scares me a little and the whole feel of 'Catch the Fire' is more Cult than Prayer Meeting.
So on Saturday morning myself and five friends trundled on up to Mt Ainslie to witness a further display by Catch the Fire who were there to pray for a christian prime minister. This trip seemed to have more of an innocent air to it than their previous visit, which was to condem and knock out all the witches, pagans and homosexuals in the Canberra region, all over some red paint that Pastor Danny seemed to believe was babies blood.
Yes. I'm serious. More scary? So was he.
There was a very small crowd on the Mountain on Saturday. Including some reps from the Sex Party and some fellow supporters, like ourselves. There was a massive crowd there representing the religious bunch and they seemed to be having a grand time chanting, singing, waving flags and tambourines and doing what they claimed was speaking in tongues, which really got to me.
See, I think that in the right circumstances, people can be touched by God. I believe in the right circumstances, stuff like that can be possible. Who am I to say how or when? But at the same time, I don't believe, for a second, based on my own upbringing and personal morals and beliefs that what these people were doing, was legit.
I had a lady, who seemed friendly enough, stand in front of myself and some other people who were gathered there and babble. She made less sense than your average two year old. She was apparently blessing us, or atleast that's what I thought. When one of the more adventurous members of our number asked "What language are you speaking in?" (he seemed to be bemused by all this and I can't say I blame him, what with her hand raised in a 'Stand Back' type gesture, in his face), she replied "I'm speaking in tongues.''
So, apparently, if Catch the Fire are to be believed, speaking in tongues is all the rage now. Everyone's doing it. Head on down to Borders and get yourself some CDs for the car - you'll be fluent in no time. I believe it's all to do with the tongue...
There were some highlights to the day. A young guy who'd come up for what he thought was a 'Meet and Pray' type scenario, came over to chat with us about our beliefs and to discuss and explain his. It was amazing. That kind of inter-faith discussion is something that you don't see much of these days. This guy was very open minded, firm in his faith, but willing to listen and to be heard. We need more people like that in the religious community so that we can all move forward as a society, regardless of faith or life choices.
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