aaaaaaand Thursday leans toward closing, and I realise that my 2 day grudge against MC is really not worth spending any more of my time on......I knew the better side of my nature would eventually win out (or perhaps it's my lack of attention span!).
It was another time filling day at work today.....and that pretty much covers it. I find myself wondering if filling time in this way is really how I want to spend my working life. Maybe I've got what I can out of the Navy, and continuing with this as a job is really just an extension being too lazy to find something that better suits my nature......(and doesn't involve having to deal with other people's in-excusable idiosyncracies with a smile on my face, and with courtesy that isn't returned).
Well, I've got another 3 years to think about it before I finish my 20years. The beauty of slow decisions is that you generally make the right one.
Tangent......only two months left until we get home (a little less in fact). And while I'm still enjoying the change of being in Singapore, I think that I'll be very ready to be home when we get there. I have to feel a certain amount of sympathy for people like Macca who just returned from a week at home, but apart from that, hasn't been home since August last year. If I think I'm going to be ready to get home by June, I've got nothing on people like him.
Well, I'm really just rambling today, so I'll sign off for the day. Hope you've all had a great day Friends.
<insert an hour and dinner here>
So, I've obviously had dinner, and afterward was reading something which referred to the White Australia Policy........which got me thinking.
It's so easy to throw stones about how dreadful the situation is/has been in other countries, but it's easy, also, to forget the horrible things that our own nation has done, the White Australia Policy being one of them. That we had such endemic policies in our country is something to be truly ashamed of. As a nation we said to the world we don't want you unless you have the same appearance and general background as us.
While I was reading up on this policy, I also came across a referencing to "blackbirding". This was the practice of (and I'm quoting Wikipedea here, though I have heard of the concept before) "recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work on plantations, particularly the sugar cane plantations of Queensland (Australia) and Fiji."
I know I'm being ignorant, but I find it difficult to believe this kind of thing went on in my country and my state of origin.
I know it's human nature to see the best in your own kith and kin, but I'm really blown away at some of the truly dreadful things that have been done by Australians over the years.
Having said that, the change in our culture (and in the western world in general), cultural attitudes and our national policies that lean so heavily towards equality can only be seen as a truly great thing. While I don't think that forcing our religion and way of life on the rest of the world is in any way a good thing, I do think it would be fantastic if the idea of pure and complete equality could spread out of the major cities of the western world, which is it's current strong-hold, and into all parts of the work, metropolitan and provincial.
Sadly, I think that a lot of deep seeded personal/cultural beliefs from all sides will need to be amended.
From what I've read (which hasn't been a great volume, but.....), almost all of the major religions seem to have compassion/good will/kindness as a precept of their way of life. This should (I would think) lead inexorably toward equality for all. Unfortunately, while I believe many, if not most, people live good lives abiding by the basicly good rules of their religion, I also think that many people who claim to adhere to a religion, be it Christianity, Islam or any of the less popular religions, often warp the teachings of their faith to suit their own wants and opinions.
I'm certain that most people will automatically thing of Muslim extremist groups at the content of the previous paragraphs, but to see a milder example of it, which none-the-less demonstrates that our own religion/society is not free of guilt, I'd highly recommend the documentary "Jesus Camp". It was a bit of an eye opener to me, and I found the virtual brainwashing of the children in that film very concerning.
At one point during the documentary, the Evangelical preacher-woman who appears to be the basis of the documentary makes a comment about Harry Potter, and while I don't recall the exact wording, it was words to the effect of "Let me tell you something about Harry Potter.....Warlocks are evil and the enemies of your god".
Now I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but I have to question the psychological stability of a grown adult who will publicly suggest that witches and worlocks are anything but the realm of fantasy.
That aside, the documentary is a good look into the strength and the "hook em young" ethos of the evangelical movement, and sadly, I think that the mindset demonstrated in this movie is far from the mindset that we need to achieve equality in the world. I also believe that all cultures have niches that have similar attitudes, but hopefully the desire for equality will overwhelm these negative ideals eventually, and maybe one day, if everyone is equal, everyone will be happy.
Well, that's my thoughts for the evening. Sleep well Friends.
It was another time filling day at work today.....and that pretty much covers it. I find myself wondering if filling time in this way is really how I want to spend my working life. Maybe I've got what I can out of the Navy, and continuing with this as a job is really just an extension being too lazy to find something that better suits my nature......(and doesn't involve having to deal with other people's in-excusable idiosyncracies with a smile on my face, and with courtesy that isn't returned).
Well, I've got another 3 years to think about it before I finish my 20years. The beauty of slow decisions is that you generally make the right one.
Tangent......only two months left until we get home (a little less in fact). And while I'm still enjoying the change of being in Singapore, I think that I'll be very ready to be home when we get there. I have to feel a certain amount of sympathy for people like Macca who just returned from a week at home, but apart from that, hasn't been home since August last year. If I think I'm going to be ready to get home by June, I've got nothing on people like him.
Well, I'm really just rambling today, so I'll sign off for the day. Hope you've all had a great day Friends.
<insert an hour and dinner here>
So, I've obviously had dinner, and afterward was reading something which referred to the White Australia Policy........which got me thinking.
It's so easy to throw stones about how dreadful the situation is/has been in other countries, but it's easy, also, to forget the horrible things that our own nation has done, the White Australia Policy being one of them. That we had such endemic policies in our country is something to be truly ashamed of. As a nation we said to the world we don't want you unless you have the same appearance and general background as us.
While I was reading up on this policy, I also came across a referencing to "blackbirding". This was the practice of (and I'm quoting Wikipedea here, though I have heard of the concept before) "recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work on plantations, particularly the sugar cane plantations of Queensland (Australia) and Fiji."
I know I'm being ignorant, but I find it difficult to believe this kind of thing went on in my country and my state of origin.
I know it's human nature to see the best in your own kith and kin, but I'm really blown away at some of the truly dreadful things that have been done by Australians over the years.
Having said that, the change in our culture (and in the western world in general), cultural attitudes and our national policies that lean so heavily towards equality can only be seen as a truly great thing. While I don't think that forcing our religion and way of life on the rest of the world is in any way a good thing, I do think it would be fantastic if the idea of pure and complete equality could spread out of the major cities of the western world, which is it's current strong-hold, and into all parts of the work, metropolitan and provincial.
Sadly, I think that a lot of deep seeded personal/cultural beliefs from all sides will need to be amended.
From what I've read (which hasn't been a great volume, but.....), almost all of the major religions seem to have compassion/good will/kindness as a precept of their way of life. This should (I would think) lead inexorably toward equality for all. Unfortunately, while I believe many, if not most, people live good lives abiding by the basicly good rules of their religion, I also think that many people who claim to adhere to a religion, be it Christianity, Islam or any of the less popular religions, often warp the teachings of their faith to suit their own wants and opinions.
I'm certain that most people will automatically thing of Muslim extremist groups at the content of the previous paragraphs, but to see a milder example of it, which none-the-less demonstrates that our own religion/society is not free of guilt, I'd highly recommend the documentary "Jesus Camp". It was a bit of an eye opener to me, and I found the virtual brainwashing of the children in that film very concerning.
At one point during the documentary, the Evangelical preacher-woman who appears to be the basis of the documentary makes a comment about Harry Potter, and while I don't recall the exact wording, it was words to the effect of "Let me tell you something about Harry Potter.....Warlocks are evil and the enemies of your god".
Now I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but I have to question the psychological stability of a grown adult who will publicly suggest that witches and worlocks are anything but the realm of fantasy.
That aside, the documentary is a good look into the strength and the "hook em young" ethos of the evangelical movement, and sadly, I think that the mindset demonstrated in this movie is far from the mindset that we need to achieve equality in the world. I also believe that all cultures have niches that have similar attitudes, but hopefully the desire for equality will overwhelm these negative ideals eventually, and maybe one day, if everyone is equal, everyone will be happy.
Well, that's my thoughts for the evening. Sleep well Friends.
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