I criticised the change, thinking that I would be largely on my own in doing so. But the reader comments in the Herald Sun today are quite good - they have picked up on the shift in philosophy that the new promise represents.
Here's a sample:
Andrs: When people believe in nothing but themselves, what kind of a society are you bringing up?
Footscray Man: God out, Queen out. New Age self-congratulation in.
AJ: I notice it's gone from helping others to being primarily about the individual. I guess that's the world we live in nowadays.
We live in interesting times. The minds of some Westerners have been influenced to a mighty degree by liberalism, others have resisted. Pity that the resistance isn't better organised, but it's out there nonetheless. We have to encourage it as best we can.
The elite does not care that the proles grumble, for that grumbling never reverses any of the elite's crazy changes. Do you think they're going to change that pledge back just because of those comments? I am doubtful they will.
ReplyDeleteJP I agree that rank and file grumbling doesn't change social policy.
ReplyDeleteI take the grumbling as a positive sign, though, that there are still people out there who aren't with the liberal programme.
JP has it right. Prole grumbling proves to the elites that they must be doing something right. I'm not familiar with the Aussie "Guides" thing, but it sounds similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in the states, which have (probably analgous to the Australian experience) been under attack for their vague historic particularity.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if the US versions still pledge honor to God and country or not, but the Girl Scouts in particular have been seedbeds of unbridled feminism for many decades now. To me, it is almost preferable for them to disembowel themselves over inclusiveness. In the long run, it will kill them, and make room for the more sectarian (neo-sectarian) groups that are starting up already as alternatives.