Safe Schools And Dangerous Flags

Well it wasn’t what Roz Ward said about sex that got her ostracised in the end, was it?  It wasn’t her perspective on that most degenerative of sexual positions – heteronormative thinking – that got her sidelined.  It wasn’t even her attempts to engineer the classroom so that 11 year olds are forced to write about what it would be like to be sexually attracted to someone of their own gender, that united previously divided politicians in shock and horror.

Nope – it was her view on the Australian flag.  Ward, a self-declared Marxist, said on social media after the Victorian Parliament flew the rainbow flag outside its buildings, that once the “racist” Australian flag was taken down and the “red flag” was hoist in its place, then in her words, “my work here is done.”

Two observations:

First, it’s clear that you can pretty much trample over any long held private framework in Western culture, especially in regards to sex.  But woe to you should you threaten the idol of the all powerful nation-state. It’s the very national standing that the flag represents that sees many of our political elite not only rally around so-called “Australian values”, but use that same flag as a convenience in order to direct us towards what those values are. And whether you are an anti-refugee advocate or an anti-traditional marriage advocate, that flag can come in pretty useful if you so choose to employ it that way.

It’s worth asking those concerned pollies, who have distanced themselves from Ward’s comments, whether they might even now begin to wonder that maybe, just maybe Ward considers you racist for supporting the Australian flag, in exactly the same way she (and you?) consider those who support traditional marriage homophobes and bigots.

“But I’m not racist!” you’ll protest – but all to no avail. You like the flag?  You’re a racist.  That’s how these arguments work.  So hey, maybe there may be a bit of empathy for other perspectives in our elite culture over this one.  I am not holding my breath.

What strikes me is that those who support Ward in one area (her sexual ethics), are surprised and shocked at what she said about her social ethics in relation to the flag. That displays a certain naivety about how we are put together as humans – we just aren’t very good at compartmentalising.

There is no such thing as discrete belief. Our foundational beliefs bleed into every area of our lives. Ward is a classic deconstructionist who after achieving success at deconstructing one aspect of the culture, is hell bent on deconstructing another. You’d think a politician of the ilk of former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett would get that.

Secondly, and in light of that, Ward is wrong about an end-date to her work. The pernicious work of a Marxist revolutionary is never done.  There are always heretics to hunt out. Always counter-revolutionaries to haul away.  Always dissidents to expose and deride.  That’s what made the Marxist states of the 20th century made such great employers. You see as the truth kept trying to jump up and shout “You are wrong!” they always needed more and more people to suppress it, more drones and henchmen to squeeze that truth way down, more agents to send it to Gulags, more lapdogs to airbrush/photoshop the truth from history.

No, Ward’s revolutionary work is never done.  But hopefully she’s exposed herself enough in this country for her position in universities, government advisory boards and schools programs to at least come under scrutiny.  Because you know what?  As much as I dislike her tone, attitude, politics and agenda, I have a philosophy on life and an understanding of human dignity made in the image of the Creator that will never allow me to forcefully silence her.

And that’s something the Roz Wards of this world will never understand.