| Locknuts said: I think we basically understand each other on the other issues so I'll just tackle these two: With regards to the Opera House, a building, being a part of our culture, I really don't follow you. I think the government recognised that the people within their electorate valued the arts and built the opera house. I don't know of anyone getting upset about it. It's more of a landmark than something that dictates culture to people. |
I'm not talking about the arts themselves. I am talking about the Opera House itself. It was commissioned by the Government, owned by the Government and likely would never have happened without the Government and is a massive Australian cultural landmark.
Go overseas and ask someone what is some of things they recognize about Australia... The Opera House is one of them.
Ergo. The Government "involvement" with Australian culture could be argued to be vital.
Otherwise... What is Australian culture? A blue singlet, footy shorts, beer gut and thongs whilst throwing a shrimp on the BBQ with a few slang words thrown in for good measure?
| Locknuts said: I was thinking more along the lines of the ABC and SBS. Government funded media which have an obvious bias towards big government (their salaries depend on it) even they try very hard (and fail) to appear to represent all views. It's fine to be biased, but let people know at the outset. |
The ABC and SBS do provide a counter-balance to the Murdoch empire which are right-leaning, thus they provide a different perspective on issues which is very much needed.
Personally I think the ABC and SBS should be consolidated anyway, that way you can streamline and reduce costs.
| Locknuts said: On the second point, I never said that religion is critical to a country's development, but religion is an important part of our culture in the west and gave us many of the principles on which the nation was built. |
Fair enough.
| Locknuts said: I'd guess that many of the countries you are referring to have copied the western countries to some degree to become successful, but you didn't list any, so I wouldn't know. |
Japan. Pretty sure China also ranks highly as well.
| Locknuts said: Christianity has done more good in the world that Islam or Judaism. |
Christianity is also responsible for the deaths of millions, the prevention of equal rights and other immoral actions.
An example: Inquisition, murdering pagans, sentencing of death for homosexuality.
However... To say that Christianity has done more good than Judaism is a little duplicitous...
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all based on the same Abrahamic, Middle-Eastern ethos.
In-fact, Judaism was the first of the three religions and is built around the Torah, the Jewish Bible.
Christianity adopted the Torah and relegated that to the Old Testament whilst "tacking on" the New Testament and applying it's own spin, so it could be argued that without Judaism and the Torah you wouldn't have Christianity and the Bible anyway.
Islam takes the Torah/Bibles Old Testament and essentially gives it it's own spin on the events.
There is a reason why all three religions preach death to Homosexuals, against the consumption of pork, women serving men, owning slaves is okay and why all three are thus against same-sex marriage.
| Locknuts said: Although Jews have achieved a disproportionate number of things like Nobel Prizes, I think this has more to do with their intellect than their culture. Before the reformation and subsequent separation of church and state, the Christian church was responsible for some horrific atrocities. But we learned the hard way and a separation became a fundamental part of our culture. I am currently educating myself on Judaism so I can't really say much on the subject. |
Agreed. I didn't wish to get into a theistic discussion here (even a light one) but it happened anyway. Haha
| Locknuts said: Islam does not allow for a separation of Church and state. As Hitchens said 'Not all religions are equally bad at the same time'. |
I dislike all religions equally, I prefer science, evidence, logic and sound reasoning.
Thus no religion is better or worst than each other... I mean after several thousand years, 4000+ religions/denominations and thousands of "gods" none have even been able to provide evidence to justify their claim of a supernatural deity. Ever.
That is in stark contrast to homosexuals who do exist in the real world and thus should come first before any religion.
I am just glad that same-sex marriage is being legalized one country after another... And that religion is taking a backseat to that.
--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--
