8:30 in the morning. 2GB talkback radio with my grandma's pin-up boy, the ultra conservative Alan Jones, a pillar of ignorance and intolerance to the lonely and marginalized elderly population. The topic: religious attire in schools such as Islamic head-cloths (I am sorry but I don’t know the name of them) or Jewish skullcaps (I know the name for these, but I don’t know how to spell it so will use the general term for convenience sake).
You see at the moment, there is a bit of an uproar raging throughout my home state of NSW over schools who have began to complain that religious apparel, particularly Muslim apparel is not compatible with school dress regulations, with certain students being threatened with suspension or expulsion if they fail to comply.
Alan Jones, in his infinite wisdom, summed up the collective opinion of the elderly and unenlightened when he said "We'll someone needs to tell 'these people' that this is Australia, and I am happy to keep telling them that this is Australia. If they don't like it, they can go home"
Where does one begin?
Intrigued by this sentiment, I began to do a little research only to find that this sentiment is a lot more common than I had first anticipated. You see, to many Australians, the idea that people who have different religious beliefs should be permitted to wear their religious apparel is a direct attack on Australian culture, and that 'these people' will slowly take over our society until there is no such thing as 'Australian'- Australia will become a horrible, steaming melting pot of mixed culture, with no identity.
2 things, since I don’t have too much time to spare.
1) I know many, many, many Jews and Muslims who were born in Australia, or whose parents were even born in Australia. Religion does not equate to nationality. This point seems to have eluded many conservative fuckwits who argue that people who wear headscarves should 'go back to their own country'. Wake up dickheads- this is their country.
2) Allowing people to practise their religious beliefs is not going to degrade the integrity of your culture. Rather, it will strengthen it, since you will be living in a society that is so comfortable with itself, so able to accept others, and so willing to celebrate diversity rather than stifle it, that people will be proud of their culture. When I travel abroad, I am proud to call myself Australian because I like to think that a central part of Australian culture is it's multiculturalism, it's ability to accept rather than reject, and it's success in uniting so many people of so many nations and cultural backgrounds. I know I am an idealist, but these are things that go through my head when people ask me what Australia is like. That is why this whole affair makes me so mad I suppose- it challenges the ideal that I hold dear. I know that we still have a way to come, but I think we have it in us to do it...
Ralph
