Just Let It Go

Religion is not something permanent or everlasting. While this is unsurprising, because nothing in this universe truly is, in the context of continuous human evolution, religion can be understood to be a tool developed by humans to facilitate its survival and growth as a species. In this respect, it's certainly played a monumental role in shaping our perception of reality today. It's irrevocably placed its stamp on our civilizations and cultures for a start, and we only need to look at our history as a species to see how we got here today. I've long said that the history of religion is written in blood, and I doubt anyone would ever be able to convince me otherwise. 

 

But, just like the journey from stone tools to electron microscopes, traveling by horse-cart to flying rockets to the ISS, or wearing skins to mass-produced synthetic clothing - or, in the biological sense of growing then shedding baby teeth - religion was something humanity needed and even found indispensable for a time - all in order to develop to a particular point... by which time it then grew out of it. 

 

Religion then, may be a necessary tool useful to a young developing child species still trying to get to grips with its own nature as sentient, thinking animals. That time however, is - or has, drawn to a close. Its demise is long overdue.

South Africa's Right Wing Has No Originality

 

 

So on Saturday morning I noticed the above screenshot of a poster put out by the local Afrikaner nationalist newspaper, "Die Burger", being circulated on social media. The poster makes it fairly clear that "Die Burger" are trying to encourage local right wingers to join in with the hate for Taylor Swift - presumably for the very same reasons that the US variety of right wing loons are doing it.

But this set me to wondering why the local right wing nutters would focus on Taylor Swift? Why should they even care about Taylor Swift?

What is it with Afrikaners these days? Is it something in the melktert? 🤔

Last I heard, the US singer really had nothing to do with South Africa, other than some of her music making its way out here, and I think it's really bizarre that the local right wingers have managed to put down their Klippies and biltong and have stopped arguing about rugby or singing De La Rey long enough to focus on sending hate towards a remote American singer who probably doesn't even know they exist, and whose music they have probably never even listened to, probably because it has no concertinas  or right wing icons in it.

Don't South Africans have enough problems of their own - closer to home, to be concerned about? 

More to the point, why is it that every time the red-cap brigade over the pond get their panties in a twist about something, the attention of the local right wingers seems to follow their example?

Don't they have any originality?

Breaking Into The Echo Chamber

  

Yesterday I wrote an article about the Dear South Africa petition post on Facebook against the implementation of gender sensitivity training for children at schools across South Africa.

Of course, sometimes I just can't help myself, and I happened to leave a comment on the Facebook thread as well - which naturally attracted the attention (and ire) of all kinds of nutters who are the sort of people who believe all the bullshit meme-like trash being put out there about LGBT+ people - you know the sort - that we're "groomers", that transwomen transition in order to molest children or women in public bathrooms, or because we find participating in women's sport so much less of a challenge.

The hate from people like this is palpable and tangible. This article will focus on the sort of propaganda-based arguments used by transphobes and homophobes to attack attempts to bring inclusiveness and understanding of diversity into classrooms that appear to be universal when it comes to their source - imported right wing propaganda.

Lock Up Your Schools, The Transgenders Are Coming!

There I was, just minding my own business, when an ad from Dear South Africa - that's right, the petition website portraying itself as a civic-minded action entity - crossed my feed.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed the heading "Have your say on the Department of Basic Education's gender ideology training programme".

The...what?

The actual FUCK did I just read?

Wait-a-minute... Why is this even an issue?

And if you're thinking "this is bound to be another case of hysterical screaming, and panicked arm-waving again", well - you'd be perfectly right.