An Obadiah Slope column
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Baring with Gafcon:
“Is this too risqué for Gafcon?” asked one social media commenter. The ad for a Galfcon (Global Anglican Futures Conference ) meeting in Australia was the object of a tongue-in-cheek query. The commenter meant the bare midriff, and were also concerned about the headless woman – a trope that often seems to happen in clip art pics. But Obadiah is more worried about that pineapple. Still, Queensland will be cheaper than the Rwanda trip to the conference Gafcon held in April.
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Robotic: To the White Rabbit gallery in innner Sydney’s Chippendale to catch up on their latest contemporary art exhibition. It’s always Chinese art. Obadiah always finds something striking in their collections. This time it is a room of robot applauders – twelve animatronic humanoids clapping on cue, with a split-screen video showing scenes of mad cheering when characters make footling remarks. Sculptor Liu Chang 刘畅 chose to have twelve because that is the number in a jury, with videographer Zhang Peili split screen video remix reinforcing the point about mindless applause. Check out this image of the robots.
The exhibition “I Am the People” gives a bottom-up view of a changing society with videos by Li Xiafei showing what working in a Chinese factory is like. Obadiah found them both fascinating and depressing.
What would it be like if these artists turned their attention to the church? Would we see a room full of robots applauding or worshipping?
It is a troubling thought.
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Banning a kid’s book: Big W has removed Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes’ book, Welcome to Sex: Your no-silly-questions Guide to Sexuality, Pleasure and Figuring it out, from in-store sale after protests, including from the Australian Christian Lobby’s National Director of Politics, Wendy Francis.
Francis notes that the book“includes what many would regard as pornographic adult content.” She adds, “The book grieves the heart of all who desire innocence for their young children for as long as possible. There should never be any need for young children to have to read about and understand anal and oral sex, masturbation and sexual positions.”
There has been pushback to the protests. Vivienne Pearson wrote in an oped piece for the Nine Papers “I’ve read the book and think it’s great. It’s everything this mother of teens would want a sex-ed resource to be: engaging and informative without being prescriptive. And it’s highly appropriate for the teen group it’s marketed to.” The headline was, “If you don’t welcome teens to sex, it could have unwelcome outcomes.” But Pearson somewhat undercuts that by writing, “Under 10 is an ideal age to introduce the basic concepts of sex and reproduction as, before puberty and the consequential embarrassment hits, kids are easily able to take in new knowledge without any of the baggage we adults might carry.”
The ACL’s Francis also points out that the book’s ”author believes it would also be suitable for a mature 8-year-old.”
Even very conservative Christians are certainly NOT against giving good info on sex. Sexologist Patricia Weerakoon and Youthworks Media have been filling the gap with Birds and Bees by the Book (actually six books) for Children and Teen Sex by the Book for teens and Talking Sex by the Book for parents and carers.