Media: Time to burn Christians?
There's a smell of burning Christian.
And the royal commission into child sexual abuse in institutions is stoking a hot fire. The commission opened yesterday with ominous warnings that suggest the Catholic Church will be under serious ideological attack.
Royal commissioner Peter McClellan declared there had been "changes in power" in society, thanks in part to the "women's movement" , and we should expect "changes in the culture and management practices of institutions".
Was he referring to the church? Must it fit in more with these secular, feminist and even anti-clerical times? Incidentally, all three barristers assisting the commission are women.
True, McClellan will also investigate abuse in state-run institutions and even sporting clubs, but his commission will inevitably be influenced by a media-class culture that has a patricidal hatred of the Catholic Church to the exclusion of worse sinners.
Take comedian Josh Thomas on the ABC's Q&A on Monday. Faced with a Catholic archbishop who opposed gay marriage, Thomas blustered for two minutes: "You play a constant game of stop hitting yourself . . . Sodom and Gomorrah. It's pretty odd I reject that."
On the same show was an imam who called homosexuality "a sin". But to him, Thomas said nothing, even though some Muslim nations hang gays.
The ABC's Lateline last November was warning enough of the cultural winds.
It interviewed Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who "helped trigger the Government's plan for a royal commission" with claims of a church cover-up.
Those claims were denied, but Fox still denigrated Cardinal George Pell three times as "Mr Pell" and mocked his church's "antiquated rules".
Last month, The Age falsely said Pell was still "tainted" by a highly questionable allegation of sexual abuse - actually dismissed at a formal investigation.
And the royal commission into child sexual abuse in institutions is stoking a hot fire. The commission opened yesterday with ominous warnings that suggest the Catholic Church will be under serious ideological attack.
Royal commissioner Peter McClellan declared there had been "changes in power" in society, thanks in part to the "women's movement" , and we should expect "changes in the culture and management practices of institutions".
Was he referring to the church? Must it fit in more with these secular, feminist and even anti-clerical times? Incidentally, all three barristers assisting the commission are women.
True, McClellan will also investigate abuse in state-run institutions and even sporting clubs, but his commission will inevitably be influenced by a media-class culture that has a patricidal hatred of the Catholic Church to the exclusion of worse sinners.
Take comedian Josh Thomas on the ABC's Q&A on Monday. Faced with a Catholic archbishop who opposed gay marriage, Thomas blustered for two minutes: "You play a constant game of stop hitting yourself . . . Sodom and Gomorrah. It's pretty odd I reject that."
On the same show was an imam who called homosexuality "a sin". But to him, Thomas said nothing, even though some Muslim nations hang gays.
The ABC's Lateline last November was warning enough of the cultural winds.
It interviewed Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who "helped trigger the Government's plan for a royal commission" with claims of a church cover-up.
Those claims were denied, but Fox still denigrated Cardinal George Pell three times as "Mr Pell" and mocked his church's "antiquated rules".
Last month, The Age falsely said Pell was still "tainted" by a highly questionable allegation of sexual abuse - actually dismissed at a formal investigation.
