In the commandment ‘Stand Up’, the author quotes Edmund Burke as saying that “All it takes for evil to triumph in the world is for good men to do nothing”.

In the commandment ‘Take racism seriously’, the author says: ‘Even if it appears to be a harmless racist joke or a sexist remark, treat it seriously. Don’t brush it aside as just silly, unintentional talk.’

OK. I’ll practise what the author preaches.

I take it seriously that the Edmund Burke quote treated women as invisible. He only referred to ‘good men’, not women. I’m not prepared to brush this aside as ‘silly, unintentional talk’. If the author wishes to end the kind of prejudice that treats women as invisible, then s/he could have inserted ‘[and women]’ after the words ‘good men’.

I also take it seriously that in the text under the commandment ‘Take racism seriously’, the author added the words ‘and sexism’. Yet the author chose not to put the words ‘and sexism’ in the title. I refuse to brush this aside as silly or unintentional. By leaving sexism out of the title, the message is that racism is a more important prejudice than sexism.

There … I’ve done my bit for ending prejudice.

SJF,

You're dead right. I'd just add that in my experience it's most often the women of colour in Australia who get spat on in the streets and told to go back where they come from more often that the men.

Let's not frame this as a competition between racism and sexism - or any other form of discrimination. They overlap and intersect and all forms of discrimination require good people to stand up and be counted.

Quick clarification ...

In my previous post, para 5, I wrote: '... in the text under the commandment ‘Take racism seriously’, the author added the words ‘and sexism’.

Instead of 'and sexism', I should have written 'or a sexist remark'. Sorry for any confusion.

spikey

'Let's not frame this as a competition between racism and sexism ...'

I take your point, but don't agree. Racism has never been subjected to anything like the level of the backlash waged against feminism/women's advocacy over the last 20 years. Racism awareness has been elevated to mainstream consciousness, while feminism/women's advocacy still has to fight tooth and nail to even justify its existence. Also, Pauline Hanson-style 'White Crisis' counter-movements have been swiftly and drastically nipped in the bud. Yet the 'Men/Boy Crisis' counter-movement to feminism has been massively and ridiculously overblown in the cultural domain.

There shouldn't be a competition between racism and sexism, but unfortunately there IS.

One bright light is that the Obama leadership is shaping up to be pro-women's rights, as is the Rudd/Gillard partnership. If this trend continues, the divide-and-rule competition between racism and sexism over recent decades will crawl back into the woodwork ... where it belongs.

I suggest that instead of trying to obey the 'ten commandments' that you face up to the fact that all people are born with a corrupt nature. Without any help from parents children will bully kids different from themselves. The corruption problem is only addressed when you acknowledge your own.

The second thing is to stop looking to be the victim all the time. The fact that I have been called white trash does not make me a victim unless of course I allow it to. My mother was in state care from the ages of 3-11 and yet not once have I heard her claim victim status. She could make herself the biggest martyr on earth if she followed the lines of many.

At the end of the day nothing changes unless a person's heart is transformed. Australia is far from perfect but far less racist than most African, Asian and Middle East countries. This can be easily confirmed by speaking to people from these nations.

Thirdly accept that sheilas are better at men at some things and a lot worse at others. Men and women are different which is not necessarily bad. In fact I am very pleaded about that. You would not watch very much TV at all if you were concerned with sexism. Almost every comedy makes the man out to be the idiot and the woman wearing the pants the smart one. Women's groups scream about being viewed as as sex objects and then support pornography. How dumb!

Fourthly acknowledge that some cultural habits are abhorrent. Pretending that all cultures are equal might ease the conscience of those wanting to act like animals but it is a fallacy. Promising young girls to uncles 4 times their age is revolting. Cultural practices of circumcising woman is barbaric. Murdering the unborn is sick.

The author sounds like he has good intentions which is admirable. Modeling to your children the acceptance of people on the basis that they were all created in God's image is fantastic. The acceptance of all culture as equal is ignorance.

Runner says, "acceptance of all culture as equal is ignorance." I didn't see Dr Abramovich saying that. And I think that there is a big difference between listening, paying respect, and learning where people are coming from and then maybe choosing to disagree, and what we typically do as human beings,which is to decide something is inferior before we have listened or understood.

So it is true that "some cultural habits are abhorrent" as Runner says. But they are often mis-associated. Female circumcision is not Muslim, to sit a common example, but happens in some places where many people are muslim. Abhorrent cultural habits apply to all cultures. Australians have a distressing habit of abandoning old people in underfunded nursing homes. I think the ten commandments as listed help us listen and also have our own shortcomings drawn to our attention.

BTW, the notion that all people are born corrupt is one common christian interpretation. Not all people see a need to accept that; not even all Christians.

Andrew Prior http://churchrewired.org

Andrew

I take your point about listening and paying respect. England and France have done that for years and are now basket cases. I also think when something is obvious that you cut the pc crap and call a spade a spade. You might have noticed that I often point out that we in Australia have abhorrent cultural practices such as the one you mention.

You write
'BTW, the notion that all people are born corrupt is one common christian interpretation. Not all people see a need to accept that; not even all Christians.'

With all due respects the gospel message is a mockery if that was not the case. No adamic nature, no need for the last Adam. I suggest you read your Scriptures.