Beneath the stained glass glow

The G-G Show raises so many questions that it is a task in itself just 
to put them in order of importance. What is the primary issue: the office 
of Governor-General; the republic and the historically defunct monarchy; 
Hollingworth condoning the sexual abuse of children; the historically 
defunct church, or the relations between Church and State? I think it comes 
down to public versus private: public accountability versus private 
machinations.

The Prime Minister personally chose Dr Peter Hollingworth as Governor-
General. This immediately raised concerns about the separation of the 
church and state, Hollingworth being the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.

But really, this was all completely in line with the general ideological 
thrust of the Government, i.e. fundamentalist Christian. It fits with the 
handing over of the welfare system to Christian charities which opened up 
another can of worms (remember Mission Australia's guidelines for 
recruiting their own staff — that they must be practicing Christians and 
attend workplace prayer meetings?).

Now, there's been some real porkys thrown around in the last few weeks, 
with all the lies about refugees throwing their children into the ocean and 
accusations and blame being hurled left, right and centre as the Government 
rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The most ludicrous was Hollingworth going on national television and, in 
effect, condoning child sexual abuse in the Anglican school system, then 
denying he said it.

This is what he said about the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl by a 
priest in an Anglican boarding school, just one of a number of sexual abuse 
cases he was told about but chose to ignore when he was boss cocky of the 
church in Queensland: "There was no suggestion of rape or anything like 
that. Quite the contrary."

The next day he told the media: "I think I didn't hear the question 
properly or something like that. I thought I was talking about an adult 
relationship."

To listen to John Howard, he and Hollingworth are innocent victims. The 
fact is they're both tethered to a system based on individualism, 
exploitation, secrecy (commercial-in-confidence being the outstanding 
corporate example), and the absolute and unquestionable power of those God 
has ordained as "born to rule", the latter being the unwritten creed of the 
Liberal Party.

To protect this abominable hierarchy it is necessary to deceive and lie and 
cover up all manner of malignant behaviour, including corporate rip-offs, 
racist slanders, jobs for the boys — the list is long.

In this light we should consider what might be, especially in relation to 
these recent revelations, the most outrageous act of all. The Government is 
taking tens of millions of dollars in funding meant for the public school 
system, and giving it to the private schools, many of them rich 
institutions owned and run by Christian churches.

In doing so the Government is not only promoting elitism and running down a 
service essential to our social and economic well being, it is perpetuating 
a system of hidden abuse.

As has been demonstrated many times, beneath the stained glass surface glow 
of charity and benevolence are the oppressive power relations of 
unquestioning subservience to the authority of the church. These power 
relations, hidden and unaccountable, ensure the free hand of the exploiter 
and the suppression of the victim.

That is why Hollingworth can blandly claim that a priest running an 
Anglican boarding house for school children, was not the abuser but the 
sexual prey of a 14-year-old girl. Like his little mate John Howard, he is 
complicit in a cover-up of profound proportions.