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The kitchen was blue with the tobacco smoke that would eventually kill her. She'd been up for some time and was poring over some old academic paper when she looked up at me mischievously.
"So, Johnno, how do you think pets were socialised in the Soviet Union?"
"Oh, please," I pleaded. "It's too early for that sort of question."
She knew that, of course, but her fierce intellect was hungry for cerebral sport, the curveball question a ploy to get me to play. She'd retired from academia too early but her inquiring mind had never stopped being two, three or 10 steps ahead of mine.
It had been that way all through childhood. Compelled every weekday to sit in reverent silence through the crackle and hiss of the BBC World Service, I was dosed up on world affairs over breakfast.
"What's the demilitarised zone?" I'd ask. "Why is Russia invading Czechoslovakia?"
She was always there with an answer and knew this 10-minute radio session was laying the foundations of a lifelong curiosity about the world. No wonder I always preferred history and current affairs over other subjects at school.
Her prescience was remarkable. When Paul Keating was elected to the House of Representatives in 1969 at 25, she predicted he'd one day become PM. She'd warned about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism well before its more extreme practitioners took to terrorism. She also predicted its rise would spawn a mirror image among Christian fundamentalists. "Every action sparks a reaction," she said.
And so it has come to pass.
Two decades after her passing, I wonder what she would have made of the Christian jihadis we saw spill out onto the street in Sydney last week in an explosion of irrational rage against a handful of trans-rights protesters.
Would she have drawn comparisons between these angry bearded men - self-styled soldiers of God - and their militant counterparts in Lebanon, marching under the Hezbollah banner?
Would she have pointed out the irony of these men, fearing for their children because of a tiny trans community asking for an end to discrimination and demonisation, defending the same church - as Garry so powerfully reminded us on Friday - which protected the monstrous child abusers in its own ranks for so long?
And would she - as she so so often did - try to see things from their perspective? Brittle men made insecure because society had changed so fundamentally the underpinnings of their power had been shaken by marriage equality and the acceptance of diversity. No excuse for violence, she would have said, but an explanation of their rage.
Were she still with us, we'd be discussing all this in depth. We'd note how closely aligned the rhetoric of these defenders of the faith was with the trans and homophobic rantings of Vladimir Putin. We'd wonder if it this religious militancy was being fuelled by agents of the Kremlin.
"Do we want children from elementary school to be imposed with things that lead to degradation and extinction?" Putin asked last October in his annexation speech in St George's Hall in the Kremlin. "Do we want them to be taught that instead of men and women, there are supposedly some other genders and to be offered sex-change surgeries?"
It wouldn't be the first time people have been gulled towards extremism and conspiracy theory by Russian agents. Their chubby fingerprints were found all over the 2016 US election. And there's a good chance their bot farms are busily cultivating fear and loathing over trans rights.
She's long gone but not forgotten, this mother of mine. I miss her all these years later but as my mind sputters into gear every morning, I get the strange feeling she's still here, posing questions, offering analysis and encouraging thought. There's comfort in that.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Are you concerned by rise of Christian right? Does religious militancy have any place in a secular society? Do you suspect the Kremlin is stoking religious extremism? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The COVID-19 pandemic sparked border restrictions across the world and Australians stranded overseas needed more support than the government offered, research from the University of NSW has found. The UNSW research shows COVID-19 travel restrictions had a "high human cost" on Australians struggling to find information about emergency housing and financial and medical support while stranded.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is "absolutely confident" that draft constitutional amendments to usher in a Voice to Parliament would not open opportunities for High Court challenges. Mr Albanese rejected claims from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who says he is concerned about the possibilities for legal challenges flowing from the proposed wording of the draft Indigenous Voice referendum question.
- Former prime minister Paul Keating has fired a fresh torpedo at the AUKUS deal, claiming Defence Minister Richard Marles has changed his argument to justify the submarine purchases. Mr Keating, who has been publicly critical of the $368 billion deal, said in an opinion article the government had shifted the need for the vessels from protecting the country from invasion, to instead needing to protect sea lanes for trade.
THEY SAID IT: "I really can't abide conspiracy theories, because I believe that everything in the world stems from idiocy and incompetence. That's certainly true of most of what's happened in Russia under Putin." - Masha Gessen
YOU SAID IT: Garry's powerful piece about his father's childhood abuse and the Catholic church's attempts to sweep it under the carpet prompted many responses, with most saying religious institutions should be taxed and made transparent.
Jorge from Chifley in the ACT says: "The late Christopher Hitchens was right: 'Religion poisons everything.' Even so, Garry Linnell wasn't talking about religion, was he? He was talking about how we have allowed religious institutions to collude with and actually participate in illegal and immoral behavior. And how, due to political correctness and fear of causing offence, those religious institutions and those who work within them are somehow untouchable. Heck, we even reward them for their behavior by paying them a tax exemption."
"Of course the churches should pay tax," says Jennifer. "They're very much self-serving entities, doing what's best for them and their hierarchy rather than serving public needs. Why should ordinary taxpayers fund these organisations? We'd be better off using the money to directly fund social housing, food, education, healthcare and other essentials for vulnerable people. Religious institutions have abused so many vulnerable populations, that they should not be allowed to access them, let alone be funded to do so."
Susan says: "Spot on - benefit doesn't equate to instilling fear, causing unwarranted shame or any of the other despicable antics religions get up to to gain power and money. Close examination of tax and burden of proof should also expose smaller but equally dangerous cults."
"I am sorry to hear of the pain your father had to endure," says Cate. "It was only a few months ago my brother, who went to a Christian Brothers school in the 1970s, revealed his torment. I grew up knowing something was wrong but it was not spoken about. My brother, who is only one year younger, as a teenager had suddenly started wetting the bed and my parents couldn't work out why. Well now I know, as this was around the time his experience with a certain Christian Brother began. Hidden memories and hidden stories. Tax the bastards to hell, they don't deserve the privilege. Nor do the private (some religious) schools deserve the handouts governments give over and above public schools."
Veronica says: "Have just read the latest note from Echidna. I feel deeply for the effects on this man and his family. Yes, yes, yes, religious institutions should and must pay tax. Why they have ever been exempt is beyond me. Keep up the fight."
"The Charities Act should be revised and amended," says Elaine, "especially religious organisations which often espouse one concept while abusing the 'power' given them, causing so much suffering and pain. Garry Linnell, congratulations on your brilliant article which caused me to reflect on past cruel abuses and their effects."
Arthur says: "We should be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Most, if not all, genuine religions do a lot of very valuable charitable work. They do not have the same status as charities which are entitled to receive tax deductible donations unless they have a fund separate to their normal operating fund. That separate fund can only be used for genuine charitable purposes. I agree all religious organisations - fake or genuine - should be transparent and subject to public scrutiny. Unfortunately, no amount of monetary compensation can undo the harm individuals suffer from the few rotten eggs in the organisations."
Ross is sceptical about most charities: "At last count Australia had 50,000 registered charities ... one for every 500 citizens! Of these, less than 50 make any appreciable difference to society. For years I've railed against the churches wanting governments (taxpayers) to spend more on the needy when the Church of England owns half of the Sydney CBD, the Catholics half of Melbourne CBD and the Uniting half of Adelaide CBD. Let them sell some of their portfolio."