Last night there was a total lunar eclipse and this was the result.

More pics soon on my Flickr.

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All I can say is woof!

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I’ve just watched an HBO program on the ABC called Friends of God:

Broadcast: 20/08/2007

“I don’t think you can win without them. And I think if they’re unified, you’ll lose if they go against you. John Kerry learned that. Al Gore learned that and Hillary will learn that in 2008. The church is the only hope for the recovery of this country. And this is a do or die thing with us; we are not playing games with it. We are absolutely planning to take this nation back for God.” The late Reverend Jerry Falwell.

With attention turning to the next US Presidential election one powerful constituency will be looking to make its mark. Counting more than 50 million followers the evangelical movement could hold the keys to the White House.

This report, from HBO, is a road trip through America’s evangelical heartland. Film-maker Alexandra Pelosi explores what it means to be an evangelical and how the movement influences America. Pelosi is the daughter of leading Democrat politician and House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi examines the evangelicals’ political muscle and how they use it. On a visit to the US Senate one lobbyist says: “The purpose of our gathering here today is to pray for an end to every attack on innocent human life in the form of abortion, euthanasia, suicide, and anti-life scientific research.”

She talks with a range of controversial and influential evangelical leaders about their desire to change America and their resentment against what they believe is the unfair portrayal of Christians by the media and Hollywood in particular. Patriot Pastor Russell Johnson tells Pelosi: “I find it remarkable that if you believe in abortion on demand and if you believe in homosexual rights you are called a moderate. If you believe in life and marriage as defined in the Bible you are called an extreme religious right. I think it’s not only dishonest, it’s hyperbole, it’s fear mongering.”

Pelosi takes a behind the scenes look at how various churches train and mobilise their followers, whether it be a class for primary students denouncing evolution or a media awareness session with the National Association of Evangelicals.

But it’s not all politics. Along the way she explores how they express their faith beyond the church doors. From biblical theme parks in Florida to Christian car-lover groups in Georgia and Biblical Mini-golf in Kentucky.

This wry, observational report takes you beyond the rhetoric and provides a window into the lives of evangelicals in America.

These people are truly scary!

They seem to be blinkered to everything but their faith – there’s a great big world out there with lots of different people and faiths and races and opinions that should be experienced.

I mean, I’m a Buddhist, but I don’t let it blind me to experiencing the rest of the World or accept the differences in other people and their beliefs.

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Kath and Kim. Mr Boyfriend. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical. Mac Mini, iMac and new keyboard. First holiday since 2000. Renée Geyer. iWork and iLife. Shout outs. www.bearsinthecity.com.au

Renée Geyer: Heading in the Right Direction

Email andrew@andrewfaith.com

27.54m

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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I’m going to talk about this on a podcast very soon, but just thought I’d put it out there.

Not too sure about the new keyboards. Not as ‘solid’ looking as the previous white keyboard – and for someone who’s on the keyboard all day, not too sure.

Also not too sure about the new iMacs either. Just seem to be a refresh instead of something new.

Mmmmmm.

Apple meant innovation, but not this time round.

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From today’s Sydney Morning Herald.

The F-bomb was dropped on me only once. I was at a bus shelter with my then boyfriend when we heard the “call of the wild”: “Go back to Mardi Gras you f—ing faggots!”. I responded as calmly as I could: “I may be a faggot, sir, but you are a fool. My people get parades, what do your people get?”

The gay teenager is a modern invention. No longer must we wait for the liberal oasis of university to express our sexuality identity. After several years enduring those polite euphemisms of “flamboyance” and “sensitivity” I tiptoed out of the closet. Fifteen, out and proud.

My story is not unique. For the more liberal members of our generation the closet has become an antique.

The internet has become an important resource for the fledgling homosexual. A boy a few years below me at school came out by editing his MySpace profile. The advent of cybersexuality has allowed gay teenagers to communicate, connect and flirt without fear of persecution. Feel lonely? Log in, chat. Where once a teenage lesbian would have felt confused or alienated, she can now google stories just like her own. The internet first introduced me to the history, the politics, the rituals of being gay. My sex education was exclusively heterosexual, and I didn’t want to risk borrowing that book from the library.

Television has also made a difference. Programs such as Will and Grace have popularised the image of the fag hag and her effete companion. The result: I have been accessorised by teenage girls who want you to be “their” gay best friend. Having gay friends makes them feel like one of those metropolitan goddesses from Sex and the City. We’ll merrily trot from one boutique to the next picking dresses or boyfriends. I try to explain that I know nothing about fashion or men but they simply won’t listen. (I do try to be more like the well-trained, urbane, television homosexuals. I really do.)

Thankfully, my own high school is, largely, the tolerant, accepting society in microcosm. It is Wollongong’s only academically selective school which means that the student body is intelligent enough to know that sex only matters when you’re involved. To the Sydney readers, I hope that shatters some of your stereotypes of Wollongong: we aren’t all steel-brained Neanderthals.

But other students are not so lucky. According to a LaTrobe University study into the lives of same-sex-attracted youth, 44 per cent experience verbal abuse, while 16 per cent suffer physical abuse. Gay teens can end up homeless, depressed and suicidal. The average high-school corridors are known for their inimicality. Friends of mine have to rush from class to class through hidden paths to avoid the obligatory shout of “faggot”.

This intolerance makes it obvious how the modern gay rights movement has failed gay kids. It is a political movement driven by the concerns of wealthy, white, middle-aged, metropolitan men. Marriage, apparently, is the gay equality issue of our time; the right to give your relationship governmental oversight. It is a noble project but when you compare it to real queer issues of our time it appears a waste of focus, time and resources.

HIV infection rates are on the rise in gay communities, as is the use of crystal meth. The afflictions that school students face remain unaddressed. Internationally our identity is criminalised: there are still nations around the world that enforce the death penalty for being gay. In Russia and Poland, reactionary parties have tried to remove the civil liberties of gay protesters. These groups face the problems that our community dealt with decades ago. I thought history bred compassion.

Growing up gay involves moving slowly forward in the traffic jam of progress. You savour each small advance but you can only see your destination in the distance. Sometimes bigotry, hatred and cruelty bring your journey to a standstill.

Daniel Swain is a year 11 student at Smith’s Hill High School in Wollongong.

I went to an all boys Catholic High School. It was not pretty! Even some of the teachers were bad. Then I moved on to a state co-ed school. Almost as bad, but not quite.

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