This week, the New Zealand newspapers have reported how girls are now more violent at NZ schools than boys.

They quote percentages from various surveys.

Boys have always traditionally had rough-and-tumble, outgoing, assertive natures.

After all, it was their job to grow up to defend their family from outside threats, to be the breadwinner and to make leadership decisions.

To keep their forcefulness socially constructive, males have needed the help of their womenfolk — ensuring that their masculinity doesn’t lead into disrespect for women, and especially not into sexual promiscuity, but into fulfilling their family privileges and responsibilities.

* * *

The feminist movement is the worst enemy of boys and men.

The worst enemy of society.

Modern primary schools have too few male teachers.

Mixed-gender secondary schools are, for many boys, hostile places where girls do better.

Many young men find themselves so ill-prepared for coping in the outside world that they “boomerang” back to living with mum and dad again.

Their days spent playing video games, drinking alcohol and occasionally — in sheer frustration — committing violent antisocial acts.

Victoria’s parliament is holding an inquiry into the handling of child abuse allegations by churches and other non-government organisations.

ABC announcer, Wahid Ali, commented, for the benefit of listeners who hadn’t thought of it, that this really means the Catholic Church.

The Sydney Morning Herald and other anti-Catholic publications are underlining a similar message.

* * *

It is true that Catholic clergy who have sexually penetrated young children should be punished — ideally hung.

However the usual worry exists — false accusations could lead to innocent persons being executed.

The superiors of such offenders, e.g. bishops — if shown to have lied to protect them or failed to ensure that they have no further dealings with children — they should be locked up.

But Tony Abbott, federal Opposition leader, warns committee members not to single out the Catholic Church.

* * *

Everybody knows that most child abuse happens within families, especially step-families and de facto-headed families — not in churches.

Yet the ABC, SMH etc. never condemn de facto relationships — and tend to be supporters of teaching kindergarten and primary students that homosexual coupling is normal.

Don’t the media generally, especially television, reinforce our worst tendencies?

Wall-to-wall programs focussed on instant gratification and the joys of demeaning other people by word and deed?

Last Sunday night, ABC television show “Q and A”, featured a debate between British atheistic author, Richard Dawkins, and Australia’s Cardinal George Pell.

The Cardinal did well.

For example, exposing Dawkins’ ignorance about the beliefs of his own hero, evolution theorist, Charles Darwin.

Dawkins said Darwin was an atheist – but Cardinal Pell was able to quote Darwin’s own autobiography, where he said the opposite.

Darwin wrote:  “. . . I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in some degree analogous to that of man; and I deserve to be called a Theist . . . .”

* * *

This debate was a welcome change from the media’s usual determination to distract us and shrink our powers of reason.

Good for the public to see how it was the Catholic doing the thinking and the atheist who needed to resort to name-callings, platitudes and regurgitations of prejudice — the reverse of what we often tend to think.

The whole program is worth viewing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD1QHO_AVZA

The media did notice that yesterday was Good Friday.

Cardinal Pell’s Easter message helped me in my attempts to reflect on the meaning of the season.

www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-06/archbishops-deliver-easter-message/3936874

* * *

Cardinal Pell’s message compelled listeners/viewers to consider the struggle between good and evil.

Was he saying that the death and resurrection of Christ is best understood as a struggle between good and evil?

Yes and No.

The crucifixion of Christ was not merely one struggle between good and evil.

His crucifixion was THE struggle between good and evil.

That’s what it means to take seriously the claim of the man Jesus to be God.

That’s where the Christian faith parts company with other world views.

Any “social capital” needed to generate fairness, respect etc. depends on relating every motive and endeavour to God who creates and redeems us.

To deny this is to miss the Easter opportunity.

* * *

Less helpful was media coverage of Filipino Christians crucifying themselves, the thoughts of Father Bob Maguire etc.

Such individuals’ efforts may be motivated by real devotion but, for most people, are distractions not inspirations.

The Catholic Bishops of Victoria have distributed 80,000 copies of a letter to the state’s Catholics.

It says, among other things:

“Deeply aware of Christ’s mission of compassion and justice — the Church cannot ignore the responsibility to speak the truth in love.

“Sometimes reminding people about the truth of the human person is one such task for all of us.

“Some now seek to alter the very nature of the human person through legislation.

“Our Australian society is now at a critical turning point where truth is at stake.”

* * *

The Church has always taught that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, are contrary to Natural Law and can under no circumstances be approved.

If it were to condone homosexual “marriage” — giving its blessing to persons publicly committing to a lifetime of such disordered activity—it would cease to be Catholic.

The media can find so-called Catholics who dispute the Church’s teaching.

But they are not Catholics.

Ex-NSW premier, Kristina Keneally is one. She needs somebody to respectfully explain this to her.

Would she listen?

She might.

Meanwhile, let’s hope the bishops’ message is successful in defending marriage, families and the children of our families.

If voters focus on the federal Australian Labor government’s demonstrated ability to govern, the next federal election will do to them what Queenslanders just did to their state’s Labor ex-government.

Their one chance, they suppose, is to teach Australian voters to despise opposition leader, Tony Abbott, so much that they’d vote for anybody to avoid him.

Mr Abbott does have a tendency to speak off the cuff — and sometimes exaggerate his point.

This shows simply that he is human.

* * *

Wikiquotes carries a few such misrepresentable citations, which the ALP will doubtless try to use:

“I won’t be rushing out to get my daughters vaccinated [against cervical cancer]”.

Comment: Many people would agree. Many more, not necessarily agreeing, can see where he is coming from.

“Abortion is the easy way out. It’s hardly surprising that people should choose the most convenient exit from awkward situations”.

Comment: this is true in its way, but the word “easy” was a poor choice.

“While I think men and women are equal, they are also different . . . I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we always have, say, more women doing things like physiotherapy, and an enormous number of women simply doing housework”.

Comment: this is obviously true.

“There may not be a great job for [Aboriginal people] but whatever there is, they just have to do it . . . And if it’s picking up rubbish around the community, it just has to be done.”

Comment: Obviously true — but so obviously capable of being used against him that it wasn’t smart to say it.

“The poor will always be with us”

Comment: This one was headed “Bible bashing the homeless, Abbott style” in the Brisbane Times, 30 June 2010. It is courageous these days to quote Jesus Christ. The ALP as a whole is afraid of Him, what He is and was, what He stands for and what His influence is doing and will increasingly do, to our society. Don’t worry, He is affecting even China in similar ways. And everywhere else. His day is coming with a vengeance (and with mercy).