Breaking Muse

Losing faith for equality

                           

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

AUSTRALIA is supposedly a secular nation, so why does religion still define our laws?

Most Australians believe that people should be free to practise their beliefs, provided they do not infringe on the rights of others.

But there is a growing strain of religious conservatism seeping through Australian politics, which is concerning because the percentage of Australians identifying as religious continues to fall with each Census.

Meanwhile, the number of Australians identifying as having “no religion” continues to grow.

We do not have a separation of church and state Australia’s current status is a “principle of state neutrality”, which has been criticised by both secularists and religious groups.

Religion remains influential over our rights, affecting political discourse and decision-making on issues such as marriage equality, voluntary euthanasia, same-sex surrogacy, access to abortion, refugee processing and the rights of sex workers.

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HIV/AIDS: Education cures discrimination

                             

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

WE may not see the Grim Reaper ads on TV any more, but Tasmania is experiencing a sustained increase in HIV notifications.

The rate of new HIV diagnoses recorded annually in the state doubled in 2008, and so far this year there have been 13 people diagnosed with HIV in Tasmania.

While these notifications continue to be predominantly gay men, there has also been an increase among women, according to the Tasmanian Council on AIDS, Hepatitis and Related Diseases (TasCAHRD).

“HIV is not limited to certain sexual identities or lifestyles,” TasCAHRD chief executive Kevin Marriot said.

“That is the biggest misunderstanding about HIV. All Tasmanians living with HIV experience daily discrimination due to ignorance of the complexity of the illness.

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A portrait of faith in Australia

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

IN this era of trendy atheism and derision for religion, the Blake Prize for religious and spiritual art offers a timely opportunity to look at how religion has shaped Australia.

The Blake Prize touring exhibition, which opens at the Schoolhouse Gallery at Rosny Barn on Saturday May 12, is in its 60th year and continues to stimulate a fascinating dialogue between art and religion.

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MONA + TMAG = Theatre of the World

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

A POCKET Bible that stopped a bullet and a sinew-embroidered goose-foot purse were two of the objects unveiled yesterday at a preview of Australia’s largest collaboration between a public and private museum.

The new exhibition Theatre of the World will open at MONA in June, featuring more than 350 works from David Walsh’s private collection and the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery collections.

Across 16 galleries, renowned French curator Jean-Hubert Martin has selected pieces from the two museums, TMAG and MONA, that will reflect his curatorial passion of creating a dialogue between works from different cultures and times.

 VIEW THE GALLERY

Purposefully opening in June to attract more visitors to the state, Theatre of the World is intended to be a blockbuster exhibition to rival other major public institutions around Australia in scope, content and provocation.

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War plays out at home

                             

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

MANY returned soldiers will be drawing the curtains and hiding away today, rather than marching through the streets in a parade.

And who could blame them?

On Anzac Day, with all our honouring of heroes, there is little acknowledgement of the real and ongoing cost of the war experience on the individual.

This is why Anzac Day doesn’t sit right with me:

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Fashion police brutality

By Rebecca Fitzgibbon

AT a school fair recently I felt sympathy for a woman wearing a niqab; a burqa with only her sunglass-covered eyes showing.

No, I didn’t feel sympathy for her because she was wearing the niqab - I wouldn’t presume to know why she wears it nor how she feels about it. It’s not my business, in any case.

I felt sympathy for this woman because of the uncomfortable gawking she received from the community in attendance.

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