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The need for people with “Deadly Virtues”... For today's young Australians the terms 'deadly' and 'wicked' are used for a vernacular description for a pop song that is a big hit, or a fashion item, or a hero. This Curmudgeon commends Catholica for its series on the Seven Deadly Sins, with the hope that it will also lead to reflection on the counterpoint of the virtues, and those who demonstrate them to such an extent that we want to emulate them. I'd say that one of the virtues we should be thinking about is Courage. It comes in all kinds of different packages, such as that demonstrated when the Swans fought back to a one point difference against the West Coast Eagles. Courage is also associated with Patience, another essential virtue. If we want to change Australia for the better, we need to realize that Rome wasn't built in a day. Restoration of human dignity in a country that puts materialism, warmongering and detention ahead of humanistic, peaceful and sustainable development of the human spirit will require both patience and courage. Deadly Heroes... We need 'deadly heroes' to emulate.
Such a man is Ciaron O'Reilly. O'Reilly was first arrested while still at high school under Bjelke Petersen in a banned street march in 1977. He joined the Catholic Worker movement and founded a house for homeless aboriginal youth in West End, Brisbane in 1982. O'Reilly has returned to Australia following his recent acquittal on a charge of criminal damage to a US Navy warplane in Ireland. He's here to support four Australian anti-war activists facing trial next week in the Northern Territory. Originally from Brisbane, O'Reilly is in Australia to support the four Christian activists who will face trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court following their "Citizen's Inspection" of the US spy base at Pine Gap, Alice Springs, in December last year. The four were charged under the new Defence Special Undertakings Act with entering a prohibited area and taking photos. One of the defendants, Donna Mulhearn, a well-known Catholic pacifist from Maitland, is a former "human shield" who was abducted and briefly held by militants in the Iraqi flashpoint city of Fallujah last year. O'Reilly will be part of a planned "peace convergence" outside the court.
O'Reilly together with four other activists, known in Ireland as the "Pit Stop Ploughshares", were acquitted following a trial for $US2.5 million criminal damage to the US Navy plane at the civilian Shannon Airport in Ireland which has become the major hub for US troop deployment to the war in Iraq. All five defendants were unanimously acquitted by a jury at their third trial in Dublin in July this year. The defendants had faced a maximum of ten years imprisonment if they had been found guilty. It is this sort of energetic and courageous action that helps to make our faith more relevant in "the market place" because it not only recognizes human dignity, but is prepared to take risks, and stand up and be counted in the struggle to protect human rights. May I suggest: Let's get deadly! Cliff Cliff Baxter can be contacted at: ©2006 Clifford Baxter |
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