Them hoodies, down south

So, some youngsters in Invercargill has set about the time honoured tradition of winding up the olds by wearing hoodies with obscene anti-Christian messages and pornographic images of nuns on them (1).

The olds, of course, have risen to the bait.

Both sides should ponder the words of Karl Marx, writing in a letter to Arnold Ruge in 1842:

... religion in itself is without content, it owes its being not to heaven but to the earth, and with the abolition of distorted reality, of which it is the theory, it will collapse of itself. Finally, I desired that, if there is to be talk about philosophy, there should be less trifling with the label “atheism,” which reminds one of children, assuring everyone who is ready to listen to them that they are not afraid of the bogy man ... (2)

If the yoof of today have to be offensive about something, it would be nice if they were offensive about something more important than ancient superstition. Climate change, our horrible rightwing government, child abuse, whatever. There's a lot more to be fierce about than someone who has been dead for two millennia. Talk about kicking a man when he's down.

And the olds shouldn't get so up tight about it. It's just children showing they're not scared of the bogyman. Christians, in particular, should welcome the attention. If there's one thing worse than being talked about ...

1 - "Profane tops 'horrify' in Invercargill ," by Evan Harding. Published in the Southland Times. reproduced by Stuff, 8th of June, 2011. (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5112236/Profane-tops-horrify-in-Invercargill)
2 - "Letter from Marx to Arnold Ruge," by Karl Marx (!). Written November 30 1842 and reproduced on Marxists.org. (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1842/letters/42_11_30.htm)