First I was like
Then I was like
From angry to amused in two memes. Reasons: several. I will let you get away with two.
Many people’s inability to focus on a topic and use proper arguments during a discussion about sensitive subjects (thanks to the Viennese psycho to rant about that). Please, people, just accept that countering a statement about the bad state of specific affairs with “but it is bad/they did bad things elsewhere too!” does in no way further a discussion but reeks of kindergarten instead.
A more serious aspect, especially in online discussions where often nothing is known about other participants: is it really necessary that bringing up/questioning certain supposedly delicate topics immediately condemn a discussion to be labeled as e.g. intolerant, or belonging to a certain political spectrum?
Certain topics have indeed been instrumentalised by (political) groups, but there is no reason to keep it that way. By expending the extra effort of listening first, acquiring some context, and avoid excessive labeling we can have fact-based sophisticated discussions.
And then the reaction of the Catholic church to the result of a popular petition against church privileges. Unfortunately the petition failed – and from that they conclude that everything is peachy, i.e. almost all Austrians are content with what the church provides. News flash: low turnout does not necessarily equal contentment with the current circumstances, or more general, correlation does not imply causation! Maybe people simply did not participate because popular petitions as political instrument are about as powerful as very old naked mole rats: the contents of a successful petition have to be discussed by the National Counsil, and that’s it.
But then again, the church needs to spin every bit of publicity they can get to their advantage. It’s not as if their membership counts are rising.
mantis out.