“In the language of Orthanc, help means ruin, and saving means slaying”
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.
This short speech shows that Tolkien was as clear-eyed as Orwell about the nature of totalitarianism. Saruman the wizard, as Tom Shippey has pointed out, is very much a modern figure: all realpolitik and totalitarianism. His deadliest power is his voice, which he uses to flatter, deceive or bully, as required. Only the gruff, down-to-earth Gimli sees through the propaganda.
We live in a world of Sarumans and their worm-tongued minions. In their language, “diversity” means conformity, and “inclusion” means the most brutal bullying and exclusion.
A Melbourne mayor has apologised to parents after a female youth worker ordered Year 11 boys to stand up in class and labelled them “oppressors” for being white, male and Christian.
Parents and councillors are calling for the worker to be sacked over the incident, which occurred during a “diversity and inclusion” session last week.
Try and spot the “inclusion” in the following:
The Kingston Youth Services worker held a talk about privilege, pronouns and “intersectionality” at the state-run Parkdale Secondary College in Melbourne’s southeast on Wednesday.
She told the boys to stand up if they were “white”, “male” and “Christian” before telling them they were responsible for being “privileged” and “oppressors”.
A female Year 11 student told the newspaper pupils were “shocked” by the presentation and that the male students had felt “ashamed” and “targeted”.
“It was so messed up, we thought for a moment it was a joke, but then we realised it wasn’t and we were so upset and angry by it all,” the 16-year-old said.
“She basically said straight, white, Christian males were oppressors and they held all the power and privilege in society. We were shocked but it was quite difficult to say anything because she was also talking about LGBTQI+ and if you spoke out against that you feared you’d be called homophobic.”
“Phobia” is the Big Lie of the new totalitarianism. By labelling even the mildest disagreement a “phobia”, the totalitarians have ipso facto declared dissenting opinions to be not just wrong, but pathological.
The Kingston Youth Services website describes its “diversity and inclusion” program offered to schools as “suited to all students”.
“Youth Services believes that diversity and inclusion of any kind starts with a foundation of empathy and respect,” the description says.
“The Diversity and Inclusion Program explores a variety of themes around how diverse, inclusive and safe spaces can be created and with the support of Youth Services embark on a respectful discussion around a variety of topics including disability, LGBTIQA+, culture and race.”
Herald-Sun
The language of Orthanc, indeed.
This is far from the first time this has happened, of course. Only a few weeks ago, boys at another school in Victoria were forced to apologise for their gender in front of the entire school. It was a classic Maoist “struggle session”.
There have been even more anecdotal reports, before these. For instance, a Tasmanian university lecturer branding a student as a “fascist”, simply for being Christian.
So, the question becomes, now, not what steps will be taken in this instance, but just how widely is this disturbing, racist garbage being taught behind closed classroom doors in our schools?
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