Yes, there ARE good sides to World Youth Day!
Hey, I'm a cynic and all, and I have ideological problems with religion as a whole, but then I was cynical about the World Cup soccer 'thing' until I got dragged to Manning Bar in the middle of the night to watch the infamous game when we were ROBBED by a dodgey dodgey umpire call...
What I'm trying to say is that I have humbly admitted that i have been wrong before.
I've griped righteously about the whole WYD debacle because
a) i don't think that a similar event planned in the name of, say, Islam, would get the same support;
b) the blatant disregard shown for the impact on the lives of people who live in the vicinity of Randwick is a disgrace; and
c) the 'church' (or which ever administrative body stands for the 'church') seems to be extrememly arrogant in their assumption of what they can demand from the state, and what they don't have to pay for.
BUT
Last night, I was out in Darling Harbour with two friends. We were on our way to see The Phantom of the Opera,** while every pilgrim between here and the south pole was watching the crucifixion reenactment which was broadcast onto screens in various locations including Darling Harbour.
Me and my friends had dinner on a balcony overlooking the troops of pilgrims who were passing each other, walking behind flags of the many many nations, singing their own songs, chanting their own cries, and generally having a damn good time about it all. It was just like a multi-national sporting event but without any of the hostility that comes with sporting conflict such as when we were ROBBED BY THE ITALIANS!!! *breathes*
heh.
Really, it was a good atmosphere. For a start, a couple of hundred thousand people in a good mood is ALWAYS a good thing.*** And the groups of people hanging around singing together in foreign languages was kinda cool. We knew they were pilgrims because the world "Allelujah" is a constant across the world but, as a chorister, i'm kind of used to that in music. Besides which, good music is good music, and a circle of people singing a really folky tune in Spanish whilst doing a really folky dance is an awesome thing to watch. Could have just been a wedding celebration or something, but the yellow and red backpacks kinda gave it away... :-)
AND
On a more selfish note,
We have WYD to credit for the fact that the Public transport in sydney, which we laughingly call a system, was actually worth taking this weekend.
Hooray for the Pope Timetable!
:D
** Which was totally, TOTALLY awesome. Like, OMG...
*** Unless of course they are Nazis celebrating the successful annihilation of yet another country... You KNOW what i mean. Put your semantics flamethrowers down, please
What I'm trying to say is that I have humbly admitted that i have been wrong before.
I've griped righteously about the whole WYD debacle because
a) i don't think that a similar event planned in the name of, say, Islam, would get the same support;
b) the blatant disregard shown for the impact on the lives of people who live in the vicinity of Randwick is a disgrace; and
c) the 'church' (or which ever administrative body stands for the 'church') seems to be extrememly arrogant in their assumption of what they can demand from the state, and what they don't have to pay for.
BUT
Last night, I was out in Darling Harbour with two friends. We were on our way to see The Phantom of the Opera,** while every pilgrim between here and the south pole was watching the crucifixion reenactment which was broadcast onto screens in various locations including Darling Harbour.
Me and my friends had dinner on a balcony overlooking the troops of pilgrims who were passing each other, walking behind flags of the many many nations, singing their own songs, chanting their own cries, and generally having a damn good time about it all. It was just like a multi-national sporting event but without any of the hostility that comes with sporting conflict such as when we were ROBBED BY THE ITALIANS!!! *breathes*
heh.
Really, it was a good atmosphere. For a start, a couple of hundred thousand people in a good mood is ALWAYS a good thing.*** And the groups of people hanging around singing together in foreign languages was kinda cool. We knew they were pilgrims because the world "Allelujah" is a constant across the world but, as a chorister, i'm kind of used to that in music. Besides which, good music is good music, and a circle of people singing a really folky tune in Spanish whilst doing a really folky dance is an awesome thing to watch. Could have just been a wedding celebration or something, but the yellow and red backpacks kinda gave it away... :-)
AND
On a more selfish note,
We have WYD to credit for the fact that the Public transport in sydney, which we laughingly call a system, was actually worth taking this weekend.
Hooray for the Pope Timetable!
:D
** Which was totally, TOTALLY awesome. Like, OMG...
*** Unless of course they are Nazis celebrating the successful annihilation of yet another country... You KNOW what i mean. Put your semantics flamethrowers down, please