In years gone by, the Government did not direct the morals and ethics of society. That responsibility fell to religion, specifically in the West, Christianity.
Now, with religion in decline and often ridiculed, the Government and thus, the bureaucracy and our educational institutions, have assumed the control of directing society’s moral compass.
Is it little wonder then, that we are confronted with the fanciful, illogical musings of Marxists, post-modernism, gender theory and the like, instead of relying on the thousands of years of wisdom that is enshrined in religious doctrine?
Emboldened by their own self-indulgence, the Left have infiltrated our institutions, bureaucracies, schools and universities with their own ideology. They are now so entrenched, with seemingly no opposition, that they now have the hubris to dictate what is viewed as ‘acceptable’ or ‘fact’.
I recently received an email from a friend who works as a teacher. The information she sent me left me gobsmacked.
Indoctrination within our school system is a real concern, but this is the next level.
The information included a flyer for ‘Agent C’, a free workshop to ‘explore the emergence of online fake news and conspiracy theories with a focus on hateful and divisive narratives’.
It is being offered to schools and youth services, or young people aged 14 to 21.
The Agent C workshop will give young people ‘knowledge around fake news and conspiracy theories, in particular how to spot them and what you can do about it; a better understanding of racism and hate; and an understanding of social identity, power and privilege and how they impact on our relationship with fake news and conspiracy theories’.
By the flyer’s own admission, ‘the Agent C project is funded by the NSW Government through Multicultural NSW under its COMPACT program. It is led by All Together Now, in partnership with Headspace Camperdown’.
This led me to the ‘All Together Now’ website.
All Together Now describes itself as ‘an Australian, independent, secular, non-partisan not-for-profit organisation that was established in 2010’.
The All Together Now website expands on the intentions of its ‘Agent C’ program.
‘The aim of Agent C is to develop specialised training with and for young people in order to challenge divisive and hateful conspiracy theories and fake news. This includes but is not limited to far-right extremist conspiracy theories and fake news narratives.’
What exactly are far-right extremist conspiracy theories?
More importantly, who defines what is considered ‘far-right’?
Who defines what is a conspiracy theory?
I suppose All Together Now feels they have the moral authority to do so. Obviously, they then feel free to feed their conclusions to our young people.
The website continues, ‘We want to enhance the confidence and capacity of young people aged 14-21 to unpack and critically engage with hateful conspiracy theories and fake news and to have stimulating conversations with their peers encouraging critical thinking.’
Critical thinking should always be encouraged, but how much critical thinking can there be if All Together Now have seemingly deemed what is far-right extremism or a conspiracy theory?
Furthermore, what is fake news? In today’s world, one news outlet’s fake news is another outlet’s fact. I suppose the enlightened ones at All Together Now can determine the difference.
Again, this is a free program, being made available through funding from the NSW Government. Is this recognition by the NSW Government that All Together Now indeed does have the moral authority to determine what is a conspiracy theory and far-right extremism?
The website explains its justification as to why the Agent C workshop should be fostered upon the young minds of NSW’s 14 to 21-year-olds.
‘All Together Now believes the Agent C project is necessary as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant rise in online conspiracy theories and fake news, and has also created the ideal circumstances for racism and right-wing extremism to flourish, as detailed in our position paper.’
The ‘position paper’ is a 7-page document titled ‘Right-Wing Extremism and COVID-19 in Australia’.
The paper makes the claim that ‘conspiratorial rumours have been circulating that Australia’s lockdown and physical distancing measures are the acts of a tyrannical government rather than health and safety measures.’
Is it wrong to point out Government overreach during the pandemic, or to try to hold those actions to account?
I suppose so.
Are military choppers flying over the households of Western Sydney fair ‘health and safety measures’? How about closing churches in the name of public safety?
More importantly, who is determining what is a ‘conspiratorial rumour’ and what is fair criticism?
Could questioning the need for vaccine passports be considered a ‘conspiratorial rumour’?
I guess all of this will be revealed by taking the three 1.5-hour workshops on Zoom that the Agent C program is offering. For free, in case you forgot.
The abovementioned paper goes on to argue that, ‘Heightening distrust of the government’s response further serves to position national socialism and/or the formation of whites-only enclaves or communities as potential ways forward, as people increasingly search for somebody to blame for unemployment and/or feelings of isolation and loneliness’.
Suddenly, this paper makes a huge leap from conspiratorial rumours to white supremacy.
According to what is stated above, by questioning if the Government restrictions implemented during the pandemic were tyrannical and unjust, you somehow will end up in a ‘whites-only’ enclave, preaching national socialism.
Do these ‘enclaves’ even exist?
Alarmingly, this is not the only ‘training’ provided by All Together Now.
Agent C is an extension of previous ‘learnings’ that the group put forward as part of their CAPE project, which stands for ‘Community Action for Preventing Extremism’.
Or ‘EXIT White Power’, as CAPE was formerly known by All Together Now’s own admission.
The CAPE project ‘has been spearheading All Together Now’s ongoing work in promoting resilience to far-right extremism by undermining recruitment processes; promoting counter-narratives and alternative narratives; and by enhancing the capacity of people in the community to respond to and challenge far-right extremism’.
Certainly, real far-right-wing extremism is a danger; equally just as any form of extremism is. Why is far-left extremism not being examined?
Their position paper makes the claim that ‘There is a danger that growing social isolation, loneliness and depression will create more opportunities for right-wing extremists to recruit young people online: they can offer a sense of belonging, a place to feel valued and respected, and connection with other members of the group’. Â
Far-left groups such as Extinction Rebellion seem to have that marketplace covered already. Does All Together Now condemn Extinction Rebellion?
The danger in what All Together Now is doing is by taking on the moral authority to examine and determine what is factual, or far-right, through the lenses of their own political biases.
The result of which is then being fed directly into the minds of impressionable 14 to 21-year-olds through workshops that are being provided for free.
At least when the Church was at the helm of our moral compass, its message was impartial. The way to live your life was decreed by God, not a political ideology.
Not anymore, now not only is the moral and ethical playing ground being overtaken by these leftist groups and institutions, but also the way you should think and determine information.
A vast majority might support All Together Now’s goal of ‘producing programs that create sustainable, long-term change helping in achieving our vision of a racially equitable Australia’.
But who is regulating and inspecting the content in the workshops that All Together Now conduct?
More importantly, why does the NSW Government facilitate these efforts by providing funding to All Together Now and their obvious left-wing bias?
Who of those among us agreed for our tax dollars to be used in this way?
Instead, I would argue, that the NSW Government should focus on providing funding to real education programs. Those of which that focus on the foundations of reading, writing and arithmetic, and not more indoctrination.
