Hajibs for Harmony was/is seen awe-inspiring and culturally correct but may also be seen as oppressive and offensive and not the garb to be adorned by those who claim to be feminist and equal right-seekers.
You can't have it both ways, but it would appear that, miraculously, we can when it appeals to our sense of social justice.
Kiwi soldiers who fought and died for our country are asked to cease and/or limit their, age-old, traditional and iconically Kiwi, ANZAC Day commemorations to give the cops a break when it comes to providing security despite the acknowledgement from on high that there is no detectable threat.
We're meant to be shocked and appalled that these same veterans take exception to the inclusion of a Muslim prayer at a dawn service to remember the documented historical event that cost the lives of thousands from here and across the ditch - hence the term ANZAC, the acronym that, ironically, spells out the significance of its own importance - it's a bi-cultural event by its very name - not your typical, stat holiday like, free for all, celebratory, day off.
It's a sombre day of remembrance, reflection and sacrifice.
Our deeply unique, personal, sad and tragic, loss as a country is now expected to be suddenly swept under the carpet, to appease the very same people who sought to kill us as a nation.
What's the message?
"Thanks you old coots but times have changed, we're all about acceptance and inclusion now and if you and your dead, war-ravaged comrades in arms can't see that then you must be racist haters. Get over it."
It's a bloody disgrace and an insult!
I'm sorry, but why the hell should any, iconically, New Zealand traditions have to suffer as the result of one, foreign extremist - or any other whinging minority, claiming to be victims?
How is it fair that we are constantly being asked to give up what is sacred to us, our history and our culture yet, at the same time, we're expected to accept and embrace what is deemed sacred by others, at the drop of hat and without question.
And people wonder why there is a growing divide ... one that frequently leads to tensions, undercurrents and resentment.
We're all responsible for the making of our own beds.
.
.
If it's lumpy, uncomfortable and full of "irritable bits" that make our skin crawl, it's because we've allowed it become that way - we're letting the bed bugs walk all over us and eat us alive.
You go to bed one night, a proud, traditional Kiwi, secure in your culture and history and wake up the next with a readymade passport to the guilt trip of a lifetime as you are forced to endure the multiple stop-overs in PC bullshit, peer-pressure and propaganda.
And when you most need a truly mortal superhero, like Batman and his trusty utility belt to come to your rescue, just remember the time you permitted yourself to believe he was no longer tolerable.
And because I actually know when the phrase was coined and the multiple changes the word undertook, I have no problem saying ... Go - The Crusaders!
Wake up and smell the poppies and before you get your tits in a tangle, I'm not advocating the use of opium, though the resulting means of escaping our new warped sense of reality has become strangely appealing. investik8@gmail.com
